Welcome to Church Lane Surgery
CORONAVIRUS COVID-19
If you have symptoms of:
New cough, fever, loss of taste / smell
DO NOT COME TO THE SURGERY
but instead immediately:
self isolate for 7 days, avoiding contact with other people.
WE HAVE TAKEN THE DECISION TO KEEP THE SURGERY DOOR LOCKED DURING THIS PANDEMIC TO KEEP OUR STAFF SAFE AND WELL AND TO KEEP FOOTFALL TO A MINIMUM. IF YOUR QUERY CAN BE DEALT WITH OVER THE TELEPHONE, PLEASE RING 01484 714349.
WE THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE.
THE DOCTORS
SHEILDING LETTERS- PLEASE READ THE INFORMATION BELOW.
The registry of clinically highest risk patients does not include all people eligible for the flu jab, only a very specific subset of people considered at highest risk of severe illness and hospitalisation from COVID-19. It does not include people who may be vulnerable, at risk or needing support for other reasons.
Most patients in the highest clinical risk group, who have been advised to shield, have been identified and contacted by letter either centrally by the NHS or by secondary care clinicians. In the forthcoming week we expect more people to be identified as the UK government are validating the centrally-held list against general practice data and secondary care clinicians are reviewing people with severe specific diseases. People identified through these processes will be sent a letter in the post identifying that they are in the highest risk group and these will also be flagged in our GP system. These patients are being asked to "shield" until the end of July'20.
Shielding minimises all interaction between those at highest clinical risk meaning that people have very little or no contact with others. People who are shielding should not leave their home to go for a walk or to go to the shops, They should also avoid contact with others within their home wherever possible and maintaining 2-metre social distancing within the home.
You are receiving this information as you have expressed that you may be self-identifying as being in the highest clinical risk group. The group includes:
Category 1 - Solid organ transplant recipients
Category 2 -People with specific cancers
People with cancer and are having chemotherapy
People with lung cancer and are having radical radiotherapy
People with cancers of the blood or bone marrow such as leukaemia, lymphoma or myeloma who are at any stage of treatment
People having immunotherapy or other continuing antibody treatments for cancer
People having other targeted cancer treatments which can affect the immune system, such as protein kinase inhibitors or PARP inhibitors.
People who have had bone marrow or stem cell transplants in the last 6 months, or who are still taking immunosuppression drugs.
Category 3 - People with severe respiratory conditions including all cystic fibrosis, severe asthma and severe COPD
Category 4 - People with rare diseases and inborn errors of metabolism that significantly increase the risk of infections (such as SCID. homozygous sickle cell disease)
Category 5 - People on immunosuppression therapies sufficient to significantly increase risk of infection
Category 6 - People who are pregnant with significant heart disease, congenital or acquired
Having read this list, if you consider yourself to be amongst the highest clinical risk group and have not yet been contacted by ourselves nor the UK government then please contact the surgery.
Those patients who are considered to not be the highest clinical risk group do not need to shield. If they nevertheless wish to follow shielding advice, this is a personal decision that patients are, of course, free to make and follow as far as possible. However, the UK government suggest that people who are not included in the shielding group but who are on the broader list of conditions, follow strict social distancing measures instead (broadly the adult group eligible for a free annual flu vaccine). A list of these conditions and more advice on social distancing is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-on-social-distancing-and-for-vulnerable-people/guidance-on-social-distancing-for-everyone-in-the-uk-and-protecting-older-people-and-vulnerable-adults
https://wsp.psf-live.co.uk/1013/#/portal
