Doctors surgeries are having to adapt to help patients amid the coronavirus outbreak.
New advice from NHS England has advised GP practices to scale down how many people are in the surgery to protect staff, patients and the public.
Here is how doctors practices in Dereham, Fakenham, Wells and surrounding areas have adapted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Orchard Surgery, Dereham The Orchard Surgery are asking patients not to attend the surgery if they have a pre-booked appointment, a clinician will telephone patients individually to decide if they are in need of a face-to-face appointment.
The same applies for appointments with nurses, the surgery will be contacting patients on an individual basis offering telephone appointments where possible.
The surgery is asking those with repeat prescriptions to make sure they have a nominated pharmacy, as prescriptions will automatically be sent there.
They’re asking patients not to come into the surgery to collect and if somebody needs to order a prescription then they should drop the request into the box in the lobby.
Theatre Royal Surgery, Dereham
Following advice from NHS England in view of the Coronavirus from Monday, March 16, all routine appointments with a doctor or nurse practitioner will first be assessed by telephone triage.
Following a telephone assessment, if the doctor feels you need to be seen face to face then arrangements will be made accordingly.
A spokesperson from the practice said: “Our priority remains to offer medical care to our patients with the most urgent medical needs, which may mean we have to suspend some services or are unable to see patients for routine appointments.
“In line with the NHS guidance we have temporarily suspended the option of booking appointments online, this allows for all appointments to be triaged by telephone.
“These measures are being put in place as a precautionary measure to protect both public and staff. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.”
When asked about ongoing medication, the surgery stated that patients will still be able to obtain repeat prescriptions as normal.
Elmham Group of Practices, Elmham, Toftwood and Swanton Morley
Elmham Group will also be restricting appointments to telephone consultations and access to the surgery will be limited.
They have advised patients with an appointment booked to see a GP/NP to not attend, as they will get a phone call instead.
The surgery have said that the dispensary is open as normal for repeat collections of medicine.
Mattishall and Lenwade Surgeries
Along with the other surgeries, Mattishall have moved to a full telephone triage system for consultations and any pre-booked appointments are subject to change.
Fakenham Medical Practice and Walsingham Surgery
The director of the practices has also requested that people should not come to the surgery for appointments, these will be done over the telephone.
A spokesperson said: “We need our staff to be well enough to treat patients.” If anybody would like to book a new appointment they can do this by filling in a form on there website.
The form can be found by clicking the ‘consultant rooms’ button.
If a patient needs help filling out a form, they can ring the practice for help.
Litcham Surgery
The surgery have closed the practice for face-to-face services as of Monday, March 16.
Litcham will remain a running surgery through its website and telephone support but will have its doors closed to the public. This will be in place until further notice as we closely monitor the coronavirus situation. We hope that this will protect both our patients and our staff.
Medication can still be collected from the surgery’s dispensary from an outside window.
Great Massingham and Docking Surgeries
Paitents at Great Massingham and Docking are still being seen by doctors, after they have been spoken to on the phone to make sure they do not have symptoms.
Anybody with questions or queries regarding this should contact the practice directly.
Any patients of the following practices should contact them directly for more information and details:
Melton Constable Surgery, Wells Health Centre, Burnham Surgery and Reepham Surgery.
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