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The Coventry and Warwickshire Integrated Care Record (ICR) now active at Castle Medical Centre
The Integrated Care Record is a way of bringing together all your separate records from the different organisations involved in your health and social care. It’s confidential and different to anything you might have heard of before. It will let health and social care professionals see relevant information about the care and treatment you’ve had across all services. We know you only want to tell your story and share information once when receiving care from any health or social care organisation across Coventry and Warwickshire. That’s why we’ve developed the ICR
For more information watch this sort video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKITgrC9hQA
or read the attached leaflets.
In order to protect yourselves, your families and the NHS please ‘grab a covid vaccine jab’.
You can book your booster jab …or indeed your first or second jab using the links below. You may also get a text message from your local GP offering appointments
Don’t delay …BOOK NOW
Book or manage a coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination - NHS (www.nhs.uk)
Find a walk-in coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination site - NHS (www.nhs.uk)
Following the government’s announcement on Sunday 12th December that everyone over 18 is to be vaccinated against Covid-19 by the 31st December, we have been instructed to redeploy our GPs and ancillary teams to our vaccination centre at Stoneleigh in order to achieve this ambition.
This means that for the remainder of December we are only able to provide urgent care at our Practices whilst our teams continue to vaccinate our patients and protect our communities.
We will still be open to our patients and do not want you to delay being treated if you feel you need urgent assistance. Our clinicians are best placed to inform you if your symptoms or needs are urgent and need treating or can be delayed until the New Year when hopefully the national focus will revert to business as usual.
Cervical screenings (smear tests), dressings, and children’s immunisations will continue as normal during December. Please do call if you need to book in for these appointments.
We understand that these continue to be unprecedented times. It is a very difficult time for both patients and staff but, as we have seen in recent years, we will rise to this enormous challenge together and protect our communities from this terrible virus.
It is imperative that you and your family are protected from Covid and flu this winter. We have invited everyone eligible by text message, please use the link on that text to book an appointment at Stoneleigh. If you have not received an invite from us, please call 119.
Thank you for your ongoing support in these challenging times.
From all at Castle Medical Centre.
The NHS vaccination programme will offer every adult the chance to book a covid-19 booster vaccine by the end of the year to protect the nation against the Omicron variant.
As part of the biggest and fastest vaccine programme in health service history, online bookings are available for all those in their 30s and above from today.
The best way to get your vaccine is by booking online at www.nhs.uk or by calling 119 – please do keep checking availability as appointments are loaded onto the system every day. The website and phoneline are understandably very busy and we thank you for your patience when booking.
The national booking service will then open up to everyone aged 18 and over from Wednesday this week.
The NHS is prioritising bookings for boosters and is urging people to book a slot to guarantee their vital jab. Some sites offer walk-in appointments where no appointment is needed. Please check here for clinics with walk-in availability and their opening hours www.happyhealthylives.uk/vaccinationdrop-ins
GP teams have been asked to clinically prioritise their services to free up maximal capacity to support the covid-19 vaccination programme, alongside delivering critical appointments such as cancer, urgent and emergency care. This might mean that for some people, routine appointments are postponed as part of the national mission to roll out boosters.
Scientists are very concerned about the spread of Omicron due to the speed with which it spreads and because two doses do not appear to provide much protection but thankfully, a booster dramatically improves this.That is why the Government has asked the NHS to prioritise boosters over other routine care.
We appreciate your support and understanding – and urge you to come forward for your vaccination as soon as possible.
EMIS Health have received reports from both Patient Access users and people who have never registered for the service, that they have received Covid passport emails purporting to be from Patient Access.
They would like to share the following guidance from Patient Access:
- EMIS Health advise users of Patient Access to check the name and email address of the sender; all emails from Patient Access will come via an email address that ends in @patientaccess.com.
- EMIS Health advise users never to click on any log in links that you receive via email but to visit the site via the address bar of your browser instead so that you know you are on the genuine Patient Access log in page. You can find more information and guidance on our information security page here: https://www.patientaccess.com/security
- EMIS Health strongly advise users to set up their Memorable Word security feature, as well as using biometrics (fingerprint ID) if they use the app.
