Welcome to Elmswood Surgery 

We aim to use this website to keep you informed about our services, and to update it with any changes or innovations.

You can also see who our clinical staff are, and get information about our patients group, for example.

CORONAVIRUS

If you are concerned you may have coronavirus, have returned in the last 14 days from a high risk area,  from a lower risk area and have symptoms, or have been told to self isolate, or been in contact with anybody who has Coronavirus, : Please DO NOT LEAVE THE HOUSE. Do NOT come to the Health Centre

PLEASE RING 111  : If any of the above apply

Here is a link to the government website with useful information and advice regarding Coronavirus:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/ 

If you have questions about whether you may be in a group who should be shielding, or are in the group of more vulnerable patients, there is a website with FAQs whoch you can access for guidance and information:

https://nottsccg.nhs.uk/vulnerable-adults-faq/

Our staff may be able to help you find more information if you are in one of these groups and need help with shopping, getting prescriptions, etc.

We can refer you to the local site who are co-ordinating this care in Nottingham. Please bear in mind this is only available to the most vulnerable people.

 APPOINTMENT BOOKING

All our appointments with a GP are currently conducted by telephone. If you ring reception they will allocate you an appointment with a GP who can assess you on the phone. If they feel they then need to have a face to face consultation with you they will give you a time to come down to the Health Centre.

There are currently very few people at all in our waiting room at any time, and if you do have to come here we would ask that you tell us you have arrived, but you may be asked to wait outside. Please observe social distancing wherever possible.

Some phone appointments are available to be booked online. They can only be booked up to 2 days ahead, and THEY ARE FOR A TELEPHONE CONSULTATION. Please only use these appointments for things that simply cannot wait, not for routine check-ups or enquiries. 

DO NOT COME TO THE HEALTHCENTRE TO SEE A GP UNLESS YOU ARE REQUESTED TO BY A DOCTOR

This has been done as we feel it is in our patients best interests.

We ask that you either use one of these appointments or phone the reception desk to book an appointment.

The receptionists will ask you some questions related to coronavirus before booking an appointment for you.

ROUTINE NURSE AND HCA APPOINTMENTS

Our nurses and Heath care assistants are still seeing patients for injections, dressings, stitch removal, contraceptive injections and smears. We are encouraging patients to attend for their smear tests, particularly if they are not on a routine recall schedule

It is important at this time that children are brought for their routine baby and child vaccinations. This is actively encouraged. Please do make and keep your appointments

PLEASE PRACTICE SOCIAL DISTANCING WHEN YOU COME TO THE HEALTH CENTRE

Appointments for some routine chronic disease management will not be taking place, but our nurses are conducting respiratory reviews on the telephone.

We  continue to offer blood tests.

RESEARCH

This practice is one of over 600 practices in England contributing pseudonymised data for national research and surveillance.

These data enable continuous monitoring of infections and diseases in the community and is used in ethically approved research. The RCGP RSC is the main source of information for Public Health England (PHE) and helps with prediction and management of flu out-breaks and pandemics.

Providing pseudonymised data does not affect patients, their care or privacy, however if you no longer wish to allow your information to be used, please speak to your GP.​

We are pleased to announce that we are now officially a Parkrun practice.

This is part of the latest initiative to try and get both staff and patients more active.

We have some information in the waiting room about becoming more active.....

Unfortunately due to the current situation, Parkruns are cancelled until further notice.

You can google Park run, or Colwick parkrun in particular, if you would like to find out about what they are..

Sherwood Health Centre

Despite the fact that the website address for this GP practice(Elmswood surgery) is named directly as Sherwood health centre that is the name for the actual building from which other NHS services also operate.

If you wish to speak to anybody at the Health Centre about  podiatry, midwives, district nurses etc please telephone 8831400 between 8.30am and 5pm, on weekdays only...

Our staff cannot help you with any of these other services...…

MEASLES

PATIENTS MAY BE AWARE THAT THERE IS A MEASLES OUTBREAK IN NOTTINGHAM

People who have not been vaccinated with 2 doses of MMR vaccine are more likely to catch MEASLES. Children do become ill when they catch the disease, but so do adults. All three diseases which the vaccine targets can be very serious. They can make adults very ill and cause problems for women who are pregnant and people who have weakened immune systems (and can’t fight infection well).

Measles is a serious illness that is highly infectious. It is caused by a very infectious virus causing a rash and high fever and can be very serious. The illness can be more severe in adults and can last for longer. Someone with measles usually has to spend about five days in bed and may be off school or work for ten days. Adults are also at higher risk of complications.

Complications of measles can include ear and chest infections, fits, diarrhoea, encephalitis (infection of the brain), and brain damage. About one in 5000 individuals with measles is likely to die. There have been three deaths from measles in England since 2006.

Measles is highly infectious – a cough or a sneeze can spread the measles virus over a wide area. If you come into contact with it and are not protected, the chances are that you will be infected.

It is recommended that people who have not had the disease or had 2 MMR vaccinations should be vaccinated as soon as possible. If you are not certain about this please ask a receptionist.  People born before 1970 generally DO NOT need vaccination as they will have immunity or may have had the disease as a child.

To be protected from measles and other infections including mumps and rubella, you need to be immunised with 2 doses of MMR vaccine.

Usual GP

If you are unsure who your "usual GP" is please ask a receptionist. This information is also on your repeat prescriptions if you are a patient who uses medication.

 Evening & Weekend Appointments bookable through your GP practice

 Patients registered at this practice are able to access additional routine appointments during evenings and weekends through the new GP+ and GPX Nottingham City service.

Appointments will be available to see GPs, Practice Nurses, Clinical Pharmacists and Physiotherapists in a fully equipped accessible location on Upper Parliament Street in Nottingham City Centre.

