THE partners and management team at Westbury Group Practice would like to thank their patients for their patience during the Covid-19 pandemic and adapting with them in new ways of working.
The practice reports, “As a practice we have been following NHS guidance and will make changes to the way we work as the guidance evolves. There are some points that we would like to address to keep our patients fully informed in regards to changes we have made. For now, we continue to ask that you do not visit the practice unless you have a face to face appointment booked, this applies at both White Horse Health Centre and Bratton surgery.
“If you need to contact the surgery please telephone 01373 828330. We appreciate the telephone system can sometimes be very busy, and we recognise there have been technical issues on occasions, however we would like to reassure you that we have addressed these issues and improvements have been made by changing the opening message and reducing the amount of options our patients can choose from, we will continue to monitor and make improvements where necessary.
“We recommend if you need to make an appointment, and you have access to the internet you can visit econsult.net. This can also be accessed through our website. Econsult is an online platform where you can complete a form, and a member of our team will contact you with the most appropriate course of action.
“To keep our patients and staff safe we are trying to reduce the footfall in the practice, most appointments are therefore triaged by telephone; by a clinician. There will be occasions where you will have to come for an appointment as the clinician needs to see you, however we are carrying out video consultations, and where possible face to face consultations will be carried out virtually, we do appreciate this will not be appropriate for everyone and this will be discussed with you on an individual basis.
“We request that all patients who do have to attend for an appointment, arrive no earlier than the time of your appointment, always wear a face covering unless you are exempt from doing so, follow the one way system and respectfully follow the social distancing guidance.
“Lastly, to help manage demand during the winter months, all GP and advanced nurse practitioner appointments will be book on the day only, this will include anything routine, which means you cannot book a routine appointment in advance and need to telephone us on the day you want the appointment, this system will operate between 1st October 2020 – 31st March 2021. All other appointments will continue to be booked in the usual way.
“Please remember if you have symptoms or suspect you have Covid-19, please contact NHS 111 in the first instance, or visit 111 online.
“Thank you for your cooperation and support.”
