Practice Newsletter: July 2024

Non-Urgent Blood Tests

NHS organisations across London continue to work in partnership to manage patient care following the ransomware cyber-attack on Synnovis earlier in June. Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust remain in a critical incident, while Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust, Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, Bromley Healthcare, and primary care services in South East London continue to be impacted. NHS staff are working very hard to minimise disruption to patient care following the ransomware cyber-attack on Synnovis.

Unfortunately, some operations and procedures continue to be postponed and the majority of routine blood tests have been postponed in primary care services in South East London. Synnovis has informed us that a significant number of tests undertaken since 3 June have been cancelled. We apologise for any inconvenience and uncertainty caused by this. We will contact you if your test has been cancelled and needs repeating. Please note, however, that we have postponed blood tests if they are non-urgent or routine. We will provide a further update as soon as one is available. We apologise to all those who have been impacted and staff will work hard to rearrange appointments and treatments as quickly as possible. Please note that normal services for cervical screening have resumed. 

Shingles Vaccination

Shingles (herpes zoster) is a viral infection of an individual nerve and the skin surface that is served by that nerve. The risk and severity of shingles increases with age, immunosuppression and HIV. You are eligible to receive a free vaccine if you are aged 60 and above or aged 50 and above, immunosuppressed, have never received a shingles vaccine.

Flu Season 2024/2025

Individuals 65 years and older, and those with other underlying conditions, bear the greatest burden of severe flu disease, making it especially important to be vaccinated. We have ordered our vaccines this year taking into account the number of patients on our register. Please support us this year by having your flu vaccination at the Practice. By going elsewhere for your flu vaccination, we will have excess vaccines resulting in wastage. In order to gain maximum benefit, you are advised to have the jab early.

We are expecting our deliveries around 2 September 2024. We will shortly be advertising details of our clinics and sending reminder texts. It is essential that you respond and attend when invited. You may also be offered a vaccination against pneumococcal and/or shingles to reduce the chance of getting these conditions. 

NHS App - Digital Hubs

If you have not downloaded the NHS App yet, we are offering support face-to-face at the Practice on how to download and use the online Apps. To receive help on how to download and use the online apps with your smartphone, laptop, iPad, or tablet, please attend the next Digital Hub on Thursday 27 July 2024 between 10am and 12pm at the Practice. Please bring your laptop, iPad or tablet. A member of staff will be available in the waiting area to support you in signing up to the available online Apps. No appointment needed. Just turn up anytime between 10am and 12pm on Thursday 27 July 2024.

If you have already downloaded the App, we ask that you ensure the Push notification is turned on so that you get notifications through your phone or tablet. If you have any problems using the NHS App, you can select ‘help’ in the top right-hand corner of the app or visit the website.

Respect Our Premises

Please respect our premises by not smoking or drinking in any part of the building or car park. If you need to smoke, please go outside the gate of the building. Also, please leave our toilets in the same condition you would like to find them.

Please be kind to our staff

We aim to treat all our patients courteously and with respect. We will do everything possible to offer a service, which we ourselves would like to receive elsewhere. Please treat our staff with the same respect you would expect to receive. Physical violence, racial, sexual and verbal abuse of our staff will not be tolerated. Offenders will be reported to the Police.

Practice Closure

We will be closed for staff training at 12:30pm on Wednesday 17 July and reopen at 8am on Thursday 18 July 2024. If you need urgent medical assistance which cannot wait until the surgery reopens, please contact SELDOC who will be providing GP cover on 07515 922 725. For chest pain or collapse please dial 999. Should you need to see a doctor when we are closed, you can call 111 for advice.

Regards, Antonia

Published: Jul 9, 2024