There have been a lot of news reports recently about the Government’s COVID 19 Response Winter Plan.  For more information on our understanding the current situation, please visit our Coronavirus 2021 Vaccine Information Page.

Please don’t contact the Surgery.  Be assured that you will be contacted if and when it is your turn to receive further vaccinations.  In the meantime, we can only administer the vaccine when we receive supplies and are authorised to administer it.  And we will only be sent small amounts each week.

please keep an eye on our website www.myvaccination.co.uk, our social media pages or – for those who don’t have access to digital sources of information, our Community Vaccination Information Line number is 01202 283695.

Please choose the right healthcare service in Dorset. Get the right treatment, in the right place, at the right time.

If you’re unwell and are unsure about where to go, visit  NHS 111 online or call 111.

At this very busy time, your 111 call may take a little longer to answer than usual but staff will get to you as quickly as possible. Please be patient and choose the right care.

For ongoing or non-urgent concerns please contact us or your local pharmacist for advice.

Only call 999 in a medical emergency. This is when someone is seriously ill or injured and their life is at risk.

Thank you for your support.

We are delighted to announce that from today, Wednesday 8^th September, our colleagues at Citizens Advice are re-starting in person Outreach sessions at our surgeries.   A Citizens Advice caseworker will offer free, individual, face to face, confidential advice to our registered patients Wednesday mornings on rotational basis. For more information on dates and how to book,please visit our Citizens Advice GP sessions web page:>>

Booking Citizens Advice appointments at our Cranborne or Lake Road surgeries are only available to patients registered with our Practice.

We have made me aware that fraudsters sending emails purporting to be from the NHS, are taking advantage of people’s excitement for their holidays by inviting them to apply for a COVID-19 travel certificate.

The scammers have sent emails with links that ask recipients to accept or decline the invitation within a short timeframe.  These emails are fake, and the links within them lead to genuine-looking websites that steal your personal and financial information.

We’re aware of the planned move to lifting the remaining COVID restrictions in England from the 19th of July.  However, we will continue to ask that face-coverings are worn and social distancing rules followed.

Guidance from NHS England is that these measures should remain in place across healthcare settings so that the most vulnerable people can continue to attend healthcare appointments safely when required.

We are acting very cautiously with NO CHANGE to social distancing, face coverings and PPE for healthcare staff, and we are asking our visitors to do the same.  Please remember:

• Do not attend the surgery unless you have been offered an appointment.
• If you are asked to attend, please wear a mask, use the hand sanitiser provided and practice social distancing when required.
• Most importantly, do NOT come to the surgery if you have symptoms of coronavirus or are self-isolating.

In the interests of patient and staff safety, GP consultations will continue to be provided by triage and telephone appointments in the first instance, with face-to-face appointments offered where there is a clinical reason.

Following patient feedback, we have updated our new website to make it easier for patients to access eConsult to request a review for a long term health conditions such as Asthma, Blood or Diabetes.

Reviews are a way of letting us know how you're managing with your long term condition, your contraception, or your medication.

We offer the ability to request a Review using eConsult  for the following:

• Asthma review
• Blood Pressure review
• COPD review
• Contraceptive Pill review
• Depression or anxiety review
• Diabetes review
• HRT review
• Medication review
• Thyroid review

Only complete a review if you've been asked to do so by us.

For the latest on the local Community Vaccination Programme including COVID-19, please follow this link to our COVID Vaccines page>> .  Or telephone our Community Vaccination Information line on 01202 283695.

Not everyone has access to online sources of information, so we have also launched the Cranborne Practice Vaccination Information Line.   Call 01202 283695 to hear a range of options and answers to vaccination-related questions you may have. This line is charged at your local call rate. There may be a time when the line is busy; you will be invited to call back in such instances. This helpline is designed to support people who do not have access to the internet.

Please do not contact the  surgery about your COVID-19 vaccination status.  Like all GP Surgeries, we cannot provide letters showing your COVID-19 vaccination status.  However patients are now able to access proof of your COVID-19 vaccination status using the NHS App.   For more information about how to get online and access the NHS App follow this link to the section on Your Vaccination Status section on our COVID Vaccines 2021 page>>

Patients may be aware from recent news reports of the planned data extraction from GP systems across England referred to as General Practice Data for Planning and Research Data Collection (GPDfPR).   The Practice will be legally required by the Secretary of State to allow the extraction by NHS Digital and the data is extracted centrally by NHS Digital.  The initial go live date for data collection has been postponed from 1 July 2021 to 1 September 2021.   For more information on this please follow this link to our Data Choices page>>.  

The practice is required by the Government under the terms of the latest GP contract to allocate all patients a named accountable GP. Individual patients will be informed of their named accountable GP at the first appropriate interaction with the practice. For convenience, if you have a medical card your Accountable GP will be the named doctor you are registered with.

Patients registering over the last 2-3 years will not have received a medical card as these are no longer routinely sent when registering with a new GP. However, the practice does keep a record of your registered (accountable) GP. If you wish to be told the name of your Accountable GP, please ask the receptionists when you are next in the surgery.

Please note: there is no need to telephone the practice for this information. Where a patient expresses a preference as to which GP they have been assigned, the practice will make reasonable efforts to accommodate this request. Having a named GP does not prevent you from seeing any other doctor in the practice. Your named GP will not be available at all times and if your needs are urgent, you may need to discuss them with an alternative doctor.

The Dorset Care Record is a new, confidential computer record that will, over time, include a range of health and social care shared information to help improve the care you receive.  The DCR is a safe way to keep all of your health information in one place. This means that it is easier and quicker for GP's, Nurses, and Social Workers to give you the right care.

If you have not already been given a booklet, then please ask Reception for a copy. Further information is also available by following this link:>>Welcome to the Dorset Care Record. 

The vaccination jabs that children receive in their early years – between birth and when they first go to school – are very important in helping them build protection against infections such as meningitis, diphtheria, polio, measles, and mumps. 

These diseases are in circulation and an infection can cause serious complications, particularly for a child.  But it is not only the child who is protected, vaccination programmes protect the whole population by making it harder for a disease to spread to others. 

It is particularly important that children are fully up-to-date with all their jabs before they start school for the first time, which is when they come into contact with more potential sources of infection.

The vast majority of parents do ensure their child has been fully protected, but there are many children who are missing doses and are therefore at risk.

 More information is available on the NHS Choices website, and if in any doubt that your child is missing important vaccinations you should speak to one of our Receptionists to check your child’s immunisations are up-to-date.

The Cranborne Practice no longer prescribes Over the Counter medicines for a range of minor health conditions, as the NHS currently spends £136 million on prescriptions for medicines such as Paracetamol that can be bought over the counter at Pharmacies and Supermarkets. 

By reducing the amount the NHS spends on OTC medicines, the NHS can give priority to treatments for people with more serious conditions, such as cancer, diabetes, and mental health problems.

Please click here for more information and a list of minor health conditions you can buy over the counter medicines for.