Welcome to Baddow Village Surgery
Practice Shut Down - Thursday 28 October 2021
All practices in Mid-Essex will be closed from 12 noon on the dates below. The closures are for staff training. Mid-Essex CCG will be providing out-of-hours care for our patients from 12:00 until 18:30. If you require medical care during the hours that we are closed please call NHS 111 who will make an appointment with the out-of hours provider where necessary.
Nasal Flu Vaccine
Information from EPUT for school age children
Many practices are receiving queries from parents that are being directed by schools for the school flu and COVID vaccination programme.
Whilst practices can vaccinate at risk children, the remainder should be directed back to EPUT for vaccination. Some flu sessions have been rearranged to allow for the first offer of COVID vaccinations, but there will be school sessions for flu vaccine. There will also be opportunities for earlier flu vaccination in community clinics for those parents concerned about waiting, and catch up opportunities for those that miss flu and COVID vaccination in the first school sessions.
EPUT are happy to be contacted by parents and they now have a central phone number that can be used for parents across Essex: 0300 790 0597
The Surgery can only vaccinate children born between 1 September 2017 and 31 August 2019 unless they are in an at risk category.
PATIENT BEHAVIOUR
Our reception team are doing their best to deal with the increased number of telephone calls due to flu vaccination sessions as well as having two new reception team members undergoing training.
Our protocol is that a patient will be called by a GP/ANP to assess their condition and if deemed necessary by the clinician the patient will be brought into the Surgery for a physical examination - our reception staff cannot make this decision.
Please DO NOT shout at our reception team members because they cannot book a face to face appointment without the patient first speaking to a GP/ANP.
We cannot book every patient with a face to face appointment as it is necessary to maintain social distancing in the waiting room which can only safely accommodate 8 patients.
This protocol is to protect you, other patients and our staff.
We have a zero tolerance approach to abusive and intimidating behaviour. All calls are recorded and we will follow the policy and issue warnings/remove patients from our practice list as appropriate.
Please click on the link below to read the most recent letter sent to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care expressing concerns from the BMA
Letter to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care from the BMA (British Medical Association)
COVID BOOSTER - updated 30 September 2021
Baddow Village Surgery will not be providing booster vaccinations.
Beacon Health Group are providing this service at Danbury Health Centre.
You will be contacted by Beacon Health Group and you may also receive a letter from the NHS inviting you to book at a mass vaccination site.
If you are housebound please wait for further information on who will be providing your booster vaccination.
Please DO NOT call the Surgery to enquire - YOU WILL BE CONTACTED BY THE PROVIDER OF THIS SERVICE
If you are having difficulties booking your COVID Booster you can contact the CCG Central Referral Team who will be able to help you.
Contact number: 0300 123 0771
Open Mon – Fri, 8am – 6pm
If you have difficulty using the telephone, e.g. hard of hearing, please make contact using email central.referral@nhs.net
Flu Clinics
If you are eligible for a flu vaccination please book as soon as possible so that we can allocate a vaccine for you.
We will not receive further supplies of the 65+ vaccine and have 200 under 65 vaccines arriving in mid October.
When these vaccines are used we will not have any further supplies.
If you have access to book online please do so to reduce demand on the reception team.
As there are two vaccines we have two different flu clinics that you can book into online:
- Patients who are 65 years and over on 31 March 2022
- Patients who are under 65 years on 31 March 2022
- Please ensure you book into the correct clinic
If you have an appointment with a practice nurse or HCA you can have your flu vaccination at your appointment so please do not book a separate flu vaccination.
We appreciate you not calling in the morning for a flu appointment.
Due to COVID19 we are would appreciate your cooperation to keep you, our other patients and staff safe.
Please only bring essential items with you - your keys and a mask. Weather permitting please leave your coat in your car.
Remember to wear your mask at all times when on Surgery premises and if it is necessary to queue outside the Surgery.
We will be operating a one way system. You will enter through the front door of the Surgery as usual where you will be checked in and asked to ensure your clothing is adjusted so the clinician can access your arm.
Markers will be placed on the floor every 2 metres so that you can maintain social distancing.
Patients will follow the signage through the waiting room, into the nurse corridor and along to the beginning of the doctor's corridor where you will wait to be called by the next available clinician - if you are attending with a household member/s you should go in together. You will then exit through the fire exit door at the end of the doctor's corridor.
There will be signs you should read whilst queuing. These are questions to ensure you are fit to have the vaccination and give your consent. For those who are eligible you will also be able to have the pneumococcal vaccination at the same time (if supplies of the vaccine are available).
If you are unwell or decide not to have your vaccination please remember to cancel the appointment so another patient can be seen.
Thank you and keep safe.
