Patients at Latham House Medical Practice are being asked to be aware of some important but temporary changes and thanked for their understanding, as the way in which they access GP services may change over the summer.

From July to September 2021 the practice will have significantly reduced GP capacity for a number of reasons including unfilled vacancies and staff absence due to sick and compassionate leave, as well as significant increased demand on General Practice.

All patients will have received a letter explaining the changes and reassuring them that they can continue to access primary care, although it may be in a different setting or with another GP.  

Kate Hunt, Executive Manager at Latham House Medical Practice, said: “Our number one priority is to support all of our patients to access healthcare in our community over the coming months.

“We know that some of our patients may find the changes disruptive to our usual provision of services, but I want to assure them that they will still be able to access a high level of healthcare appropriate for their clinical needs.

“We have the full support of our CCG to implement our contingency plans to provide patients with the right care during this short but challenging period.

“I would like to thank our patients for their understanding and request they work with us to get through the next few months. We are doing everything we can to address the issues and operate our usual services quickly.”

What will be the temporary Impact to our services?

• We anticipate longer waiting times for a routine GP appointment. Nurse and pharmacist appointments are not affected.
• Patients may be seen by a locum GP to the Practice and we will aim to book any subsequent appointments with the same locum GP for continuity of care.
• We will still provide urgent ‘on the day’ care, but ask that patients consider speaking to a pharmacist in the first instance if the condition is not serious.
• At very busy times in our urgent ‘on the day’ care centre, patients may be diverted to another local provider of GP services.
• Patients may be offered an evening appointment at Melton Hospital.
• Please be assured patients will still receive healthcare appropriate for their clinical needs.

What we are doing about it:

• Permanent staff recruitment continues and new staff will start throughout the summer.
• We have recruited locum GPs to support capacity gaps at this time, and we continue to recruit more.
• We are asking our remaining GP team to do additional sessions.
• We are identifying where we can use other clinical staff to support our GP team.
• We are working to obtain additional capacity from other health care providers to support urgent concerns.

What we ask of patients:

Access our online support. If you feel you need non-urgent treatment or advice please contact us on Engage Consult available at www.lhmp.co.uk. Contacts received before 2pm will be responded to on the same day, saving you a telephone call to us.

Be self-sufficient. If you or your child has a minor rash, signs of a cold, or other minor symptoms, do not think GP first. Try home remedies, look for advice from www.nhs.uk, or ask for help from a pharmacist. 

Be prepared.  Keep simple remedies including paracetamol or ibuprofen at home.  Order your repeat medications well in advance. Sign up to the Airmid App to manage your own repeat medications and get health advice and information.

Understand Urgent Care. If you feel your need is urgent please call us to arrange an appointment. Your appointment will usually be a telephone assessment with a clinician first, with face-to-face care arranged if clinically needed.

For urgent issues or out of hours, you can also call the NHS on 111 or go online to seek NHS advice 111.nhs.uk  

Help us to help you.  Our call centre staff are required to triage all contacts to effectively signpost patients to appropriate support.  They are working hard to find you the most appropriate care. 

Be Covid aware.  If you develop a new cough, high temperature or loss of taste or smell, it could be Covid.  Do not contact your GP unless you have done a Covid test first.  Do not attend at the surgery.

Be cancer aware.  If you or someone you know has worrying symptoms, then please do not delay but make an appointment as soon as possible. See https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/cancer/symptoms/

Primary care guidance. If you walk into the practice, then you must adhere to social distancing; clean your hands and wear a face covering (unless you are exempt).

Be respectful and kind. Please respect that general practitioners and all our staff are working harder than ever to provide healthcare.