Temporary List Suspension from Monday 20^th December 2020

Please note due to Bentley Village Practice closing in March 2022, to ensure the resilience of the surrounding practices is protected through the winter period and giving these practices time to plan for receiving Bentley Village Practice patients a temporary registration suspension is in place.  

If you are a registered patient at Bentley Village Practice, The Wilson Practice or Chawton Park Surgery you will be unable to register at Boundaries Surgery until April 2022.  The only exceptions are:

• Registration of new babies to those already registered
• Patients moving to a new address which puts them in a new practice boundary
• Care home resident registrations   

We thank you for your co-operation in this matter.

IMPORTANT NEWS FROM A31 PRIMARY CARE NETWORK

(Boundaries Surgery, Bentley Village Surgery, Chawton Park Surgery, The Wilson Practice)

You will have seen in the news recently that Covid cases are rising rapidly and the Prime Minister has set a very challenging target to offer all eligible adults a Covid booster by 31^st December. This includes all those aged 18 years and over who had their second vaccination on or before 8th October (12 weeks). For the North Hampshire area this is over 120,000 vaccinations! For us here in the A31 PCN (Primary Care Network), this is 11,800 people by 31 December 2021.

Having the booster is really important to maximise protection against the new Omicron variant. All NHS services, including local GP services, are now asked to urgently support increasing Covid booster delivery in the coming weeks.

This is a huge ask and we will do our utmost to protect as many people as possible with a booster vaccination in this very short time frame. Our plan is to increase the number of booster appointments available to three times that currently on offer.

GPs continue to work together across North Hampshire and we currently have the site at Jameson House in Chineham. Additionally, we now have new sites at the Hampshire Court Hotel in Chineham, Gillies Health Centre, Basingstoke & Whitewater Health in Hartley Witney. We are further supporting this effort by opening additional satellite clinics in Alton at The Wilson Practice and Chawton Park Surgery. The number of appointments we will be offering will not cover the 11,800 required so most boosters will still need to be undertaken at sites other than Alton. If you already have an appointment booked for your covid booster, it is really important that you keep that appointment.

Where and when these clinics are held will be driven by availability of workforce and vaccine supply. More details of all the clinic sites and how to book an appointment will follow shortly when arrangements are confirmed.

In order to release staff time to vaccinate, we will stop all routine work with immediate effect and redeploy some of our staff to deliver additional vaccinations. We will continue to prioritise people with urgent care needs or symptoms suggestive of cancer on a day-to-day basis. All our other available capacity will be refocused on Covid vaccinations. Please only contact your surgery if your needs are urgent.

Information on whether symptoms need urgent help can be found at https://111.nhs.uk

If you have an existing booking with your surgery, please do not cancel the appointment, it is our intention to still see those patients already booked in. Many of the appointments already booked are for flu immunisation. It is still really important to get you flu jab if you are eligible and as yet have not received it.

We will continue to keep the e-consult system open. However, after it has been reviewed by a clinician you may be asked to contact the practice again in the New Year.

Please do not telephone your surgery unless you have an urgent care need. We will invite all eligible patients to book a Covid booster appointmnet as soon as clinic arrangements are confirmed.

We thank you for your patience and support during this incredibly challenging time.

To support the national drive to offer a Covid booster to all eligible adults by 31st December, GPs across North Hampshire have taken steps to prioritise urgent work only in the coming weeks and to redeploy staff into the vaccine clinics. Additional pop-up clinics are being set up, including in Alton, and the number of appointments available across the area is set to increase to 300% of the previous capacity. Only those adults aged over 18 years who had a second dose of vaccine 12 weeks ago or more are eligible for a booster.

To make an appointment please contact us. We will actively contact patients in priority groups, who may not be able to book online, by telephone to ensure equity and inclusivity. Clinics will be for over 18s boosters only and we will be using the Moderna vaccine. It is safe to have Moderna regardless of whether you had Pfizer or Astra Zeneca before. There will be no need for you to wait in the clinic after getting your vaccination.

Where and when will the Alton Covid booster clinics be held?
Booster clinics will be held at The Wilson Practice, Anstey Road, GU34 2QX and Chawton Park Surgery, Chawton Park Road, GU34 1RJ on Monday 20th to Thursday 23rd December.

