Causeway Surgery

CORONAVIRUS

Please go to the www.pha.site/coronavirus for up to date information and guidelines. Alternatively information can also be found on www.publichealth.hscni.net/news/covid-19-coronavirus

When ordering repeat prescriptions please nominate a pharmacy of your choice so that your script can be collected direct from the pharmacy.

Prescriptions can no longer be collected in person from reception, you must inform a member of reception which pharmacy you would like to collect your prescription from.

PLEASE DO NOT COME TO THE SURGERY WITHOUT FIRST RINGING THE SURGERY FOR ADVICE.

Please note your employer should not be requesting for medical evidence if you need to self isolate.

For more information please visit the www.gov.uk : staying at home.

If you are requested by your employer to self isolate because of an existing health condition you can download a self certificate from the same website and change the 7 days to 14 days state self isolation due to existing medical condition as per government advice.

Alternatively you can download a form here:SELF CERTIFICATE.

HOW TO PROTECT YOUR MENTAL HEALTH DURING THE COVID-19 OUTBREAK.

Please see below links regarding keeping you mental health well through this outbreak of COVID-19.

http://www.afsp.org/taking-care-of-your-mental-health-in-the-face-of-uncertainty

http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/publications/looking-after-your-mental-health-during-coronavirus-outbreak

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-51873799

IF YOU ARE SELF ISOLATIONG FOR A PROLONGED PERIOD OF TIME/OR FIND IT DIFFICULT TO GET OUT OF THE HOUSE FOR GROCERIES PLEASE RING THE SURGERY . WE HAVE AN UPTO DATE LIST OF LOCAL SHOPS AND TAKEAWAYS WHO WILL ELIVER TO YOUR HOUSE. THIS CAN BE POSTED OUT ON REQUEST.

WORKING PRACTICES.

As a result of government regulations regarding social distancing, Reception will now only have one Receptionist working in the Reception area. I would ask for your patience when ringing the surgery.

The surgery will now close at lunchtime, between 1-2pm. There will be an emergency contact number available on the phone message if you need to speak with a GP urgently over the lunchtime period.

Practice Boundary

The Practice Boundary as from 12^th December 2018 will be 6 miles.
Patients currently registered with the Practice who reside outside this radius will NOT be removed from the Practice list until such time that patients move to a new address outside the practices new boundary area. Only then will patients be advised to seek registration with an alternative Practice and be removed from the Practice list.

GDPR

New guidelines regarding the storage and maintenance of information came into force on 25th May 2018 (GDPR). Please find attached further information on how Causeway Surgery handle and maintain your records and data.

New GDPR Privacy Notice

General Practice Multi-Disciplinary Teams

To complement the existing staff within GP practices, the new practice roles have been created:

Advanced Nurse Practitioner

First Contact Physiotherapist

Social worker and Assistant

Mental health practitioner

You can book an appointment with any of these services directly with reception, without first seeing your GP.

For more information on each of their roles, please go to clinics and services or alternatively pick up a leaflet at the surgery.

Below is a link to a short video relating to our new multidisciplinary teams.

https://vimeo.com/371641090

Missed Appointments

On a recent 2 week period there were 44 missed appointments with the nurses and 21 missed appointments with the GP. This has had a significant effect on the appointment system . Can you please remember to give at least 24 hours notice to cancel an appointment so that the appointment can be used by another patient.

Do I Need an Antibiotic?

I’m sure you cannot have escaped the drive to control the use of antibiotics and limit their use to conditions caused by bacteria rather than virus infections. Viral illness are common, cause symptoms which can be very distressing and result in time lost from work or school, importantly, they do not respond to antibiotics and have a natural course before your body’s immune system combats the virus.

Click the link below for information leaflets on this matter.

http://www.causewaysurgery.co.uk/prescriptions1.aspx?t=1

Holiday Vaccinations

Dr Gilpin no longer offers the service for holiday vaccinations. Please call into reception in the surgery for further information on this service.

Friends and Family Test

Now online! This is a survey for registered patients to offer feedback. If you are registered at the practice please take a moment to complete it. You can access this survey in the "Have your say" section on the right hand side of this page.

Patient Survey

If you are a registered patient at the surgery we would welcome any feedback. Please complete the patient survey, found in the online services at the bottom of the page.

New self-referral for Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy

From 15 June 2015 you can now self-refer for physiotherapy.

The service is for patients over 16 years with a musculoskeletal problem, who live and are registered with a GP within the South Eastern Trust area. You will be able to self-refer to the outpatient physiotherapy services using a number of different formats:-

- paper referral which can be obtained from your GP reception.

- Download and print a pdf referral form from the SET website.

- Complete an e-referral form which can be submitted online. This form can be found at www.setrust.hscni.net/services/physioform.htm

Bowel Screening

A new video about what happens at bowel screening has been produced by the Public Health Agency. It covers how to take the test, processing the samples at the laboratory, receiving your results and being called back to colonoscopy. It is hoped the video will help clear up confusion about how to take the test and clarify the process. The video is also available in British and Irish sign language and subtitled.

The video is on the Northern Ireland Cancer Screening Programmes website at the following link:

http://www.cancerscreening.hscni.net/2188.htm

With patient’s needs at the heart of everything we do, our website has been designed to make it easy for you to gain instant access to the information you need. As well as specific practice details such as opening hours and how to register, you’ll find a wealth of useful pages covering a wide range of health issues along with links to other relevant medical organisations. Please be aware that some of these links may direct you to NHS webpages with information more applicable to other parts of the UK. The Health and Social Care Board for Northern Ireland (HSC) have some information available online but the information available is not as comprehensive as the (English) NHS sites. We will try to update links appropriately as information is available.

Get Well, Keep Well

Of course we’re not just here for when you are unwell. Our team of healthcare professionals and back-up staff offer a number of clinics and services to promote good health and wellbeing whatever your medical condition.