Monday, March 24, 2014

Registration letters from NHS England - please respond if you get one

Message from NHS England

The NHS is carrying out work in Devon, Cornwall and Isles of Scilly to make sure the patient details on GP lists are accurate.  Letters are being sent to some patients, but not all.

If you do receive a letter, please either confirm your details or submit any changes. Changes can be made by returning the form in the prepaid envelope. If the details are correct, you can confirm by freepost, by freephone, via text message or online.

It is important to respond to the letter, as GP lists do get out of date over time. If we don’t have an accurate record of your name and address, then we or a hospital may not be able to contact you with important information.

We may also need to contact you:

·         with test results
·         to invite you for bowel, breast or cervical screening to protect against cancer, for example
·         to offer vaccination against infectious diseases such as flu or measles, mumps and rubella
·         to give you an appointment as part of your plan to stay healthy if you have a long-term illness

Please respond to the letter within four weeks, so the NHS can be certain about your details. Otherwise, the NHS will assume that you have moved away, and begin the process to remove you from the practice list.

Friday, March 14, 2014

Hoax Email from NICE - message from NHS England.

A hoax email, claiming to be from NICE, has been sent to people around the country to make them believe they may have cancer.
Some of these emails have been sent to people in Devon and Cornwall, causing inevitable distress and triggering calls to their GP or to hospitals.

NICE is advising people who have received the email - the subject line of which is important blood analysis result - to delete it without opening and not to click on any links. It is currently investigating the origins of the message.

Sir Andrew Dillon, NICE Chief Executive, said: “A spam email purporting to come from NICE is being sent to members of the public regarding cancer test results. This email is likely to cause distress to recipients since it advises that ‘test results' indicate they may have cancer. This malicious email is not from NICE and we are currently investigating its origin. We take this matter very seriously and have reported it to the police.”

The story is running in the media, but I hope this message will help you provide reassurance to any patient who contacts you about the email.
See: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-26565144




Monday, March 10, 2014

What to do when we are closed

From today if you need medical assistance outside our usual opening hours

you must ring 111

The 111 service will help you to find the right care to meet your needs including the Devon Doctors service.
The number is free of charge to ring from landlines and mobiles although you will need 1p credit on your mobile phone.

The automatic transfer from our main switchboard number to Devon Doctors will no longer be available.  

Monday, March 3, 2014

Coleridge Medical Centre closed 12:30pm - 4:00pm Wednesday 5th March

Please note on

Wednesday 5th March 2014
The surgery will be closed
between 12:30pm and 4:00pm


 For important staff training

In an EMERGENCY please dial 999
If you have an URGENT problem please
ring:
01404-814447
and your call will be transferred to Devon Doctors on Call

For Medical advice please ring:
NHS 111 service by dialling 111

The surgery will be open again from 4:00pm

Important Information About Out of Hours

From 10th March 2014 if you need medical assistance outside our usual opening hours

you must ring 111

The 111 service will help you to find the right care to meet your needs including the Devon Doctors service.
The number is free of charge to ring from landlines and mobiles although you will need 1p credit on your mobile phone.

The automatic transfer from our main switchboard number to Devon Doctors will no longer be available.