Telephone Issues 17.5.2021

We are aware of the difficulties that some of our patients are experiencing in getting through to the practice on the telephone. We do apologise and we are working hard to resolve this with our IT/telephone supplier – NHS Midlands & Lancashire CSU

We are aware that during peak periods, for example, Monday mornings, phone lines tend to be by far the busiest.

The CSU are in the process of migrating to a new system which has additional capacity, a process which will conclude in early June.

We will keep patients up to date with this and in the meantime ask patients to bear with us, particularly during peak periods. We are looking at different ways in which patients can book an appointment / contact us and will communicate this as soon as we have the new systems in place. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

2022.10.04_nhs-mdt_leaflet-spread (7)

Statement for Patients

We are sorry for the inconvenience being caused for our patents trying to contact the practice by telephone recently. You may have found that trying to reach us first thing on a Monday morning has been particularly difficult.

Like many GP practices in Lancashire, our telephone system is run by a local NHS IT provider who are aware of these issues.

We want to assure you these problems have been escalated and explain that fixing them is not in our control, so please be patient with us whilst they are being addressed.

We have been told that over the next few weeks, a short term fix being put in place that should ensure our telephone systems can stay online during very busy periods. In the longer term, we know that upgrades are being made to the system that should fully resolve the problems.

Remember, there are other ways that you can contact the practice. Firstly if you are able please review our web pages please do this is where we will provide you with the most up to date methods of contacting us or where appropriate other alternatives exist such as:-

* MyGp or PatientAccess ; an app that you may have already downloaded (if not please do and follow the instructions for use) which you can use to book appointments, contact the practice or order your prescriptions.

* As usual, you should dial 999 in an emergency and can access NHS111 or your local pharmacy for advice.

Coronavirus – Advice for Patients

The symptoms of coronavirus are:

The symptoms are similar to other illnesses that are much more common, such as cold and flu and it does not necessarily mean you have the illness.

NHS 111 has an online coronavirus service that can tell you if you need medical help and advise you what to do.

Use this service if:

Do not go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital.

Information for the public is available at gov.uk/coronavirus and https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19

Like the common cold, coronavirus infection usually occurs through close contact with a person with novel coronavirus via cough and sneezes or hand contact. A person can also be infected by touching contaminated surfaces if they do not wash their hands.
The risk of being in close contact with a person with coronavirus or contaminated surfaces is very low at the current time.
Everyone is being reminded to follow Public Health England advice to:

You can find the latest information and advice from Public Health England at www.gov.uk/coronavirus.

Updated:
02.03.2020