Latest News

Covid & Flu Clinics

If you are eligible, please remember to book your flu and covid vaccinations. We are constantly adding new appointments, therefore, if you have received a booking link from our on line system ‘’Patchs’’, keep checking link for appointment availability.

Alternatively you can contact the surgery on our dedicated vaccination booking line by pressing option 1 whilst the line is open between 9:30am 3:30pm Monday-Friday.

Park Surgery Update

You may be aware that a vehicle collided with Park Surgery last year and since then business as usual operations were impacted. The incident has meant that our reception and patient waiting area were restricted and therefore we were operating at the site with reduced clinics.

We are now pleased to report the site is now open and fully operational. As part of the repairs, we needed to ensure that the access to the surgery was compliant with appropriate legislation which meant that we needed to make significant changes to the entrance of the building.

The care of our patients has always been our first priority and by ensuring the new entry way was completed correctly the first time ensured we can offer all of our patients the correct level of access required. We thank you for your patience during this time of ongoing building works.

We hope you enjoy our new look entry way and continue to benefit from the services we provide from Park surgery and GPS healthcare.

Medication for Flight Anxiety

We are often asked to prescribe benzodiazepines for fear of flying, the most common request is for a medication called Diazepam. 

There are several good reasons why prescribing benzodiazepines for these purposes are not deemed safe and is no longer recommended. We at GPS, have taken the decision to put our patients’ safety first and will no longer issue prescriptions for these reasons: 

• Benzodiazepines such as Diazepam and other sedative drugs are no longer recommended for treatment of phobias because other treatments are safer and more effective. 

• Benzodiazepines are sedating, which means they can slow reaction times. If there is an emergency during a flight, it may affect your ability to concentrate, follow instructions and react to the situation. This could have serious safety consequences for yourself and others on the flight. 

• The sedative effects of these drugs can affect breathing and cause low oxygen levels, which could be life-threatening, especially with the lower circulating oxygen levels on an aeroplane, in people with breathing problems or when combined with alcohol. 

• Sedative drugs do not induce natural sleep. This means you won’t move around as much as during natural sleep, and this can increase the risk of developing a blood clot (DVT). Blood clots are dangerous and can be fatal. This risk is greater if the flight is longer than four hours. 

• Whilst most people find medicines such as diazepam sedating, a small number of people become agitated, aggressive or confused. These medicines can also cause disinhibition and lead to abnormal behaviours. This could impact your safety as well as that of other passengers. 

• According to the British National Formulary, diazepam is not recommended in treating phobic states. It also states that “the use of benzodiazepines to treat short-term ‘mild’ anxiety is inappropriate.”  They are only licensed short term for a crisis in generalised anxiety so prescribing outside of this increases personal risk to the prescriber. 

• NICE guidelines suggest that these medications are only advised for short-term use for a crisis in generalised anxiety disorder, in which case a person is not fit to fly. Fear of flying in isolation is not a generalised anxiety disorder. 

For the reasons outlined above, there will be no exceptions to this policy. Patient UK has links to access Cognitive Behavioural Therapy which is more effective, especially when combined with education. There is also guidance from airlines on the management of flight related anxiety. 

How to manage a fear of flying and flying anxiety (patient.info)

This policy applies to requests for medication prior to a procedure. If the request has been made by a secondary care provider, please get in touch with them to discuss further. If the procedure or scan has been requested by a clinician at GPS, you may request to discuss this with them, in which case please get in touch for an appointment. 

AccuRx Decommissioning

Many of you will be aware that we have been piloting the use of a new digital system called Patchs to manage our online requests such as submitting a medical or admin request. We have continued to use our existing system called Accurx for our SMS messaging, questionnaires and appointment booking links which you may have received from us during the trial.

Our aim has been to open an additional means of contacting the practice to provide more flexibility to our patients who may not be able to call us or attend the surgery.

The detailed level of information that Patchs provides to our team of clinicians helps to ensure that everyone is seen by the right person in a timely manner. It also preserves on-the-day capacity for those who really need it and helps us to signpost you to additional external services that may be more appropriate for your needs.

We are now in the position where we need to move to a single system for digital communications. Therefore on 02/07/24, we will be decommissioning Accurx at GPS Healthcare and moving solely to Patchs.

What will this mean to you?

Patchs offers very similar functionality to Accurx in terms of sending SMS messages, questionnaires and appointment booking links. They will still be sent to you via text message or email (depending on your chosen contact preferences), and you will still have the option to click a link to reply to us, complete a questionnaire or select an appointment from a drop-down list. However, the format of the message may look slightly different.

We want to make you aware of this change as sometimes it can be difficult to trust an unfamiliar text message, especially ones containing links to click.

Please see the image below to see an example of how a text message from us will look like.

After you click the link, you will be asked to consent to using Patchs and confirm your date of birth as an additional security check, then you can read or respond to the message (where required).

Below is an example image of what it will look like when you receive a message from us via email through Patchs:

As with the text message, you will be asked to consent to using Patchs and enter your date of birth then you can read or respond to the message (where required).

We are driving this change in our digital systems not to alienate anyone or avoid speaking to you over the telephone but to try to keep up with the increasing demand we are facing for our services. We want to make ourselves as accessible as possible for as many people as possible, providing more flexibility to fit in with their lifestyles. By directing those who can, to use online services, those of us who cannot reach us more easily by telephone.

