In light of the current coronavirus pandemic, the practice is performing telephone triage for all patients prior to determining the best course of action for their care. Therefore, please be aware, that you will receive a call back from the appropriate medical professional to discuss your health problem.

Do not under any circumstances attend surgery without being asked to do so after telephone assessment. If you do attend for an appointment, please wear a face covering if you can.

The main symptoms of coronavirus are:

- A high temperature

- A new, continuous cough

- Loss or change to your sense of taste or smell

To protect others please get a test and stay at home if you have any of these symptoms.

See www.gov.uk for the latest coronavirus guidance and support.

Get the latest NHS information and advice about coronavirus.

Vaccinating young people aged 16 and 17

You may have seen the news that the NHS is going to invite young people aged 16 and 17 to receive a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccination, following advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).

The first dose will provide 80% protection against hospitalisation and protection could be even higher as younger people respond better to vaccines and some will have already had the COVID-19 infection, meaning they will have an even better response to a first dose.

We will be inviting young people in this age group to receive their vaccination as soon as possible – you do not need to contact us. Parental consent will not be required to be vaccinated.

The vaccine they receive will be the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

Further work on effectiveness and safety in this age group is being done before the JCVI provides further guidance on whether a second vaccine dose should be offered to healthy 16 to 17 year-olds later to increase the level of protection and contribute towards longer term protection.

The NHS will continue to offer two doses to young people aged 16 and 17 who are already eligible as they are at higher risk of serious COVID-19, or who are household contacts of individuals (adults or children) who are immunosuppressed. The following groups of children and young people are also eligible, following previous JCVI advice:

• 17-year-olds that are within 3 months of turning 18;
• 12-15-year olds ‘at risk’ with the underlying health conditions specified below: 
• severe neuro-disabilities,  
• Down’s Syndrome,
• underlying conditions resulting in immunosuppression, and 
• those with profound and multiple learning disabilities, severe learning disabilities or who are on the learning disability register 
• Children aged 12 years and older without underlying medical conditions who are household contacts of individuals (adults or children) who are immunosuppressed.

If your child aged 12 to 15 and is in one of the eligible groups, we will contact you by early September to invite you to book appointments for them for the vaccination.

Offers of New date/time for second COVID-19 dose appointments

You may have seen the news about different variants of coronavirus circulating in some parts of the country. It is important that we quickly respond to this. That is why, in line with government and JCVI (Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation) guidance, we are bringing forward when people that are at greater risk of getting seriously ill from coronavirus, get their second dose of the vaccine, if they haven’t already had it.

People affected by this will receive a letter offering an earlier appointment. They can choose an earlier date and time to get their second dose of the vaccine by using the National Booking Service online www.nhs.uk/covid-vaccination or by telephoning 119.

Please do not telephone your GP Practice.

Whilst people are urged to take up the offer of an earlier appointment, their original appointment will not be cancelled unless our records show their second dose has been completed earlier.

If you have already recently had your second dose, you do not need to take any action.

International Travel and Vaccine Status

From 17 May 2021, people in England who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 can demonstrate their vaccination status for international travel. A full course is currently two doses of any approved vaccine. Vaccine status will be available from:

- the NHS App which you can download from app stores 

It may take more than a week for your identity to be checked and verified so you can use this service.

If you cannot access this online service, and you have had 2 vaccines, you can request a paper letter from the NHS by calling 119. Only call 119 if you are due to travel abroad in the near future and have had your second dose more than 5 working days ago. It may take 7 working days for the letter to arrive.

This practice is not able to provide you with a letter that shows your COVID-19 vaccination status.

When you're planning your travel, check the latest information on demonstrating your COVID-19 status when travelling abroad on the gov.uk website. Make sure there is time to get proof of your vaccination status before you leave.