When the practice is closed, if you need medical assistance before the practice reopens, please call 111.

Please only ring the out-of-hours number when the practice is closed (between 18:30 – 08:00 Weekdays and between 18:30 Friday and 08:00 Monday).

Out-of-hours services are generally busy so please think carefully before asking to see a doctor and only do so if you genuinely cannot wait until the surgery re-opens.

In a genuine emergency you should call 999. Chest pains and / or shortness of breath constitute an emergency.

The practice is not open to routine telephone calls and enquiries between 13:00 and 14:00. If you need to urgently speak to a GP between these times please call the practice and you will be diverted to our emergency doctors service.

If you need to speak to us routinely please call between 08:30 and 13:00 or 14:00 and 18:00.

UPDATE - TUESDAY 17th SEPTEMBER 

UPDATE - FRIDAY 23RD AUGUST

DON'T FORGET FROM 9TH SEPTEMBER WE WILL BE ASKING PATIENTS TO COMPLETE AN ECONSULT FORM FOR ADVICE, TREATMENT AND ADMINISTRATIVE QUERIES 

This model of practice is called Total Triage and helps us to prioritise urgent care and utilise the many members of our skilled primary care team appropriately.  

We are asking our patients to support us in this move to total triage by completing the forms themselves online where possible. Completing the form online will likely be quicker than waiting in the call queue for our team and will mean the telephone lines are available for those patients that do need support completing the form. Often when you complete the form yourselves the clinician gets more detailed information about your condition/medical concerns which is helpful.

If you cannot complete the eConsult online form please be assured that you can still contact the practice and a member of the patient services team will complete the form on your behalf. To do this they will have to ask questions about your medical concern. This is so that they can pass on accurate information to the clinician triaging your request. All our staff our bound by the same confidentiality policies and are asking these questions so that we can ensure you get the care/treatment you need.  

eConsult is built on complex algorithms to ensure patient safety, and in some circumstances will advise you to contact the GP. If this is the case, phone the practice as usual and the patient services team will fill out an online form on your behalf. This will then be reviewed by a clinician as it would if you had submitted an eConsult yourself. 

For clinical queries we will respond by the end of the next working day or the same day if it is urgent. For administrative queries we will respond within three working days.

For planned practice nurse or healthcare assistant appointment e.g. injections and dressings you continue to phone the practice and book these directly. There is no need to complete an eConsult form. 

UPDATE - FRIDAY 9th August 2024 

We have sent out email and SMS correspondence to our patients this morning. Please be reassured that this has come from Churchmere Medical Group and there will be a link within the message which begins with https://accurx.nhs.uk/

The correspondence is explaining about our New Online Appointment Booking process at Churchmere Medical Group which will start on the 9th September.

We know from your valued feedback how difficult it can be to get through to the practice on the telephone to arrange an appointment. Despite increasing our phone line capacity and employing more patient services advisors to take calls, waits can still be long at peak times.  

This model of practice is called Total Triage and helps us to prioritise urgent care and utilise the many members of our skilled primary care team appropriately.  

All requests for medical advice and treatment, and all other administrative queries can be quickly and easily submitted via the online form.   

If you do not have access to a smartphone, or computer, or are unable to use the online form you will still be able to telephone the practice. A patient services advisor will be able to submit the form on your behalf by completing it with you over the telephone. However, it will greatly improve access on the telephone if all those patients that CAN use the online form do use it.  Completing the form online will be quicker than waiting on the telephone.   

We are committed to providing excellent access to appointments for all our patients and are excited about incorporating new processes that we feel will improve our patients’ experience of contacting the practice.  

For and on behalf of The Partners Churchmere Medical Group 

We will be sharing weekly updates on social media and our Practice Website on how to submit an online form and we will be supporting our patients during this transition.

In addition to the current phone service  03333 583 509 provided by the Prescription Ordering Direct (POD) team, an online prescription ordering form is now available so patients can place orders quickly and easily online.

 

Visit https://www.shroptelpod.nhs.uk fill in your details and your repeat prescriptions will be sent to your chosen pharmacy.

 

 

 

The POD team does not store or hold your personal data, so it is important that you provide all of the relevant information in every request. Without this, staff may be unable to process your request.

Once processed, you will receive a confirmation and your prescription should be available to collect at your nominated pharmacy within four working days.

If POD staff need to contact you with any queries regarding your medication request, they will do so on the contact number you provide in your email. If they are unable to contact you, a reply email will be sent.

The email inbox is only monitored during POD opening hours. If your medication request is received Monday to Friday (exc. bank holidays) between 8am and 5pm, we aim to process it within 24 hours.

If your request is urgent (required within 24 hours), then please call POD directly on the following number: 03333 583 509

Use the following link to get your NHS number.

Your NHS number is a 10 digit number. 

You do not need to know your NHS number to use NHS services, but it can be useful to have it.

Find your NHS number - NHS (www.nhs.uk)

ENGLAND AND THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION (WHO) MEASLES ESCALATION

We have been notified of an increased risk of Measles infection

Please DO NOT attend the surgery with a rash and a fever. Please contact the surgery over the phone and we will advise you of the best course of action. If you are made an appointment to be seen face to face you will be asked to wait outside or in the car. Please see the helpful video attached which advises on symptoms.

The practice regularly uses ACCURX to send text messages to patients and most people are familiar with these services.

ACCURX also allows the practice to email you securely and we will be using this facility as part of our communication strategy.

We want to let you know what the email from the practice looks like so you can be assured this is not spam mail.

The subject message will state 'Churchmere Medical group has sent you a message'

The email address will read as ACCURX1, NO-Reply (ACCURX LIMITED)

'Please do not reply to this email address as it will NOT be delivered to your practice'

MY PLANNED CARE PATIENT DIGITAL 

The NHS has recently launched the My Planned Care Patient Digital which gives you direct access to the latest average wait time information for your trust, as well as helpful advice and support whilst you wait.

The Care Quality Commission is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care of the United Kingdom. It was established in 2009 to regulate and inspect health and social care services in England.

The CQC monitor, inspect and regulate services to make sure they meet fundamental standards of quality and safety and publish what it finds, including performance ratings to help people choose care.