Dr Grants Blog – April 2020
The Covid 19 pandemic has been an unprecedented, challenging and crazy time for all of us, in many ways.
At Longroyde Surgery, we have had to adjust to a completely new way of working. The door to the surgery has to remain locked, but please be assured that the usual, familiar team are all still there, working hard to deal with whatever we can. We are not closed!
Most of our work now has to be done by telephone, and we have had to learn new technology to enable us to do video consultations. Talking to you by phone (triage) to safely and effectively help deal with medical issues is new to us, and we don’t like not being able to see you face to face, but we have been surprised by how much we can resolve without seeing you.
This way of working has been introduced nationally, to keep everyone safe. However, if it is essential to see you, we can still offer appointments for an examination at Kos Clinic in Hipperholme.
We are actively working with other practices in the area to support each other, especially if other surgeries are struggling due to staff illness. We also use Zoom teleconferencing technology to have a weekly meeting with our colleagues, which is a very useful way of keeping in touch. That has been a positive development, as a result of the Covid challenge! Talking to each other is helpful. We are also providing a GP to work at the “hot site”, Kos Clinic, on a rota basis. This means that your usual GP may not always be available to speak to.
For those people socially isolating or shielding, not being able to leave the house is very difficult. It can lead to anxiety and low mood, but there are also practical issues around shopping and collecting medication. We have tried to contact as many of you as we can, and this work is ongoing. Our social prescriber, Ella, can support people who don’t have family or friends locally who can help them.
If there is anything you need, or anything we can do to help you, please ring us and we will try our best!
In the meantime, try to stay safe and healthy. Handwashing, exercise and healthy eating are good. If you smoke or are overweight, now is the time to try to improve those risk factors.
We look forward to seeing you all again in person, when the pandemic subsides.