Coronavirus Information Posted or Updated on 22 Sep 2023

Due to the current outbreak of COVID-19 the practice is taking steps to minimise the risk of exposure to Coronavirus for both patients and staff. If you have a face-to-face appointment already booked with a doctor this will be cancelled. 

We are moving to a telephone consultation system for all doctor appointments. You will still be able to pre-book an appointment, but instead of coming to the surgery you will be phoned and you are asked not to present at the surgery unless advised to do so by a clinician.

If a Clinician needs to physically see you, they will ask you to come to the surgery. In such cases, risks for both the patient and practice staff will have been assessed. Our same day telephone consultations for urgent problems will not change.

Over the coming weeks we will also reduce routine face-to-face work with our practice nursing team.  We will contact you if your appointment is cancelled.

By doing this, footfall through the surgery is reduced. This will minimise the risk of any transmission of the virus. It will also enable clinicians to spend more time with those patients who are in most need.

If you have a temperature or fever above 37.8 or a new continuous cough it is essential that you do not attend the surgery. You must self-isolate for 7 days and use the NHS 111 online service for further advice.  If you do not have online access you should call NHS111.

Patients who do not use online services (Systmone) to order repeat prescriptions are asked to drop their prescription requests into the script boxes in the lobby of each surgery or through the external letter box – please do not bring your request to the reception desk.

Please also consider using our online service – eConsult – which can be used for;

• Self-checking symptoms
• Queries about a range of conditions
• Advice about your health and medications
• Requesting a sick/fit note

Visit www.towerhousesurgery.co.uk to send your eConsult to a GP. You will receive a reply from the practice within two working days. All patients can use eConsult. You do not have to register to use this service.

We appreciate that some of these changes may be alarming. Therefore we would like to reassure patients that the practice is doing everything possible to ensure choice for patients whilst concentrating our efforts on those who need urgent care, during a time of increased demand on our services.  Your co-operation at this difficult time is very much appreciated.