- Email addresses used to register for Patient Access account are secure. They do not share any data and no data is ever saved or stored on any device you use to access Patient Access.
We are currently short of appointments due to staff sickness and absence.
If your problem can wait, we would be grateful if you could phone us next week to arrange your telephone appointment.
Please bear with us during this difficult period.
The school flu vaccination programme is going ahead this year. All schools will have completed their flu clinics by the end of the year. Some clinics have been pushed back slightly to accommodate the roll out of the Covid-19 vaccination clinics that are currently taking place in schools. There is no need to contact your GP about the school flu vaccination programme – you will hear from your school as usual in due course.
You may have received a text from the NHS national booking service to book your Covid-19 booster vaccination.
Please be assured your local vaccination team will also be providing this service and will be in touch very soon so there is no need to contact your GP practice.
And don’t forget your booster will only be given six months after your second dose.
We look forwards to seeing you soon at your local vaccination centre.
The government has announced that all children aged 12 to 15 in England will be offered one dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine. Invitations for the vaccine are expected to begin next week (20-26 September).
The vaccination programme for this age group will be delivered through schools, not via GP practices. Parents and guardians of those eligible will be contacted when it’s their turn to get the vaccine.
Covid-19 booster jabs are expected to be offered to eligible groups in the coming weeks. The booster jab should be given at least six months after your second dose of the vaccine.
The NHS will contact you when it is your turn to get the booster vaccine, so please don’t contact the NHS. If you are invited, it is vital you attend so that you have the best possible protection against Covid-19.
A supplier to the NHS has advised us of a global shortage of some equipment used for taking blood tests.
Anyone who needs a test for urgent health problems will still get one, but where your clinician recommends that it’s safe to do so, then you may be asked to come back for a test at a later date, or your appointment may be rescheduled.
Given the nature of the shortage, we cannot give an exact date for when the test will be rescheduled, but please be assured that if your condition or symptoms require it, then you will get a test, and we will be re-booking your test when supplies become more easily available.
If your condition or symptoms change or get worse, please contact the NHS as you would normally.
You may have seen in national news items that the Government are considering extending the vaccine offer to 16 - 17 year olds.
There is nothing you need to do now - you will be contacted and invited for your vaccination as soon as the programme is up-and-running.
We are currently waiting for the Joint Committee for Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) to update and publish. We are also currently awaiting guidance on the vaccination of 12 - 17 year old clinically vulnerable children and will be in touch as and when we have further information.
The Covid vaccination programme has been a huge success, which has seen the Kenilworth and Warwick Primary Care Network vaccinate over 70,000 people since the programme began on the 15th December 2020.
The government has now announced their intention for a third Covid booster vaccine to be given alongside the flu vaccine (subject to guidance) to the following patient groups:
- Those aged 65 and over
- Those aged 18 to 64 in an at risk category
- Those aged 50 to 64 not in an at risk category
Please check this page for further information and FAQs.
The current NHS Digital (NHSD) extract of GP data for Research purposes (known as the GPDPR) has been delayed due to NHSD wishing to review the way in which this data will be collected, to conduct more public involvement and information about the plans and change the way in which patients can opt out of the extract of their GP data.
Currently the only way to opt out is to complete a Type 1 opt out form and return this to the practice. There was a deadline of the 1st September but this deadline has been removed (see below):
However, this extract will not be taken until the NHSD have changed the way it will take the data and respect the patient’s choice for using their data. NHSD are introducing the following changes to the opt outprocess which will mean that patients will be able to change their opt-out status at any time:
- Patients do not need to register a Type 1 opt-out by 1st September to ensure their GP data will not be uploaded.
- NHS Digital will create the technical means to allow GP data that has previously been uploaded to the system via the GPDPR collection to be deleted when someone registers a Type 1 opt-out.
- The plan to retire Type 1 opt-outs will be deferred for at least 12 months while we get the new arrangements up and running and will not be implemented without consultation with the RCGP, the BMA and the National Data Guardian.