Dr Amy Teare on Maternity Leave until September 2022
We are pleased to let you know that Dr Manoharan has joined the Surgery to cover during Dr Teare's maternity leave.
14 July 2021
FACE MASK UPDATE
PLEASE CONTINUE TO WEAR A MASK WHILST IN THE SURGERY AND MAINTAIN SOCIAL DISTANCING
From 19 July there is no legal requirement to wear a face mask however the Surgery continues to require patients and staff to wear a face covering and maintain social distancing whilst in the Surgery.
NHS England's guidance is available on the link below:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/2021/07/nhs-patients-staff-and-visitors-must-continue-to-wear-face-coverings-in-healthcare-settings/
Change to Dispensary Opening Hours
Due to staffing issues it has been necessary to change our opening hours - for full details please go to the Quick Link - Latest News
General Practice Data for Planning and Research-GPDPR
GPDPR update 19/7/21
Following concerns raised about the proposed General Practice Data for Planning and Research extraction of information from GP records, the Health Minister Jo Churchill has announced that this will be delayed until further conditions are met.
Further information https://digital.nhs.uk/news-and-events/latest-news/new-plans-to-increase-protection-and-strengthen-security-for-gp-data-collection-programme
Further information from NHS digital
https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/data-collections-and-data-sets/data-collections/general-practice-data-for-planning-and-research/advice-for-the-public
You can still opt out from sharing your data outside of the practice for reasons other than your direct care by completing a type1 opt out form.
To opt out from allowing your GP medical record to be shared outside the Practice for reasons other than your direct care, please complete a Type 1 opt out form click here to download form and email this to baddow.surgery@nhs.net with “Type 1 Opt Out” in the subject line.
You can opt out of allowing NHS digital to share your data by completing a national opt out form. (National data opt-out - NHS Digital) You can also make or change a choice for yourself by phoning the NHS Digital Contact Centre. The phone number is 0300 303 5678 – Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm (excluding bank holidays). Other ways to make a choice about sharing data from your health records - NHS (www.nhs.uk)
Please also see this addition to our privacy notice General Practice Data for Planning and Research: GP Practice Privacy Notice - NHS Digital
and the NHS Digital Transparency Notice Transparency notice: how we use your personal data - NHS Digital
Support for booking COVID19 vaccination
Please DO NOT contact the Surgery as we cannot book your vaccination
If you have not had a COVID19 vaccination, and are eligible, please book on the national booking system.
Link to the national booking system:
Book a coronavirus vaccination - NHS (www.nhs.uk)
Link to book COVID19 vaccine:
Do you know your NHS number? - Book a coronavirus vaccination - NHS (www.nhs.uk)
Link to the national booking system:
If you are unable to book your second vaccine appointment, please contact the CCG Central Referral Team who will be able to help you.
Contact number: 0300 123 0771
Open Mon – Fri, 8am – 6pm
If you have difficulty using the telephone, e.g. hard of hearing, please make contact using email central.referral@nhs.net
Update from the Partners - 17 May 2021
With the latest easing of restrictions in England, we have reviewed our current appointment system and take this opportunity to clarify the current situation.
Throughout the pandemic the surgery has remained open, offering ‘telephone first’ access to clinicians and careful screening of all patients accessing the surgery for face to face appointments that are clinically necessary. We are proud to have had no outbreaks of Covid amongst either staff or patients as a result of our stringent infection control procedures.
As is the case in ALL public indoor areas, 2m social distancing must be maintained within the surgery. Our waiting room has space for 8 people and with up to 13 clinicians working on site at any given time, it is clear that we cannot return to our pre-pandemic appointment system.
Information on how to chase a referral that has been made for you is at the end of this notice.
How do I make an appointment?
25% or more of our appointments are bookable online. Details of how to do this are on the website.
Our reception team is currently at full complement and we have increased our staffing in the morning to assist with the increasing demand. Our receptionists are able to assist you with making the right appointment with the appropriate team member (see below) or can guide you to the appropriate service to help with your problem e.g. community pharmacist, 111 (option 2), 111 first (for A&E) or to dial 999 in an emergency.
We ask that patients telephone for appointments where they cannot access online services or require an urgent same day appointment.
Please do not use the surgery email addresses for clinical consultations/queries or to request an appointment. Patients who do so will receive an SMS or email asking them to contact reception to make an appointment in the usual way.
Attending the surgery to make appointments may mean queuing outside due to the limited size of the waiting area and will delay patients with booked appointments entering the premises.
All patients entering the premises are expected to wear a facemask, maintain 2m social distancing and will be screened for Covid symptoms. Our receptionists are trained to prioritise answering the telephone as the ‘unseen patient’ is potentially the sickest.
Who will my appointment be with?
We have an experienced team of clinicians and allied health professionals at the surgery who are able to offer the advice, investigations, treatment and long-term disease management that our patients need.
