This from Dr Howcutt, Haddenham Medical Centre:
The COVID-19 pandemic – help us to help you
We are working very hard at Haddenham Medical Centre to find the best ways to care for our patients during this new Coronavirus pandemic. To do this we need to protect both our patients and our staff.
What is the current situation?
We are already seeing a large increase in workload with many more phone calls coming into the practice and more requests for repeat prescriptions. The local hospitals are under pressure and this is having a knock-on effect on us. At the same time, healthcare workers recognise that they are at increased risk of infection due to repeated contact with the public so we must also plan for staff absences to keep everyone safe.
What are we doing?
We are meeting regularly as a team to review the service we can provide. We have clear plans for managing various possible scenarios. In line with Government guidance, we are concentrating on providing urgent care and so we are expanding our successful telephone triage system for patients who feel they have an urgent problem. Consequently, we will be suspending routine health checks and monitoring. You might find that some systems that you are used to using at the surgery, such as the touchscreens and automatic blood pressure monitor, will not be available. We are doing everything we can to reduce infection risk.
How can you help us?
Please use our service responsibly and be a 'patient' patient considering the added pressures under which we are all currently working. Do NOT enter the surgery if you have a fever or a new, continuous cough – this will put other patients and our staff at risk. Use the 111 online service (or ring 111 if unable to use this) if you are worried about having the new Coronavirus. Use our online Patient Access system as much as possible – for example, for ordering repeat prescriptions and checking results. Repeat prescriptions may take longer to process at this time.
How can you help yourselves and each other?
Continue to wash your hands regularly. Please follow the NHS advice given even though this may be difficult. Take care of the elderly and those vulnerable in our community – make phone contact with them regularly and offer help if you can. Be wary of online sources of information and limit your time on media sources if you are feeling anxious. Stick to reliable sources of information such as the NHS website. Be kind to each other and keep safe.
We will be updating our website and coordinating with our Patient Participation Group as often as we can. For those with access, our Facebook page will be quickest and easiest way for us to keep you informed:
https://www.facebook.com/HaddenhamMedicalCentre
Dr Mark Howcutt
Haddenham Medical Centre
01844 293300
For the latest Covid-19 advice please visit www.nhs.uk
From the Alison Green on behalf of the Fish Scheme
Jeanne Watt and I run the Haddenham Fish Scheme and would be very happy to do what we can to arrange or provide help from our team of DBS checked volunteers for any Haddenham residents.
Contact us as per our website www.haddenhamfishscheme.org or tel Jeanne Watt 291337, Alison Green 292088.
We are in regular contact with many of our current Fish Scheme customers. At the moment most of them do have family and friends or neighbours that they can call on for help. This may well change in the future causing a problem if this network is not able to help because, for example, someone is in self-isolation.
Our concern is for people that we don't know about, who may not have family and friends near enough to help, who may not know their neighbours well enough to ask them for help, or who do not know about the Fish Scheme (there will be some, even though we have been running for over 45 years!)
If you think you might like to join the Fish Scheme or just want to have a chat about this please do ring either myself or Jeanne. The contact numbers once again: Jeanne Watt 291337, Alison Green 292088
