LATEST NEWS

Breastfeeding Celebration Week Commencing 25th June 2018

The week commencing 25th June Lancashire Infant Feeding Partnership Group are taking part in Breastfeeding Celebration Week by hosting a variety of different classes and workshops across the local area.

For more information on all the local events on during Breastfeeding celebration week please click here

If you would like more information and advice on Breastfeeding please follow this link https://www.lancashirecare.nhs.uk/feeding-your-baby

Named GP - Dr Deakin's allocated patients

As you may be aware, the government has stipulated that all patients must have a Named GP. Following on from Dr Deakin’s retirement in December 2017, his patients have been reassigned to other GPs in the surgery. Unfortunately due to a system error, we have been unable to notify these patients of the change.

If you would like to know who your Named GP is, please contact the surgery. This information is also printed on the right hand side of your repeat prescriptions.

At the Garstang Medical Practice, your Named GP is the same as your Registered/Usual GP. This does not mean you cannot still choose which doctor you see and you do not need to be concerned if your Named GP is not your preferred doctor of choice. We do not restrict patients to see a specific doctor or run individual GP lists at our surgery and patients may see any of the doctors. All the doctors have access to your patient records and at all times can view the care you have most recently received from another clinician within the practice and they liaise with each other closely with regards to patient care as necessary.

If you have any concerns regarding this matter, please write to our Medical Services/IT Manager, Mrs Hannah Routh, who will be happy to address this with the doctors on your behalf.

Shingles Vaccination

There is a vaccine available on the NHS that helps reduce your risk of getting shingles and reduces the severity of symptoms if you develop the disease. Shingles can be very painful and tends to affect people more commonly as they get older. And the older you are, the worse it can be. You are eligible for the shingles vaccine if you:

• Are aged 70 or 78 years old
• Were previously eligible but missed immunisation; so those in their 70s born after 1 Sept 1942 and not yet had the vaccine or anyone aged 79 who has missed out on the vaccine

People aged 80 years and over are not eligible for the vaccine because it becomes less effective as you get older. Please contact our reception team on 01995 607399 to book your appointment or if you would like any further information.

Recruitment

We are delighted to have welcomed a new GP to our practice, Dr Edward Prior. Dr Prior is an experienced GP who has relocated from Cornwall with his family. We are sure you will join us in giving him a warm welcome to Garstang!

Galloway's Outreach Clinic

Galloway’s are a local sight loss charity supporting people throughout Lancashire. From March, on the third Friday of every month there will be a Sight Loss Advisor available in the foyer of Garstang Medical Centre. They aim to provide holistic support to people living with sight loss; including general advice, provision of audio services like books and newspapers, referral to rehabilitation officers if necessary and running low vision clinics where they are able to prescribe aids such as magnifiers. They will also have access to a private room for any confidential discussions.

Family Planning Clinic

We are currently unable to offer the usual family planning service for the insertion and removal of coils and implanon due to a shortage of doctors. Despite our best efforts, we have as yet been unable to recruit GPs to fill our current vacancies. We will again review the family planning service that we are able to provide once we have sourced new GPs.

There are a number of local clinics that you are able to attend for this service.

Blackpool – Whitegate health centre, Whitegate Drive,

01253 657 171 then option 2

Lancaster – Various locations

0845 059 0015 then option 1

Preston – Ashton Health Centre

01772 777160 (Thursdays 6.30pm-8.30pm)

Preston – Various locations

01772 401140

Cancelling Appointments

If you are unable to attend an appointment, please let us know so that the time can be given to other patients.

There are a number of ways you can cancel appointments with us:

1. Via SMS - If you have a mobile number registered with us we send appointment reminders by SMS and you can cancel via text reply.

2. Online - Patients registered online with patient access can book and cancel their appointments online, as well as ordering repeat prescriptions and accessing a summary of their medical record. If you would like to register for either of these services, then please ask at reception. For Patient Access you will need to bring with you two forms of ID such as your passport, driving licence, birth certificate, or any of these documents dated within the last 12 months; bank statement, council tax statement, P60/P45. 

3. You can leave a message on our repeat prescription answerphone service to cancel your appointment on 01995 607399 (select option 1 for the surgery, and option 2 for the repeat prescription voicemail).

4. The above methods are the quickest way to inform us, but you can also of course let our reception team know by visiting the front desk.