Burnley Group Practice

· Across Lancashire and South Cumbria we are taking urgent action to rearrange some routine blood tests so that we can make sure testing is prioritised for those who absolutely need it.
· A supplier to the NHS has advised us of a global shortage of some equipment used for taking blood tests.
· Anyone who needs a test for urgent health problems will still get one. Where your clinician recommends that it’s safe to do so you may be asked to come back for a test at a later date, or your appointment may be rescheduled.
· Given the nature of the shortage, we cannot give an exact date for when the test will be rescheduled, but please be assured that if your condition or symptoms require it, then you will get a test, and we will be re-booking your test when supplies become more easily available.
· If your condition or symptoms change or get worse, please contact the NHS as you would normally.

We are now in receipt of our children’s nasal flu vaccines, these are for: 

• All children who are aged 2-3 on 31^stAugust (born between 1^st September 2017 and 31^st August 2019)

        and:

• children who are in a clinical risk group and aged 4-17 (born before 31^stAugust 2017 and aged 17 or younger), but children who are eligible to have them done at school should do 

Clinics are being added and these will be available to book online, please wait for a text message or email invite, if you’re ringing us for another reason, please ask to book your child’s appointment

Injectable flu vaccines have been delayed, we are still waiting for confirmation of our delivery dates, we hope that this will be early October, but we can’t put clinics on until this is confirmed, thank you for your patience

Covid boosters - we have been informed that we will be giving Covid boosters, and that these can be given with flu vaccines, we are currently looking at the logistics of this, and will be in touch in due course

PLEASE ENSURE THAT WE HAVE AN UP TO DATE MOBILE NUMBER AND EMAIL ADDRESS, WE WILL BE IN TOUCH ONCE OUR CLINICS ARE OPEN FOR BOOKING

Infection prevention control guidelines to remain in place

The highest priority for the NHS remains the safety of staff, patients and visitors.

While COVID restrictions will end in many settings in England from 19 July, everyone accessing or visiting healthcare settings must continue to wear a face covering (unless they are exempt) and follow social distancing rules.

Public Health England’s infection prevention control guidelines and hospital visiting guidance are therefore set to remain in place for all staff and visitors and across all health services including hospitals, GP practices, dentists, optometrists and pharmacies to ensure patients and staff are protected.

Read the infection prevention control guidance in full at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/wuhan-novel-coronavirus-infection-prevention-and-control

Telephone Lines – Statement from the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG)

We are aware that some of our patients have been experiencing difficulties in contacting their GP practice by telephone. On behalf of the affected GP practices, we apologise for the inconvenience that these patients have experienced. CCG colleagues have been working hard to support GP practices and the telephony provider to resolve the issues and a replacement system has now been put in place, despite delays caused by Covid 19. It does appear that the new system is now stabilising following the migration, although there have been a few teething problems which our support services acknowledge have caused issues for some patients; they are working to stabilise this. Our monitoring shows that the number of issues reported is now significantly reduced. Practices will explore how best to organise their workforce during periods of high demand. In addition, the CCG are working with stakeholders to explore options for telephony across Lancashire and South Cumbria, in the future, taking into account the latest digital technologies. We would kindly ask that callers continue to be patient with their GP practices, particularly during peak periods while the system stabilises. GP practices in Pennine Lancashire have provided a high quality service throughout the Covid 19 Pandemic and their dedicated staff continue to work extremely hard to organise and respond to high demand, as a result of patients feeling more confident to seek healthcare.