This means that you can opt out at any time in the future and NHSD will delete data that they already have taken for research purposes, the deadline of the 01/09/2020 has been delayed until a new system of opt out is developed. Hopefully, this will be a simple centralised approach via the NHS app or NHS website to avoid paper form and administration work for your GP.
We will update you when we know more about the NHSD plans to change how you can control who has access to your data.
For further information on this - please click here.
The highest priority for the NHS remains the safety of staff, patients and visitors. While COVID restrictions will end in many settings in England from 19 July, everyone accessing or visiting healthcare settings must continue to wear a face covering (unless they are exempt) and follow social distancing rules.
Public Health England’s infection prevention control guidelines and hospital visiting guidance are therefore set to remain in place for all staff and visitors and across all health services including hospitals, GP practices, dentists, optometrists and pharmacies to ensure patients and staff are protected.
Read the infection prevention control guidance for further details.
Patients wishing to register a Type 1 Opt out from the NHS Digital General Practice Data for Planning and Research collection which starts on 1st September 2021 should download this form and return it to the Practice.
More information on this data collection can be found here.
Video - How the NHS uses your patient data from GP practices to improve health and care
Dear Members,
We hope despite the long winter and somewhat slow arrival of Spring this year, the next few months will prove to be positive and active for us all. The vaccine programme has been progressing steadily and efforts are intensifying to tackle backlogs in waiting lists due to the pandemic.
A great deal has been happening organisationally in our health services with the merging of the three Warwickshire Clinical Commissioning Groups - North Warwickshire, Rugby and our own South Warwickshire - with Coventry CCG to form one Coventry and Warwickshire umbrella organisation. This change has already come into effect. The four areas or "places" will still, however, be responsible for 80% of service delivery.
At Practice level, Gail and I will next week discuss with staff the plans to resume our Patient Group meetings and we have also been contacted about the resumption of patient representative meetings at the Primary Care Network level ( Kenilworth and Warwick Practices working together)
Meanwhile, we have been asked to complete this new survey needed to give patient views on Urgent and Emergency Health services. Please click here to access the survey.
The window for this is very short as the survey closes this Thursday, so apologies for not getting it to you sooner. It would be really helpful if you could forward the link to any other family or friends in South Warwickshire so that a good picture can be built up of where the services are working most effectively for patients, and where any improvements could be made.
Thank you very much for your help with this.
All best wishes,
Jane and Gail.
The Government have announced that the NHS app will be available to use as a vaccine passport from Monday (17th May)
The vaccine passport will only be available once you have received both doses of your vaccination.
The NHS app can be downloaded here via a smartphone or tablet> https://www.nhs.uk/apps-library/nhs-app/
We understand the NHS app has a NEW update and will include a feature to display the coronavirus vaccine record. Please ensure your smartphone is running the app with the latest update.
If you are not able to access the app then a paper version will be available by calling 119. We are not able to supply this, it must be requested through 119.
More information on the vaccine passport can be found on the government website by visiting - https://www.gov.uk/.../demonstrating-your-covid-19...
Please do not contact us about your COVID-19 vaccination status. GPs cannot provide letters showing your COVID-19 vaccination status.
Warwick Hall, Stoneleigh Business Park at the NAC, CV8 2LZ has replaced the Ramada Hotel for the Primary Care Network Covid-19 Vaccination Centre with immediate effect.
Second Covid-19 vaccinations will start from the 15th March 2021. We will send a text invite for you to book your appointment in advance of the 12th week. We would like to reassure our patients that all second vaccines will be done as per the 12 week schedule.
We believe we have made contact with all patients in our 80+ cohort. If you are over 80 and have not heard from us, please call us to book in.
If you are over 80 and housebound, we hope to have arrangements confirmed as soon as possible and we will make contact with you, please do not call us. As soon as we have information on this, we will update our patients.
Please also remember The Warwickshire has a drive through vaccination facility available to patients who need it.
Please check the latest update on NHS Covid Vaccinations. Read More.
Please check the video below and this link for further information.