How can I book an appointment at one of these clinics?
If you are a registered patient at The Wilson Practice or Chawton Park Surgery, you can book online through the NHS App or your practice website.
If you are registered at Boundaries Surgery or Bentley Village Surgery, please contact your practice directly and they will check for booster appointment availability.

What are my other options for booster vaccination?
The booster clinics in Alton are additional to the other COVID-19 vaccine clinics across North Hampshire. If Alton is full please do not wait for an appointment to become available in Alton; instead take an appointment at one of the other clinics in North Hampshire such as Jameson House or Hampshire Court Hotel. If you already have an appointment booked for your COVID booster, it is really important you keep that appointment.

The A31 Group of Practices Primary Care Network covers approximately 32,000 patients registered with:
Bentley Village Surgery ~ Boundaries Surgery ~ Chawton Park Surgery ~ The Wilson Practice
There will be walk in vaccination clinics available at the following sites, open from 9am to 5pm on the 20th, 21st, 22nd and 23rd December. They will also be delivering Moderna vaccine only and therefore cannot accommodate under 18s due to licensing:

− Gillies Health Centre, Sullivan Road, Basingstoke, RG22 4EH
− Hook community Centre, Ravenscroft, Hook, RG27 9NN

What booster jab will be offered ?
The local Alton booster clinic can only offer Moderna vaccine at this time.
What if I had Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccine before?
You can have still have a Moderna booster.
Why can I not book an appointment in Alton or the walk-in clinics if I am under 18?
We only have Moderna vaccine at the booster clinic in Alton and at the walk-in clinics which is not licensed for under 18 years of age.
When can I have my booster jab ?
You need to wait 3 months from your second jab. Please do not try to book a booster before then as we cannot give it to you early. You will receive an invitation to get a booster when you become eligible. To be eligible for a booster by 31st December, you must have had your second dose on or before 8th October. If you have not received an invitation, you are not yet eligible and will not be able to book a booster appointment yet.
What if I have not been vaccinated yet ?
The Alton booster clinic is only offering booster jabs. If you have not completed your initial course of two covid jabs we cannot offer you that at the Alton clinic.

Since the summer, most of the UK has returned to business as usual after pandemic restrictions were lifted. However, in healthcare we’re not quite back to normal and we want to explain why. In Primary Care the Covid safety procedures set by the NHS that we must follow have not yet changed. This means that we still have to work with the limitations that the pandemic imposes. Public Health England also state that Primary Care must still continue to abide by social distancing and patients are to wear a mask when attending the surgery, unless exempt.

Our practice team is working exceptionally hard to fit everyone in as quickly and as safely as possible, including those who need urgent help and people who want to schedule in their regular appointments.

Unfortunately, our teams are beginning to face increased criticism from people frustrated that we have not been able to see them. We understand that this is a challenging time for everyone, but please be assured that we are doing everything we can to support you. 

Please continue to be kind and thank you for your understanding.

Please go to the Gov.uk website for details on how to demonstrate your coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination status to show that you have had a full course (two doses) of the COVID-19 vaccine and access this status when travelling abroad.

Phio

You can refer yourself to the musculoskeletal (MSK) service without having to see a GP, using Phio, a state-of-the-art digital assessment tool which is accessible, online, 24/7 (you must have access to a mobile phone to proceed with this).  Phio will take you through a series of questions, and will generate a referral to the MSK service where appropriate*.  After this is reviewed, you will be offered an appointment with the most appropriate service, such as telephone or face-to-face physiotherapy, or you may be invited for further assessment of your problem.

To get started with your assessment click the Phio link above.

*The majority of MSK problems can be self-referred, but some may require further assessment before a referral is appropriate, so you may be directed to see another healthcare professional first.

Why it is relevant to you: without effective antibiotics many routine treatments will become increasingly dangerous. Setting broken bones, basic operations, even chemotherapy and animal health all rely on access to antibiotics that work.

What we want you to do: To slow resistance we need to cut the unnecessary use of antibiotics. We invite the public, students and educators, farmers, the veterinary and medical communities and professional organisations, to become Antibiotic Guardians.

Call to action: Choose one simple pledge about how you’ll make better use of antibiotics and help save these vital medicines from becoming obsolete.

Find out more or to make a pledge go to:  https://antibioticguardian.com/