Newsletter September 2023

Flu Vaccinations

Invitations have been sent out to eligible patients to our flu vaccination clinics.  These will be held at St Aidan's Church Hall (1 Portnalls Road, Coulsdon, CR5 3DD) on:

• Saturday 23rd September
• Saturday 30th September

Please follow the link in the invitation to book your appointment as soon as possible. 

Eligible patients for a free flu vaccinaton this year are:

• those aged 65 & over
• those aged 6 months to under 65 years, who are in a clinical risk group
• all children aged 2 or 3 years old on 31 August 2023
• those in long-stay residential care homes
• carers and close contacts of immunocompromised individuals
• primary school aged children from Reception to Year 6 (please note these patients will be vaccinated at school)

Patient Participation Group Meeting

All patients at Woodcote Medical are invited to the Patient Participation Group's open meeting on Tuesday 12th September from 7pm - 8.30pm on the topic of:

General Practice: The Way Forward

How to help the practice help you

Presentations by Stephanie Champion (Social Prescriber) and Dr Pasha and Dr Nurani (GP Partners). Refreshments will be served from 6.45pm.

Change of Venue for the Sepsis Support Group

The Group will now meet at the United Reform Church, Purley (next to Purley Hospital) from 6.30pm to 8.30pm on

• Wednesday 27th September 2023
• Wednesday 24th January 2024
• Wednesday 24th April 2024

Recovery following sepsis can take time, both physically and emotionally. If you or a loved one have had sepsis, you are welcome to come along to the support group. The groups are safe, confidential, relaxed meetings that work on the model of peer support. This involves people sharing their experiences and providing practical help to each other, in a way that is often mutually beneficial.

COVID Vaccinations

The National Booking service will be available from 18th September for eligible patients to book their Covid booster at a local hub. Please note that Woodcote Medical will not be administering Covid vaccinations. Eligible patients for a free covid vaccination are:

• those aged 65 & over
• those aged 6 months to under 65 years, who are in a clinical  risk group
• those in a care home for older adults.

Patient Access to Health Records

You may have read about the NHS changes to 'Prospective/future record access'. This refers to a plan to provide patients with online accounts with digital access to information entered on their medical record. The access is to all areas of your medical record, including documents and test results (once they have been assessed and filed by your practice). The reason for the change is that evidence has demonstrated that better access to health information enables patients to become partners in managing their health and long-term conditions.

Access to medical records will be available via the NHS App and Patient Access, as well as any other online services providers. 

The practice will be enabling prospective access on 4th October 2023 - Information entered on the record  on or after this date by your GP will be automatically visible through your online account.

The change, when enabled, will not affect those under the age of 16 or proxy accounts. Some information may be restricted from a minority of patients due to safeguarding concerns. 

If you have any queries relating to information on your medical record, please submit an Admin Query form to the practice.

Staff Training - Wednesday 27th September

We will be closed on the afternoon of Wednesday 27 September from 1pm to 5.30pm for a staff training event. During this time, if you have a medical emergency, please dial 999.

Our Purley Surgery will reopen at 5.30pm on the Wednesday. Our Coulsdon Surgery will reopen at 8am on Thursday.

If you need to see a GP that afternoon and cannot wait, please call 020 3727 5357 Option 4 and you will be connected to the GP Out of Hours service. Please note this service covers the whole of Croydon and the phone line might be busy. There will be doctors on duty for telephone consultation and for Face-to-Face appointments when needed. 

For any practice-related queries, repeat prescriptions, blood results, or to book a routine appointment please either call on the morning of 27 September, or on Thursday 28 September. Thank you!

Vacancies

We are looking for two receptionists to join our busy GP practice, working 15-20 hours per week. The ideal candidate will be flexible, friendly, with excellent customer service skills and work well within a team, whilst also able to use their own initiative. To find out more about the role, or to apply, please click here.