Phlebotomists: We offer blood tests daily at the surgery. Appointment lengths remain increased to reduce patient numbers in the waiting room and we would like to continue to prioritise our patients with mobility or frailty issues. Blood tests can also be booked at a number of local clinics by calling 01245 516963 or online https://www.swiftqueue.co.uk/midessex.php.
Health Care Assistants (HCA): Our health care assistants provide a number of services including wound care, health checks and lifestyle advice, ECGs, B12 injections, flu vaccinations and are involved in long term disease monitoring (to name but a few of their skills).
Practice Nurses: The practice nurse team consists of members with both community and hospital nursing backgrounds who have developed skills in long term disease management including asthma, COPD and diabetes. They will continue to offer virtual, telephone and face to face reviews, working in collaboration with the GPs. In addition, they continue to provide our full range of other services including wound care, smears, immunisations, injections and contraception services.
Advanced Nurse Practitioners (ANP): Both our ANPs are experienced nurses with backgrounds as community matrons. They are able to manage minor illnesses in addition to acute presentations of long term diseases; patients with learning difficulties; dementia; and frailty. They are able to prescribe and make onward referral for investigations. We have expanded our ANP hours to provide appointments every day alongside our GPs.
Clinical Pharmacists: Through the Chelmsford City Health Primary Care Network, we employ a team of clinical pharmacists who are able to conduct medication reviews and review of long-term disease management e.g. asthma and diabetes. They assist with the monitoring of medications under ‘shared care’ with our hospital colleagues and are able to request blood tests and facilitate medication changes, including following hospital advice/discharge.
GP Registrars: We value training and development in primary care and as a long-standing training practice, we have GP registrars who are registered doctors that will be fully qualified GPs within 1-2 years.
GPs: There are 6 GP partners and 3 salaried GPs currently at the surgery, with a patient list that is pro-rata to our sessional hours. Where possible we ask that, for continuity of care, patients make appointments with their usual GP but there are urgent appointments available with our ANPs and GPs every day for matters that are clinically urgent and cannot wait.
How will my appointment happen?
We have made significant developments in the way in which we are now able to consult with our patients effectively, safely and conveniently. Despite the necessary changes to our services with the peaks of the pandemic, we were proud to achieve the targets set for our long-term disease reviews in the last year and even saw improvements in our diabetes monitoring targets. We intend to take the skills learnt in the last year and the new tools at our disposal to continue to care for our patients.
We have returned to all previous services that we offer including minor ops, joint injections and contraception services. We have now increased capacity for these and other services such as immunisations, injections and smears and will continue to monitor the impact this has upon the numbers in the waiting room and those needing to queue outside or wait in cars.
Long term disease reviews e.g. asthma, COPD and diabetes, are being done using a combination of telephone, SMS and face to face assessments when required by our nursing, pharmacist, ANP and GP teams.
Appointments with the ANP or GP will be via telephone so an assessment of the presenting problem can be made. A variety of medical problems, provision of advice and review of medications and long-term conditions can be done remotely using telephone/video/SMS/email resources.
As has happened throughout the last year, when a clinician needs to see a patient face to face, we will ask if you are happy to attend the surgery (after screening for Covid symptoms) either on the same day or at a future date. A decision to attend for a face to face appointment will be made in collaboration with our patients, where there is either a clinical need to be seen or when the alternative methods of consulting are not appropriate.
We would ask that patients do not attend more than 5 minutes before their appointment time to avoid occupying waiting room space unnecessarily. Please do not be offended if our reception staff request that you wait outside or in your car.
All patients entering the surgery will be asked to observe the ‘hands-face-space’ rules.
Patients exhibiting Covid symptoms MUST NOT enter the surgery. You and your household should isolate and the symptomatic household member must arrange a PCR test. A lateral flow test (LFT) that is kept at home and provides an immediate result is NOT the correct test for a patient with symptoms and we will insist that you are tested and any face to face assessment may be delayed until a result is available on your record.
How do I collect my prescription?
Prescriptions will be sent to your designated pharmacy electronically. Dispensing patients will continue to collect from the exterior window hatch to limit the number of patients entering the waiting room and prevent even greater queuing at the main surgery door.
Where do I drop off a sample?
This can be done via the exterior window hatch to limit the number of patients entering the waiting room.
Where do I collect my test form?
These can be collected from reception via the dispensary window. We remain hopeful that in the future electronic requests accessible at all phlebotomy sites across Mid and South Essex will be introduced to remove the need for you to attend the surgery to collect these, but we remain reliant upon paper forms for now.
How do I chase a referral?
Once a referral has been made by the GP or ANP we are not advised when your appointment will be made. This is the responsibility of the health care provider to whom you have been referred.