If you have queries or concerns about how you receive our messages or would like to know more about how to access our digital services, please visit our website or contact a member of the GPS Team.

Further to this message, we will also be sending out test communications via Patchs in the coming weeks so that you know what to expect in the future.

We would also like to take the opportunity to thank you for your patience and perseverance through this time of digital change. We do understand for some, it is not easy to transition into digital services. We would like to encourage those of you who have not already accessed our services via Patchs or the NHS App to please do so, as it will benefit you through having increased access to NHS services going forward.

Measles outbreak

As you may have seen from the news and social media there are a rising number of measles cases in the UK, including Birmingham and the Solihull area.

Measles is very contagious and can cause serious illness and complications. Vulnerable groups include unvaccinated individuals, pregnant women, immunocompromised patients and the chronically ill. These groups are more at risk of developing severe complications.

Measles is a preventable illness and all children should receive 2 doses of the MMR vaccine (Measles, Mumps and Rubella) at age one year and at around three and a half years old. Adults can also receive the MMR vaccine if they have not had the illness as a child (this will ensure natural immunity) or have not had 2 measles containing vaccines if they are concerned about their risks.

If your child has had 2 doses of MMR then it is very unlikely that they will catch measles.

Please see the NHS Website: Measles - NHS (www.nhs.uk) for further information.
 
If you think your child may have measles or has been in close contact with someone who has suspected or confirmed measles DO NOT attend the surgery.

Please telephone for advice. You may need to isolate for up to 14 days if you or your child is unvaccinated.

Please book an appointment with one of our nurses if your child is unvaccinated or has not had 2 doses and you would now like them to have the MMR. 

If you are unsure if you or your child has had 2 doses of measles containing vaccines, please check children’s red vaccination book or email your queries to the surgery.

Please do not telephone the surgery for vaccination queries as this can block the telephone lines.

NEW ONLINE CONSULTATION SERVICE

We have recently started trialing a new online consultation system called Patchs, this is available via our website appointment booking page.

You can request an appointment or make an admin request, such as asking for a Dr's letter.  These requests will either be reviewed by a clinicial or the most appropriate member of the team within 48 hours of being received.

Whilst testing the product there will only be a limited number of requests available, which we will increase during the trial.  Please leave feedback on how you find the system so we can improve your experience.

Avoid the 8am phone queue by booking online!

PPG Meeting is for PPG Members only and not for all patients

We have been made aware that there is a social media group where patient's believe there is a PPG meeting on 18th September and that they can attend in person, unfortunately this is not the case. There is no meeting on the 18th of September.

PPG meeting is between PPG members and GPS Healthcare staff and members of the public cannot attend unless they are a member.

If you would like to become a member of the PPG please follow the links at the top of the website to join.

Scheduled IT system works

Park Surgery Update

We are now able to offer patients who are registered at Park surgery and are finding it difficult to attend our other sites a limited service at Park surgery.

Your ongoing co-operation is gratefully appreciated whilst we continue to work through the issue following the incident at the site, all other patients will continue to be offered full other services at our other GPS sites. This limited service will resumne on 29th August.

Living With Diabetes Day

NHS Birmingham and Solihull and Diabetes UK will be holding a Living with Diabetes Day. This is a one day event devoted to promoting a healthy and fulfilled lifestyle to people living with diabetes, their family and carers.

Living With Diabetes Day.pdf

NEW APPOINTMENT SYSTEM - UPDATE

New Appointment System

On Tuesday 4 July we will be trialling a new appointment system which provides a greater emphasis of on the day appointments and clinical triage. 

Nothing changes in respect of how you contact the surgery to make an appointment.  After all initial appointments have been booked, you will go through a triage process with one of our experienced clinicians to ascertain the next steps in respect of your care.  We hope that the trial will maximise the number of appointments we can offer and patients we can support, ensuring that you receive the right care from the right person at the right time. Once our triage system is at capacity you will be signposted by the reception team to the most appropriate service.

We will quickly evaluate the trial to understand what worked well and what we may need to change, with a view to implementing on a more permanent basis in early July.  We will provide further updates after the trial is complete.

We welcome any feedback you may have – please contact us on: contact.gps@nhs.net

Village Surgery Update

There are changes to be aware of for our Village patients regarding the surgery.

Please see below document for information about this change.

Village Surgery Update.pdf

We will be available at Cheswick Village Hall on Tuesday 11^th April 19:00 to answer questions for patients that usually visit Village Surgery.

HRT News

NHS App

If you’re a patient at our practice you can now use the new NHS App, a simple and secure way to access a range of NHS services on your smartphone or tablet.

You can use the NHS App to get health advice, book appointments, order repeat prescriptions, view your GP health record and more.

If you already use SytmOnline, you can continue to use it. You can use the NHS App as well.

For more information go to www.nhs.uk/nhsapp.

Face Masks Are Still Encouraged Within The Practice

Covid Recovery Support

Still struggling with the effects of Covid? Please see leaflet for some useful resources to help with your recovery.

Covid Recovery Information

Book for your Cervical Smear!

If I die, it will be your fault

Please be aware of how your words and action affect others. In a world where you can be anything, be kind. Please see tha campaign here