Opening hours will be:

16:00 – 20:00  Monday – Friday 09:00 – 13:00  Saturday & Sunday

This will not be a walk-in service, and is for routine appointments.

Appointments are required and will be bookable through the reception team at this GP practice from March onwards.

REPEAT PRESCRIPTIONS

There are several ways to order your repeat medication.. please see the prescription section on this website

Many patients find it useful to register for the online service as this is available 24hours a day 7 days a week, and the prescription will usually be processed when we are next open . Please ask about this at reception

REGISTERING WITH THE PRACTICE

We will are requesting ID from patients wishing to register with the practice. If you are coming to register, please bring with you two forms of ID, and we will need proof of your address. The ID should preferably include photo some ID, for example your driving licence, passport, or travel pass. If you do not have ID this does not usually prevent us from registering you, but it helps us to locate your medical records, and is useful if you later wish to register online ordering of prescriptions, appointment booking, and viewing aspects of your medical record

RESEARCH

This practice is research active

Did you know that clinical research takes place at this GP Practice?

We're proud to give our patients the opportunity to take part in research here so that together we can develop new treatments and medicines for the future. There are many different types of research available for people to take part in, and the overwhelming majority of people have a positive experience of research.

Last year. more people took part in research in primary care settings (such as GP practices) in the East Midlands than in any other part of England. Join them, and help us to improve healthcare.

When we are told about research projects in the area we often invite appropriate patients to join in the research so you may get a personal invitation!!

INFORMATION AND  COMMUNICATION SUPPORT NEEDS

We want to be able to communicate with our patients as well as possible. We want you to be able to read and understand the information we give, both at the surgery and in letters. If you find it hard to read our letters or forms, or need somebody to support you at appointments in the practice please let us know, and we will do our best to help. This includes providing letters in larger print and interpreting services. If you think you need help please start by telling one of our reception staff.

ONLINE MEDICAL RECORD VIEWING

If you are registered to book appointments, or order medication, online, you may now request that you see much more of your record, but this will not include documents, or text written during consultations. If you wish to do this, reception have forms for you request this extended access. This will be at the GPs discretion

If you would like to be able to use our online system, please ask a receptionist for  details and an application form next time you come to the surgery. We ask that you bring some ID with you preferably including a photo, because the latest version allows viewing of your medical record.

If you are a child aged between 11 & 16 years of age, you will find that your access has been turned off, in accordance with RCGP guidelines, to protect the privacy of patients in this age group who may have proxy access set for their parents. If children of this age wish to have online access they must register in their own right. They may if they wish give proxy access to another person, eg their parent, but they must understand that that person will at the very least be able to see their appointments and medication.

 FRIENDS & FAMILY TEST

In accordance with government requirements,  we are asking for your views about the practice in a very short questionnaire called the Friends & Family test. Some questionnaires will be available in reception for you to fill in and return. Alternatively you may do the questionnaire online at www.cfep.net/0qt

The results will be collated and a short report produced every month

Named GP for all patients

 All our patients have a named GP who has overall responsibility for their care.  Of course, patients are still free to see GPs other than their named GP if they prefer. This GP will be named on your medical card, repeat prescription slip, and usually on any correspondence you receive.

If you are not certain of the name of your accountable GP please ask reception, (or look at your medical card if you have it to hand)

 TEXTING SERVICE

We have a texting service to remind patients of booked appointments. If we do not have your mobile number and you would like to take advantage of this service, please let us your know so we can update your records. If we have your mobile number but you may have forgotten to update it on our records please let us know.

 We will also be able to use this to remind patients to come for flu jabs, for example.

 We hope you like this service!

HELP US TO HELP YOU

We want all our patients to be able to get through to us when they need to, and avoid the frustration of an engaged telephone. We therefore ask that unless your problem is urgent and you need an appointment that morning, please DO NOT phone between 8am and 10am. For results, in particular, we ask that you phone in the afternoon,when the surgery can be a little quieter and the phone lines less busy.

Please remember that most appointments are only 10 minutes long. This means that your doctor or nurse may only be able to deal with one problem in each appointment.

Urgent apppointments are only for those problems which are MEDICALLY urgent, and cannot wait until a routine appointment is available.

NATIONAL DATA OPT OUT

This practice complies with the National data opt out .

Leaflets and posters about patient privacy and the use of patient data are available in the waiting room and on request. 

You can book routine GP appointments and order authorised repeat prescriptions via the internet - just click below

Click Here to book/cancel your appointment online

Click Here to order your repeat prescription online

We have an automated arrivals screen, situated just before you reach the reception desk. Please feel free to record your arrival for your appointment on the screen. It is very user friendly. We hope this will give the receptionists more time to help with queries and booking appointments. It will however not allow you to check in that way if you are more than 5 minutes late or more than one hour early!!

How You Can Help Us with our service 

 Patients can help us by:

• Turning up on time for appointments

• Avoid phoning us first thing in the morning, unless your need is urgent

• Being patient if the doctor or nurse is running late

• Only requesting home visits if you are too ill to attend surgery

• Letting us know if you cannot keep your appointment

• Telling us if you change your name, address or phone number

With your help we can offer routine appointments within two working days, avoid you waiting too long in the waiting room, process repeat prescriptions rapidly, and see you on the same day if your problem is urgent.

WE HAVE A PATIENT PARTICIPATION GROUP, run by Dr Irfan Malik. Meetings are held once a month for about an hour alternating between Friday afternoons and wednesday evenings, here at the Health Centre. If you are interested in being involved please contact Dr Malik at the surgery, or by e-mail to   drimalik@hotmail.co.uk

There is a special page for this group.. In the "Have your say" section