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Throughout the pandemic we have strived to make the surgery as safe as possible for all our patients and staff. We will continue to do so going forward.

From the 19th July nothing will change at the surgery – patients will need to still wear a mask, socially distance and use hand sanitiser in the surgery and staff will continue to wear PPE.  We do understand that it can be frustrating but we know that when people come to us they are sick and vulnerable (and some cannot receive the COVID vaccinations due to medical reasons) so we feel it would be wrong to not take these small precautions that can protect people.  

In terms of opening up, as many of you know, we have never been shut and in fact have consulted with much higher numbers of patients than we did pre-COVID (face to face, by phone, by e consult and by video), not counting vaccinating 90% of the adult population twice in the last 6 months.

The local community has come so far in trying to minimise the impact of COVID and we are sure you understand that we need to keep the surgery as safe for ALL patients as we can.

As of 5th July the dispensary at the Pontesbury Site will temporarily have altered opening times as follows –

Open 8:45 – 12:30

CLOSED 12:30 – 14:30

Open 14:30 – 18:30

Monday – Friday

Many thanks for your cooperation

Patients who were previously registered with Worthen surgery before the merger are now able to collect their prescriptions from either Pontesbury or Worthen site. Please note that if you now wish to collect your prescriptions from Pontesbury, you will need to order your prescriptions monthly by using one of the following methods:

1. Put your b-side (copy in your medication bag) into the prescription box on the wall outside the surgery 4 working days before you would like to collect your medication.

2. Download the NHS app where you can request medication online

3. Patient Online Access. Competed an online access form and bring into surgery with some two forms of ID, 1 photo ID and 1 address. The team will then get in touch with your log-in details and you will be able to request medication online. You can pick up an online access form from Pontesbury or Worthen site, or email contact.pontesbury@nhs.net and we will be able to email the form to you.

Please click on the following link for more information on Summary Care Record and how you can opt out if you don’t want your identifiable patient data to be shared for purposes except for your own care.

As a practice we are aware of the communication from NHSE and media regarding the opening up of GP receptions and appointments as of Monday 17th May. As a practice we are reviewing how we can maximise patient access, whilst maintaining safety for patients and staff safely as guidance changes.

At Pontesbury & Worthen Medical Practice we have continued to work and support patients throughout the whole of the pandemic and continue to respond to unprecedented levels of demand. In the period March and April 2021 alone we have dealt with more calls than in any other period on record, and as a practice will continue to meet the needs of our patients as best we can, whilst continuing to support the COVID Vaccination programme.

In the short term we will continue to monitor access to the premises, but will now start to offer pre-bookable appointments again. We will closely monitor this in order to ensure patients are treated in the most appropriate way.

We can confirm that face to face appointments HAVE continued throughout the whole of the pandemic, however we reinforce that this is following a triage first service in order to maintain the best interests of both patients and staff.

As we approach coming out of lockdown the appointment system will be changing at the surgery over the forthcoming weeks. There will be more choice with reintroducing both pre bookable face to face and telephone appointments with same day appointments remaining available. Please do not attend the surgery if you have any Covid symptoms.

Pontesbury Medical Practice and Worthen Medical Practice formally merged to form the new Pontesbury and Worthen Medical Practice on 1st April 2021. There has been a huge amount of “behind the scenes” work by our management teams and GPs to make this merger a success, and that work is ongoing. Our aim being to build on the successes in delivering high quality primary care services achieved by both practices, and ensure that we continue have a resilient and future-proof local service for our patients.

For technical and logistical reasons, a full integration of our IT systems can only occur after a short time has elapsed. So for the early weeks in April, patients will notice little difference other than seeing some new faces at both sites.

Once we have our IT and communications fully integrated at the end of this month, the benefits of the merger will become more obvious to our patients. With an integrated booking system, patients will have a broader choice of clinicians, and the option of appointments with clinicians at either site where necessary.

Our dispensary integration will improve efficiency and responsiveness, with all of the repeat medications being prepared at our large dispensary on the Pontesbury site. Patients who have previously collected their medication from Worthen will continue to do so should they choose to. Urgently required prescriptions issued in surgery at Worthen will continue to be dispensed at the time from Worthen.

Both surgeries have experienced unprecedented levels of demand for appointments over the last 12 months, and this continues to make keeping up with demand extremely challenging. The COVID 19 pandemic has led to a large number of hospital appointments being cancelled and those patients affected are requiring significant additional Primary Care support.  We have been extremely grateful not only for the support and understanding of our patients throughout the COVID 19 pandemic, but also for the widespread enthusiasm and constructive contributions to our merger.

Our vision is to provide our patients with outstanding Primary Care Services and to ensure our access and service standards exceed all expectations.

We will provide services on both sites throughout the week and with our combined strengths will offer a broader range of choices for patients. Our combined office functions will be more efficient and effective and our broad range of clinicians will provide you with a holistic range of medical assessments and treatments according to your need.