We are now taking appointment bookings for patients over 65 who wish to have the annual FLu Vaccination.

Initially, we are holding two Saturday Clinics being the 19th and 26th October.

The clinics will be from 8:30am and 1:00pm 

Please call the surgery to book your appointment. 

Please see below which vaccinations the practice will be offering in Autumn 2024 and the eligibility for each vaccine.

RSV - Respiratory Syncytial Vaccine.

RSV is a common virus that speads coughs and colds in Winter and can lead to serious respitatory illness.

Available to the following 

Patients aged 75 to 80 

Pregnant women who are +28 weeks gestation.

The vaccinations will be available in the practice from 1st September when deliveries commence. 

ANNUAL FLU VACCINATION

This annual vaccination is available from 3rd October for over 65's and those between the age of 6m to 64 with an associated clinical risk.

Children between 6m to 18 years of age with clinical risk can be vaccinated from 1st September - we will advise once vaccinations are available.

COVID 19 

Autumn 2024 vaccines available from 3rd October to the same cohorts as Influenza. We will advise of vaccinations clinics once the vaccines are delivered. House bound patients will not be vaccinated by practice staff - this will be provided by the local community nursing team.

Woodland Medical Practice is happy to provide Travel Vaccinations for our patients, however in order to safely provide the service in a timely manner the following process should be followed:

Please allow and plan to book your appointment at least EIGHT weeks before your departure. Once booked, we need to ensure that the correct vaccines are sourced from suppliers and that they are the most recent up to date approved vaccines recommended for foreign travel. 

We would also advise that, as with all vaccines - there is a time lag between having the vaccination and it actually being effectively active and providing protection in your system. We would suggest that this can take at least three weeks. Any short term requests for urgent travel vaccinations would regrettably need to be refused. 

We are looking to expand the membership of our Patient Participation Group.(PPG)

The PPG is a group of volunteer patients who meet regularly with staff here at the surgery to discuss general running of the surgery, so we see your side of things too. If you wish to join, please leave your details at reception for the Practice Manager. 

Please see at the link below our latest newsletter for information.

June 24 Newsletter.docx

If you don't already have online access to view your medical record from October 2023 most patient records will be available to view online and via the NHS APP.

All patients over 16 will be able to access their full record, this is being introduced as a mandatory requirement by NHS England from October 2023. 

You would be able to view your consultations, test results, hospital letters etc direct from your record without having to contact the surgery.

As always if there is anything within your record that does not look right, please contact the surgery.

You may always opt out of this service by advising the surgery and we would then close your access permissions.

Get back to a healthier you with our free weight loss, stop smoking, wieght loss and drink less programmes.

Follow the link below for more information and sign up! 

  https://www.oneyoulincolnshire.org.uk/

For the latest information regarding data sharing and opting out please see link below.

https://www.nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters/manage-your-choice 

GP Data - Type 1 Opt Out form

We have recently seen a large increase in patients not attending for booked appointment despite in most case being reminder via a text message the day before.

If for any reason you cannot attend an appointment, please contact the surgery to advise so your appointment can be offered to another patient.

We are now writing to patients who repeatedly miss booked appointments. There will be a likelyhood of patients being removed from the list.

In the last month we had 139 appointments missed by patients for GPs and Nurses totalling 39 hours. This is not acceptable. 

Booking Appointments

Appointments can be made by speaking to the receptionists or online. Routine appointments are 10 minutes; patients are reminded that only one problem should be discussed in an appointment.

Emergency appointments - these are available for urgent problems and can be arranged for the same day. You may not be able to see your usual doctor and the appointment may be shorter than a routine appointment.

All appointments are made by telephoning the surgery and speaking to a receptionist or online, if you would like to register to book or cancel your appointment online, please leave your details at reception. 

Please view the link below to see helpful advice on a wide range of conditions.

• http://www.selfcareforum.org/fact-sheets/
• www.lincolnshirewestccg.nhs.uk/chronic-pain

In January 2023 we will be introducing a new telephone prescription ordering service linked to your record. This will provide a safe and auditable system to provde a reliable and quicker process. We will no longer have an answerphone facility. You will always be able to continue using the paper counterfoil slips when requesting your repeat prescription.

In future we would prefer to send your prescription electronically direct to the pharmacy of your choice. Please let us know which pharmacy you would like your prescription sending.

Should you need to order an urgent prescription, these requests need to be in before 10:30am. This then gives us time to process and the prescription will be ready at 5:30pm on that day. This service is for emergency requests only - please do not abuse this service and order your routine repeat prescriptions in a timely manner, with 48 hours notice.

Lincolnshire first to launch 24/7 mental health crisis text service

Lincolnshire has joined in with the national launch of a new 24/7 mental health crisis text service, called Shout.

Shout is the UK’s first free 24/7 text service for anyone in crisis anytime, anywhere, and it’s a place to go if you are struggling to cope and need immediate help.

By texting shout to 85258 you will be able to access Shout’s team of volunteers who can help with urgent issues such as suicidal thoughts, abuse or assault, self-harm, bullying, and relationship challenges.

“We are delighted that Shout is now available across Lincolnshire, and are confident it will make a huge difference to many people due to the support it is able to offer,” comments Rachel Redgrave, Chair of the Lincolnshire Mental Health Crisis Care Concordat. “Finding the right support is important, especially if you need someone to talk to right now, and Shout aims to connect every texter to a trained volunteer promptly.”

Shout is delivered in partnership with the Crisis Text Line, and the volunteer team will listen to you and help you to think more clearly, enabling you to know that you can take the next step to feeling better.

“The trained Crisis volunteer will introduce themselves, reflect on what you’ve said, and invite you to share at your own pace,” adds Rachel. “You’ll text back and forth, only sharing what you feel comfortable with. By asking questions, listening to you and responding with support, they will help you sort through your feelings until you both feel you are now in a calm, safe place.”

In addition, the volunteer may provide some signposting to other services that can provide further help, so that you can continue to get support. If your life is imminent danger, dial 999.