Covid-19

OAKENHURST MEDICAL PRACTICE ARE STILL OPEN AND HERE FOR YOU…

Following the announcements that Practices will be open for Face to Face appointments from Monday 17th May 2021 we would like to clarify what this means for our Patients.

We, as a Practice, have remained seeing patients face to face on a medical need basis throughout the whole pandemic and are prioritising delivering care and services based on clinical needs.

Yes, accessing the Practice has been in a different way but if a patient has needed to be seen face to face, they have been. All changes were brought in as per the government and public health guidance to protect our patients and our staff, reduce the spread of COVID-19 and ensure the continuity of service we deliver to our patients.

In this past week, our GPs have seen 30% of our patients face to face and we have provided 55% more appointments than we did in May 2019.

From Monday 17th May 2021, if you need acute medical advice or treatment please first telephone call us on 01254 915823. All on the day appointment will be a telephone triage call with a GP. If you wish to have a face-to face appointment, please discuss this with the clinician during your triage call and raise with them if you are a vulnerable patient or calling on behalf of one. Face-to-face appointments are available to all patients where there is a clinical need, and these will be assessed by the GP when they phone you. If needed, you will be asked to come to see them the same day.

For non-urgent medical advice or treatment please telephone call us on 01254 915823 where you can make an appointment. Please be aware that due to demand for appointments all pre-bookable appointments are a minimum of two weeks away. If you have a preference of a face to face or telephone call, please advise reception at the time of the call.

As a Practice we will work as quickly and safely as we can over the next few weeks to open further face to appointments. However, with the new Indian COVID-19 variant and the number of positive cases in Blackburn with Darwen increasing our priority is the safety of our patients and staff.

A reminder that you can visit the local pharmacy for clinical advice on minor health concerns and 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

PLEASE BE KIND…

On a final note, Please understand that every member of the Practice team has gone above and beyond in their job during this pandemic, and have been through the same things that you have and like you are tired and frustrated with the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on us all.

As a Practice we are proud of what we have achieved over the last 15 months, that we are getting through this pandemic together and we want to ensure that the patients continue to get the best possible care that we can deliver. We ask that you help us to do this and be kind to anyone you come in to contact with at the Practice as a little kindness goes a long way.

Thank you

Neil Smith

Senior GP Partner