As you are aware COVID 19 is ever changing, as a Practice we have had to act quickly to reflect changes to government and NHS guidance. 

All patients coming into the practice will be asked to wear face coverings. It is compulsory to wear face coverings on public transport and in hospitals in England. To protect patients and NHS staff we are following suit by urging patients to provide, and wear their own face coverings in surgeries, as well as continuing to follow hand-washing and social distancing guidelines, we are still working to 2 metres. As per government guidance, exemptions apply to very young children, disabled patients and those with breathing difficulties.

St Chads has now been up and running for just over a week, please remember to wear your mask or face covering. We are asking patients only come into the surgery if they have an appointment.  We will not be accepting requests for prescriptions or booking an appointment at reception, please either email darwinmedical.practice@nhs.net for a prescription request, use the NHS app or Patient access. You can call us on 01543 412980 to book an appointment.

If you do not have Patient Access or the NHS app take this opportunity to sign up for these online services. 

https://www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/nhs-services/the-nhs-app/

https://www.patientaccess.com/

We’ve have launched a new system you can use to check your symptoms and submit forms to us. It’s really simple to use, you can follow the link https://www.online-consult.co.uk/org/darwin-medical-practice and the forms are clear and easy to understand.

Although we are open, and we are operating in a safe way during the pandemic we have temporarily closed Chasetown in order to safely protect and care for our patients and staff.   

Help us, help you stay safe.  Thanks for your understanding at this time.

You should contact us if you notice a change that isn’t normal for you or if you have a symptom that you are worried about.  If you need to get in touch, we are ready to help you safely.

You will be able to talk through your concerns on the phone or via a video consultation.  If you need to be seen it will be in a non-COVID area, the clinician will advise you on the protocol when attending.   If needed, we can arrange tests in the safest way possible.   If you need to see a clinician, they will follow strict guidance on infection control to protect themselves and other patients. This will include wearing personal protective equipment and restricting the number of people allowed on the premises at any one time, we ask that you cover your mouth and nose either with a scarf or mask. 

The various changes which are in place are there to help social distancing and self-isolation for the vulnerable, and include the following measures limiting the services to essential services only:-

Unfortunately due to the current Covid-19 outbreak the following non-urgent appointments are to be postponed until further notice and are as follows:-

• All routine Doctor Reviews 
• Insurance/HGV medicals
• All routine Annual reviews (but we will contact you if we feel this is essential)
• Travel advice and travel vaccinations
• New patient reviews
• Over 75 health checks
• Minor Surgery
• Ear checks and irrigation
• Phlebotomy (essential blood tests will be arranged following telephone triage from a clinician)
• Routine medication reviews (essential ones to be conducted by phone)
• Contraceptive services, some of these may be postponed however if you are unsure please contact the surgery via telephone
• All other routine appointments or urgent will be subject to telephone triage by our team

However, if you are concerned as to whether a problem you have may need further assessment please book a telephone appointment with a clinician. Although we want to minimise face to face contact, we are there to give you advice and hopefully reassurance, and we will see you if this is needed.

These services will resume once normality returns, if you are unsure of anything please speak with our wonderful team by telephoning the surgery on 01543 674477 Thank you. As part of our continuity plan we will triage all patients and their carers coming to the surgery for an appointment.

Parents of children who are not well please note

COVID19 is unlikely to cause a serious illness in children, but please remember children can still become seriously unwell from other causes that are always around.

Please do not let concerns over COVID19 stop you from contacting medical services.

If you are not sure if your child needs to be seen please go to https://www.what0-18.nhs.uk/national for advice or contact 111 or your GP. 

If your child is severely unwell call 999 or go to A&E.

Test and Trace 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTeX5Y8HhRk&feature=youtu.behttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTeX5Y8HhRk&feature=youtu.be