The Orchard Medical Practice

Update 22nd January 2020

Covid Vaccinations - Patients aged 75 and older and those Shielding

We are delighted to have started our COVID19 Vaccination Clinics for patients.

GPs have been asked to provide vaccines for those aged 80 and over, moving on to those aged 75 – 79 and then those who are shielding.

You can find out more about the priority groups by clicking here.

All other groups will be offered appointments via Health Board run services by letter.

The delivery of the vaccine is in small batches and we are not certain when these will arrive. As soon as we have supplies of vaccine our team will contact you to arrange an appointment.

There is no need for you to contact the practice as we will be in touch with those eligible. If you have any questions about the COVID Vaccine, please visit NHS Inform by clicking here, or call the national helpline 0800 030 8013 which is open from 8am to 8pm, seven days a week

Update - 5th January 2020

Covid Vaccinations - Patients aged 80 and over

We are awaiting a delivery date for vaccines for our patients aged 80 and over. As soon as we receive confirmation of this we will contact patients by phone and invite them into a clinic.

GP Practices are only vaccinating patients in the over 80 age group. NHS Lothian will contact all other patients inviting them to attend for their vaccination. The current prioritisation list for the roll out of the vaccine is as follows:

1. Residents in a care home for older adults and their carers

2. All those 80 years of age and over and frontline health and social care workers

3. All those 75 years of age and over

4. All those 70 years of age and over and clinically extremely vulnerable individuals

5. All those 65 years of age and over

6. All individuals aged 16 years to 64 years with underlying health conditions which put them at higher risk of serious disease and mortality

7. All those 60 years of age and over

8. All those 55 years of age and over

9. All those 50 years of age and over

For more information on the vaccine roll out please check the NHS inform website www.nhsinform.scot

December 2020 - Flu Vaccination Update

If you are aged 60 or over, or have a child aged 6-24 months or aged 12-17 who are in an AT RISK group please phone the practice on 01620 825497 to arrange an appointment for a flu vaccination

If you are aged 18-64 and are in an AT RISK group, or if you are a household member of a patient who was shielding please phone the CTAC which is based at East Lothian Community Hospital 0131 446 4227 to arrange an appointment

If your Primary School aged child missed their appointment at school, please contact the practice on 01620 825 497 to arrange an appointment

If you have any further questions about flu vaccinations please contact us on 01620 825497

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Update 3 June 2020

Repeat Prescription Requests by Phone

Please note that from Monday 8^th June, we will no longer be accepting requests for repeat prescriptions over the phone. There are a number of alternative ways to order your repeat prescription:

Use our practice website online repeat ordering service https://orchardmedprac.secure-gpsite.scot.nhs.uk/repeat-prescriptions,67869.htm

If you have a username and password already set up, use our Vision Online Services to re order

Email your request to S76103.Prescriptions@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk

Speak to your preferred Pharmacy to order on your behalf or ask them to consider you for their Medication Care and Review Service

We are unable to accept paper requests for prescriptions at this time.

Please share this information widely with your friends and family

Coronavirus Update 16 April 2020

The practice is still open and we are here to deal with any non COVID 19 related issues. We have changed the way we deal with the majority of patient contacts and are now consulting over the phone or using video consultations. This is to reduce the number of pateints coming into the practice so that we may minimise the risk of infection to our doctors and staff. However, if the GP feels that you need to be examined or seen in person, you will be asked to attend. If you need advice on any non COVID 19 related issues please contact the practice on

01620 825497

We have produced an information video for our pateints to update you on the services being provided in the practice here

Covid 19 hubs have been set up across NHS Lothian to deal with phone enquiries relating to Coronavirus and to arrange face to face assessment for severe cases.
...

Please access this service via NHS 24 on 111
But only after you have checked the information on https://www.nhsinform.scot/…/infection…/coronavirus-covid-19
This service is available 24 hours a day and is staffed by medical professionals across NHS Lothian.

Your usual Practice staff are key workers and are still responsible for day to day routine medical care of the patients registered with their practice and can be contacted on the usual practice phone number Mon -Friday 8am-6pm.
Please contact us with non covid related health queries. We will attempt to deal with as much as possible by telephone or video consultation to reduce practice footfall and keep our vulnerable patients safe.

Many of you in high risk groups will receive a letter from the Scottish Gvmt explaining to you about ‘shielding’ We will be contacting our most vulnerable patients to discuss this; however if you have pressing questions or concerns please contact us.

We also hope to ensure that our most vulnerable patients have Key Information electronic Summaries of their clinical record. These contain accessible and helpful information regarding anticipatory care or advanced directives that you may wish to share with all health professionals involved in your care now or in the future.
If there is information that you wish to share with your GP in this regard please contact the practice and ask for a telephone review .
For more information about this please see

https://ihub.scot/…/ant…/anticipatory-care-planning-toolkit/

See more

ihub.scot

Anticipatory Care Planning

Anticipatory Care Planning (ACP) is about individual people thinking ahead and understanding their health. The ACP Toolkit empowers…

Anticipatory Care Planning (ACP) is about individual people thinking ahead and

IMPORTANT INFORMATION - CORONAVIRUS UPDATE 15/3/2020

IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING CHANGES TO THE APPOINTMENT SYSTEM - PLEASE SHARE AS WIDELY AS POSSIBLE PARTICULARLY WITH FRIENDS AND NEIGHBOURS WHO MAY NOT HAVE ACCESS TO SOCIAL MEDIA

Please note The same arrangements will apply across all 3 Newtonport practices

Due to the ongoing situation with Coronavirus, we are taking measures in line with guidance shared by Public Health authorities to minimise risks associated with the virus. In order to protect our patients and staff and we are asking our patients support with this.

What does this mean for you?

Appointments:
We are asking all patients not to attend the practice without prior agreement from a member of our clinical team. From Monday 16th March 2020 we want to minimise the number of patients attending the Practice for face to face appointments. This means that all patients are required to contact the practice by telephone to request an appointment, providing details of their need. A member of the clinical team will then phone you back to discuss your need, and wherever possible this need will be met over the telephone. If the clinician deems that you require a face to face appointment, you will be asked some screening questions to determine whether there is a need for a coronavirus assessment. If this is the case you will be asked to self-isolate for 7 days. If there is no risk you will be given a face to face appointment.

Access to the Surgery:
Access to the building will be restricted to the patients who have been invited for an appointment by a Clinician.
Anyone who attempts to gain access to the surgery who has not been invited will be asked to leave the premises.
Only the patient with the appointment will be allowed into the building, unless you are accompanying a very unwell or frail friend or relative. For children, only one parent/guardian will be allowed to accompany the child. If you are entering the building please stay behind the marked line at the front of the reception desk.

Prescriptions:
Paper requests for repeat prescriptions have temporarily been suspended, again to avoid the spread of the virus and you will not be able to collect your prescription from the surgery. Our administrative team will contact arrange to have your prescription sent to the pharmacy of your choice for collection. To order a repeat prescription, please either:

Request using Vision Online Services. If not registered please contact the surgery to register for online prescriptions.
We practice website ordering service has been reactivated. If absolutely necessary we will accept requests over the phone between 11am and 2pm.

Remember to use the hand sanitiser provided when entering the building or wash your hands in the patient toilets.

Please remain courteous to our staff at all times. This is a very challenging time for us all and we would appreciate your co-operation during this period of uncertainty.

Our priority is the health and safety of all our patients and staff.
Thank you for your understanding.

The same arrangements will apply across all 3 Newtonport practices

Up to date information on COVID19 can be found here: https://www.nhsinform.scot/coronavirus

We would like to thank patients for their understanding.