For referrals to hospital you should call CRS (Central Referral Service) on 0300 123 0771 who can advise you of the current status of your referral.
For ophthalmology (eyes), or to rearrange an appointment please call the Broomfield Appointments line 01245 513900
Radiology which includes MRI and CT scans as well as x-rays and some ultrasound scans please call Broomfield Hospital Radiology Department on 01245 514301
Community Ultrasounds are provided by Essex Ultrasound on 01268 947000
Endoscopy is provided by InHealth and their referral centre number is 0333 212 3187
What does the future hold?
Baddow Village Surgery continues to grow and develop. We have been working towards increasing our clinical space by utilising the second floor of the surgery building, but our efforts have been hampered by delays beyond our control. We hope to have new consulting rooms, a waiting area and space to home the PCN clinical pharmacists.
As part of the Chelmsford City Health Primary Care Network, we are soon to have successfully delivered a significant part of the Covid vaccination programme for our patient population since January 15th 2021. Although we approach the end of this work, we look forward to continuing to work together in the future including the recruitment of further staff members to supplement our diverse health professional team.
Our thanks go out to those patients who have invested in a blood pressure monitor over the last 12 months. This has helped enormously with long term disease monitoring. We have restarted our BP machine loaning system, but there is an essential 72 hour delay before a machine can be cleaned and re-issued. We know that some patients have missed the surgery machine previously located in reception and we recognise that this is useful for some patients. Therefore, we are in the early stages of arranging a ‘Surgery Pod’, which will allow patients to check their own blood pressure and the readings will be automatically uploaded to the patient record.
We are soon to be participating in an AI powered Teledermatology system, which will allow clinicians at the surgery to see and assess skin lesions and use a device to access immediate advice and a final decision regarding skin lesions within 2 working days.
Shielded Patient List
Shielding will be paused nationally from April 1st 2021.
Approximately 400 patients from our almost 13000 list size are currently identified on the Shielded Patient List.
For any updates regarding shielding status, please see the gov.uk website.
National Guidance for Suspected Coronavirus Cases
The government has put is place a policy of SELF ISOLATION for any patient with a new onset cough, and/or fever and/or loss of sense of taste/smell, that could be attributed to Covid-19 infection. Patients well enough to remain at home should self isolate for 10 days and ALL HOUSEHOLD MEMBERS should self isolate for 10 days. If any other household member who is already self isolated develops symptoms, they should remain isolated for 10 days from the onset of their symptoms EVEN IF this means for longer than 10 days in total from when the first household member became symptomatic. Patients well enough to remain at home WHO LIVE ALONE should self-isolate for 10 days.
- If a patient is concerned that they are not well enough to remain at home with these symptoms then they should use the online NHS111 assessment tool, dial NHS111 or contact the surgery.
Testing for Covid-19 can be requested for anyone via the gov.uk website. If you do not have internet access then call 119.
- Track and Trace is now in operation. Any contact will be from the national team and their instructions should be followed. The practice are not involved in this process.
Medical certificates will not be issued for self-isolation or household isolation. Please utilise the NHS isolation note service available online. You can do this for yourself or another individual.
Click here to read guidance for patients isolating at home
Safeguarding our Patients
At this time when we are socially distancing and confined to our homes, we know that there are vulnerable adults or children who may be at greater risk or struggling to cope. We remain vigilant in safeguarding our patients. You may find these resources below useful:
National Domestic Violence Helpline: 0808 2000 247 https://www.nationaldahelpline.org.uk/
NSPCC helpline: 0808 800 5000 If you're worried about a child, even if you're unsure, contact NSPCC professional counsellors for help, advice and support.
Childline 0800 1111: Offers free, confidential advice and support for any child 18 years or under, whatever the worry.
MIND: Mental Health Support with specific advice on ‘Coronavirus and your wellbeing’. www.mind.org.uk
YoungMinds: Supporting children and young people and their parents/carers with their mental health and wellbeing. Specific advice on managing self-isolation and anxiety about coronavirus. https://youngminds.org.uk
ICON: Babies cry: You can cope. http://iconcope.org/
SafeLives: Specific resources for domestic abuse and COVID. http://safelives.org.uk/news-views/domesticabuse-and-covid-19
IRISi interventions: irisi.org/iris/find-your-local-iris-site/
MENCAP: The voice of learning disability, has an easy read guide for any individuals with learning disability on their website www.mencap.org.uk
We thank our patients for their understanding during this time of unprecedented challenge for the NHS, and our staff for their unwavering dedication and hard work in caring for our patients.
The Partners
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Patient Information on Coronavirus
The latest information on symptoms of coronovirus infection and areas where recent travel may have resulted in a high risk of exposure can be found on
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/