GP practice staff are asking for your patience and support as they work through their busiest ever period. General Practice is still open and staff are working harder than ever to make sure patients and the public are kept safe and that you continue to get the care that you need.

Whilst legal restrictions such as social distancing and wearing a face covering ended in July in many settings, they remain in healthcare settings to keep patients, the most vulnerable and staff safe. This includes GP practices, dental surgeries and hospitals.

It may take longer to get through to them and you may have to wait a little longer for a non-urgent appointment at this busy time, but practices are doing all they can to get to you as soon as they can.

Dr Rob Caudwell, local GP and chair of NHS Southport and Formby Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), said: “Additional safety measures, like wearing face coverings and limiting the number of people in practices at a time, are still in place for the NHS. This is to ensure that we can still provide effective services and keep our most vulnerable patients and staff protected.

“If your GP feels that a face-to-face appointment is required, this will be arranged for you and you will be seen by a GP or another appropriate member of clinical staff, which has been the case right the way through the pandemic. There are also pre-bookable appointments at evenings and weekends for those who need them. Simply ask at your practice for details.

“Most common conditions can be assessed and diagnosed by your GP via telephone or video consultation.”

Before the pandemic, our GP practices were already very busy. Now GPs are dealing with more patients than ever before. From January to June 2021 practices in Sefton organised a total of 824,422 appointments and prescription requests for Sefton residents, not including COVID-19 vaccination appointments.

The latest national GP patient survey that took place in March 2021 showed that over 80% of Sefton residents who took part, said their overall experience of their GP was good, and in some areas was above the national average. In addition, around 80% said they were satisfied with the appointment offered to them and over 95% said they had confidence and trust in their healthcare professional.

Dr Pete Chamberlain, local GP and chair at NHS South Sefton CCG, said: “GP practices are seeing a rise in demand which is higher than levels you would expect to see much later in the year during the traditionally busy winter period. We are working hard to treat patients as soon as we can and we ask for your patience while we do that.

“Most practices are still using a telephone first system to help manage the rising number of contacts, or asking patients to use their online service if possible, to ensure everyone gets the most appropriate support for their needs.

“As well as GPs and practice nurses, there are other health professionals like pharmacists, physiotherapists and social prescribers working to support our patients. Our receptionists’ role is to assign the right health professional for you, so they may need to ask some questions about your condition. They will treat your information in the same strict confidence that medical professionals do.

“This way of working is essential to helping us continue to provide our service, including seeing patients whose condition means they need to be seen by a GP.

“We’d like to thank all our patients for working with us throughout the pandemic and for still wearing face-coverings, following social distancing rules and for their continued kindness and support when using our services.”

Unfortunately, there has been a delay with the delivery of the vaccines for this year’s flu vaccination programme to the surgery.  Once we have received our supplies, we will contact you directly by phone or text to make you an appointment. However, if you have not been contacted by us by the first week in October, please contact the surgery for an update on the programme.

Our practice has recognised the importance of regularly monitoring patients who are suffering from Long Term Conditions. As a result, we have recently invited two specialists into the practice in order to provide face-to-face consultations. These clinics have helped to ensure that patients are on the optimal medication for their condition, they have also provided an opportunity to provide patients with useful lifestyle advice which will benefit their health and quality of life.

Recently the practice has reviewed patients who are suffering from Type 2 Diabetes and patients who have a condition called Atrial Fibrillation.

Diabetes Clinic

As part of our practice’s goal to improve the quality of services we provide our patients, we recently invited Diabetes Specialist Nurse, Philippa Ryan into the surgery to hold a series of specialist Type 2 Diabetes clinics.

Type 2 Diabetes is a serious condition which affects the way the body processes glucose. If it is not managed properly patients are at increased risk of heart disease, kidney failure and lower limp amputation among other things. The practice reviewed its patient list and identified all of those patients who are currently finding it difficult to manage their condition effectively. Each patient was invited to a consultation with Philippa where she discussed their condition, provided them with lifestyle advice and recommended changes to therapy if this was required. She also provided each patient with literature from Diabetes UK which will help to support them to make the right lifestyle changes in future.

Our Practice Nurse, Catherine Rooney supported the Diabetes Nurse Specialist with the clinics. This gave Catherine a fantastic opportunity to avail of education surrounding the management of Type 2 Diabetes first hand. As a result, the on-going management of our Type 2 Diabetes patients will be improved through the upskilling of our Practice Nurse.

Atrial Fibrillation Clinic

Atrial Fibrillation (AF) is a medical condition which places patients at a high risk of an AF-related stroke. However, the risk of suffering from a debilitating stroke is significantly reduced if the patient receives anticoagulation medication.

To improve the quality of life of our patients who are ently in AF, we decided to identify those patients who are suffering from AF but who are not currently being anti-coagulated. These patients were invited to a face-to-face review with Consultant Cardiologist Joe Mills who works for Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital. Mr Mills reviewed each of the patients with the practice during a specialist AF clinic.

Patients had the opportunity to discuss their condition with him in detail and decide upon the best anticoagulation therapy for them.

Mr Mills also reviewed a small number of patients who are currently on anticoagulation therapy, but who are not ‘within range’. This means that although they are receiving medication, a number of lifestyle factors mean that they are not been effectively anti-coagulated. During these consultations, Mr Mills provided patients with lifestyle advice to help them manage their condition, in some cases, their therapy was changed if deemed appropriate.

During the AF clinics, GPs within the practice availed of education around AF and its management. This means that going forward, new patients who are diagnosed with AF will be able to receive evidence-based best practice on how their condition should be treated.

On 29^th February 2016, NHS England appointed an Interim Provider to lead the practice and manage all patient services until 31^st March 2017.

NHS England appointed the provider following a very comprehensive and strong application that focused on delivering improvements to the practice including clinical governance, staff training and development, quality, service provision and patient care.

The practice would like to reassure patients (and their carers) that the key objective during the interim period is to provide safe, high quality services that meets the health needs of the patient people.

The practice is holding a patient and public information and listening event; the aim of this event is for the new provider to meet, engage and listen to patients. As a patient you would have received a letter of invitation to this event; further details are below:

Date: Thursday 7th April

Venue: The Venue Room, first floor, at Maghull Town Hall, Hall

Lane, Maghull, Liverpool, L31 7BB

Start Time: 6.30pm

End Time:  8:30pm

To register your attendance to this event please call 0151 363 6100

We will be closed every last Wednesday at the end of the month for staff training.

The practice will be open for business as usual for the rest of the days.