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Winter Flu Clinics

This year the flu vaccine is being offered on the NHS to:

• adults 65 and over

• people with certain medical conditions (including children in at-risk groups from 6 months of age)

• pregnant women

• people living with someone who's at high risk from coronavirus (on the NHS shielded patient list)

• children in primary school

• children in year 7 (secondary school)

• frontline health or social care workers

Some of these groups are more at risk of developing potentially serious complications of flu, such as pneumonia (a lung infection).

Others are more at risk of passing flu on to vulnerable people should they catch the virus.

Later in the year, we expect to be able to offer the flu vaccine to healthy people aged 50 to 64. However, people of this age group will not be vaccinated until November and December, providing there is sufficient vaccine, and no appointments will be offered for this age group until then. This is to ensure that those who are most at risk are vaccinated first.

If you are 50-64 and you are in one of the other groups which is eligible for the flu vaccination, for example you have a health condition which puts you at risk from the flu, you will be invited to your practice earlier and you should not delay having your flu vaccine.

EXTENDED ACCESS SERVICES

How we use your data

• This practice handles medical records in-line with laws on data protection and confidentiality.
• We share medical records with those who are involved in providing you with care and treatment.
• In some circumstances we will also share medical records for medical research, for example to find out more about why people get ill.
• We share information when the law requires us to do so, for example, to prevent infectious diseases from spreading or to check the care being provided to you is safe.
• You have the right to be given a copy of your medical record.
• You have the right to object to your medical records being shared with those who provide you with care.
• You have the right to object to your information being used for medical research and to plan health services. 
• You have the right to have any mistakes corrected and to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

For further information please see the full practice  Privacy Policy or ask member of staff about your rights.

Important Information Regarding Appointments

You are invited to call between 8-10am for an 'on the day' appointment with a GP. This may be a Face to Face appointment or a telephone appointment.

Once all bookable appointments have been allocated, you will be asked to call the following day unless it is an emergency, and the Duty Doctor will deal with this accordingly.

Information regarding results etc. will be available after 1pm. We kindly request that you wait 48 hours after your blood test to ensure your results are available, the time for Radiology results can be in excess of 3 - 4 weeks.

We will continue to offer advanced ‘routine’ bookable appointments at the surgery and online  (subject to availability)

Please also remember to cancel any unnecessary appointments as early as possible so we may offer the time to other patients who may be in need.

Receptionists aren’t medically trained so why do they ask why I’m calling? 

A common bug bear among Patients is around Reception Staff asking questions about the reasons for a Patients call when ringing for an appointment. Commonly Patients will feel that Receptionists are prying into the Patients business and that they’re not medically qualified so what business is it of theirs? Conversely however Patients are also commonly frustrated at appointment availability or wait time for routine appointments.

The two points may seem unrelated but they are linked. It may help if we explain the reasons behind the processes we use and why. As with the majority of Practices in the country we are feeling the pressure of demand appointments, and particularly GP appointments. It is a fact that not all requests coming through to the surgery require to be seen by a GP, and nor do we have sufficient GP capacity for them to manage every appointment enquiry.

We do however have a range of Clinical Staff with different skills who are qualified to deal with a variety of different health matters and we are continuing to develop the skill mix in the practice. Ultimately the purpose of a Receptionist asking the purpose of the call is to attempt to identify the most suitable staff member or service to support the Patient. This helps the Patient to be seen at the earliest opportunity and supports appropriate use of available clinical appointments.

Whilst some Patients may have a good understanding of what conditions our staff are qualified to see, many Patients will not. To be clear, what Receptionists are absolutely not attempting to do is to make a clinical assessment or give medical advice and nor are they qualified to do so. They are however trained and given guidance by our Clinicians over who or what service is most appropriate for certain conditions.

It is also worth pointing out that in terms of confidentiality all of our staff, both clinical and non-clinical, are bound by the same standards.

Staff are expected to understand however that some Patients may not wish to disclose personal information for a variety of reasons, and that it is ok, it simply helps when this is possible.

The North East Lincolnshire Single Point of Access

Find the latest information on North East Lincolnshire's Single Point of Access on our SPA page.