Following guidance from Public Health, NHS England and the Cambridgeshire LMC (Local Medical Council) we would like to advise you of the following changes to the services provided by the Riverside Practice.

 APPOINTMENTS

•  We are keeping ALL face to face contact to a bare minimum
• Patients calling to request an appointment or home visit will be booked a telephone appointment by the reception team, with a GP or Advanced Nurse Practitioner. At this time you will not be offered a face to face appointment.
• If appropriate care or advice can be achieved during the consultation and in line with the needs of the patient you will not be required to attend the practice.
• If the clinician feels that a face to face appointment is needed and there are no COVID 19 infection concerns, an appointment will be arranged for you to attend the surgery.
• To reduce the risk of infection, please attend your appointment alone unless a parent/guardian or carer is required.

ENTERING THE BUILDING 

• Patients will only be able to gain access to the reception area one at a time.
• Please remain in the foyer until called through
• Please remain at least 2mts/3 foot from anyone else who may be in the foyer.
• When approaching the reception desk, please remain behind the black & yellow tape on the floor and in front of the information board.
• Please do not be offended if you are asked to take a step back

CHRONIC DISEASE & ONGOING CARE MANAGEMENT

If you receive ongoing care from the practice, this will continue and you will be contacted by a member of the team to advise you of your appointment.

MEDICATION – REPEAT & ACUTE

• Please could all patients with online access “nominate a pharmacy”, this will allow for prescriptions to be sent directly to the pharmacy of your choice. You will then not need to attend the practice.
• The walk in Prescribing Clinic has been suspended.
• If you have any queries with your medication or prescriptions please call: 01354 661922 Opt: 2, between the hours of: 9.30 – 13.00 & 14.00 – 15.00 only.
• Please post all repeat prescription requests through the letter box, or in the repeat prescription box located in the foyer.
• We are unable to provide prescriptions for over the counter medication that is in short supply.

ON-LINE ACCESS - MEDICATION ORDERING

• We will be allowing registration for on-line services to be activated over the phone.
• 4 identity questions will be asked and an email address will need to be provided.
• A verification email will be sent and this will need to be verified by the patient.
• Log in details and passwords will be sent once verification has been achieved.
• On receipt of the log in details please allow 24hrs before attempting to log in.
• When logged in, please “nominate a pharmacy” before ordering your repeat prescription
• If there are any special requests please enter these into the comments/notes box.
• Alternatively download the NHS app - https://www.nhs.uk/apps-library/nhs-app/

SPECIMENS

• If following a telephone triage you are requested to supply a specimen, containers can be collected at the reception desk, they will be placed in an envelope clearly labelled with your initials.
• On returning the specimen, please make sure that you have labelled the container clearly and correctly with your name and date of birth.
• Please place the specimen in the specimen box located on the left when entering the practice.

COLLECTIONS

• If you need to collect a repeat prescription or Med 3, for on-going conditions or non-virus related conditions, from the practice, please adhere to the above criteria on entering the building.
• Please state your name and what you are collecting
• The receptionist will place the item to the far right of the desk and will move back ready for you to collect.

FRUSTRATIONS & CONFUSION

We understand that changes can cause frustration and that these can be confusing.  At this time we are unable to offer the same level of service and access as normal, but hopefully with the information provided above we can alleviate some of this confusion and anxiety.  However, these measures have been implemented to keep us all safe and in line with specific guidance.

The Riverside Practice in line with the NHS “Zero Tolerance” Policy, will not tolerate any verbally aggressive or abusive behaviour to any member of the team  and if this type of behaviour presents itself, it will be dealt with accordingly.

PLEASE HELP US TO HELP YOU AND THE STAFF OF RIVERSIDE TO STAY SAFE.

If you suspect you have Coronavirus, please logon to the NHS 111 website for the latest advice on:  https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/ . 

We appreciate this is a challenging time for everyone and we hope to keep all our patients and staff well. 

The Riverside Practice thanks you for your continued support