Protect your child against measles
It’s very important to make sure that your child has had two doses of the MMR vaccine – this will protect them against three serious illnesses – measles, mumps and rubella.  If your child is aged one or over and hasn’t had their vaccinations, please contact us at the practice as soon as you can to arrange an appointment.

Measles spreads very easily between people who aren’t vaccinated. You can catch it just by spending time in the same room as someone. And it can cause children and people with a weakened immune system to be very unwell.

You may have heard on the news about measles cases in some parts of the country. To stop measles spreading further, the NHS is encouraging all parents to make sure that their children have been vaccinated. We usually offer the first dose of MMR vaccine when your child turns one, then the second dose before they start school as part of the ‘pre-school booster’.

Measles usually starts with cold-like symptoms, followed by a rash a few days later. Some people may also get small spots in their mouth. If you think your child might have measles, check symptoms on the NHS website. Keep your child at home and call us for advice.

Find out more on the NHS website.

Please see link below for accessible information statement

https://youtu.be/ZJngMo37WvA

My Planned Care gives you advice and support while you wait and helps you to prepare for your hospital consultation, treatment, or surgery. This includes giving you information about waiting times at your hospital and other supporting and local services while you wait.

This site is updated weekly and can be viewed by anyone, which means you, your family or carer as well as your NHS team can all see the latest information.

Your hospital team will be in touch with you as soon as they can. If you are looking for an update, please check this website before contacting your hospital or GP.

https://www.myplannedcare.nhs.uk/

Dear Patients Please note that prescriptions  need to be requested 7 days prior to running out of your medication. This is for safety reasons so that your prescrption can be checked by a doctor/pharmacist before being dispensed. 

We would recommend using the NHS APP to request you medication for a priority service. 

Please follow the link below for registration.

NHS App and your NHS account - NHS (www.nhs.uk)

Adult and Child - ADHD/AUTISM questionnaires are located under online forms.

As your GP practice, we have been asked to provide you with, no later than 31 October 2023, access to your full medical record going forward via the NHS app (and NHS website) if you have a suitable NHS login.

Your GP medical record contains consultation notes based on conversations between you, your GP and their team: medicines prescribed to you; all test results including hospital investigations; allergies; vaccines; and your medical conditions along with documents that may have been sent from local hospitals, clinics or other agencies, eg the police. There is likely to be sensitive and personal information within your medical record.

We are supportive of providing you with access to your record, but we wish to do this safely and make you aware that this is happening so that you can opt out, if you so wish. You may wish to speak with us first to understand what it is that you will see, and the risks which may be involved in having such confidential data either on your smartphone with the NHS app installed or online if other people might have access to that information through your devices. If you are in a difficult or pressured relationship for example, you may prefer your records to remain accessible only to those treating you, with them not appearing on your smartphone or online. Government has been clear that if a patient does not wish to have access, then we do not have to provide it. This is one reason why we have asked if you wish to opt out, or have it switched off for the time being.

For those who would like access, we are happy to explain the different levels you might like. Everyone can have access to their medication history and allergies, for example, and will be able to order their repeat prescriptions. It’s also possible to request access to what we call your ‘coded record’ where you can see a list of medical problems and results. You can also request access to the ‘full’ record where you will be able to see everything, including the notes which have been written by doctors, nurses and others involved in your care, at the GP surgery, and elsewhere.

It’s important to remember that these documents may, at times, contain information that could be upsetting, especially if they contain news of a serious condition. It can also be a cause for worry seeing results online when it isn’t clear what the results might mean, and no one is available to ask, as can be the case during the evening or at weekends, for example. 

Sometimes people with a mental health condition might prefer not to see documents that remind them of difficult times in their life. Letters from mental health teams sometimes go into detail about past events, and great care would be needed in deciding whether you would want to see these letters. It is possible for individual items to be hidden at your request and your GP would be happy to talk about any concerns you may have.

Great care is also needed in case private details might cause harm at home, should people in a difficult or pressured relationship be forced to show their medical record to an abusive partner. Anyone in such a position should make this clear to us at the practice, so we can take steps to keep you safe. This might mean removing access through the NHS app for the time being, or through a careful process where we hide sensitive things. We would talk this through with you.

Requesting access – what do I need to do?

The easiest way to get access is to create an NHS login through the NHS app. Although you can also access your GP records via the internet on a computer, the first bit is easiest if done through a smartphone. If you don’t have one, you may have a family member or friend you trust who can help you. You can also ask your practice receptionist, but you’ll need some proof of who you are, e.g. a passport, driving licence or household bill.

If you use the NHS app, you’ll have to set up an account using a unique e-mail address and then ‘authenticate’ yourself to the NHS system to prove you are who you say you are. This will involve confirming your name, date of birth and contact details. The NHS login has several levels of authentication and to gain access to your records you’ll need the highest level of authentication. This generally involves you recording a short video of yourself to prove you are a real person as well as uploading a copy of a suitable identification document. Your GP practice can bypass this step if you are struggling, but we’d ask you to try to sign up to the NHS app yourself.

Once you have suitably authenticated yourself to the NHS app and created your NHS login you can approach your practice and ask for access, being mindful of the risks associated with access and the importance of not sharing passwords or having them stored in your smartphone if you think other people might want to see them without your permission. If you have any concerns, you should explain these to your GP practice team who can guide you.

Your GP practice will have a form they will ask you to complete, with your NHS login (this will be the email address you used to sign up) and then you will have a chat about access and your agreement and understanding will be requested. Once you are happy to get online access, your request will be passed to the clinical team to review. It may be that the practice wishes to contact you to discuss your request if there are any concerns raised so that access can be given safely. We’re not sure how many people will ask for access all at once so there may be a wait, but we will do our best to get you online access as soon as we can. 

We are participating in the Community Pharmacy Consultation Scheme with is a national NHS service  that will direct patients to the most appropriate healthcare professional when booking an appointment, which may be a local community pharmacist either virtually or at their pharmacy. 

We believe this will benefit you as your local pharmacist is a highly trained and skilled clinician experienced in treating minor illnesses and should be able to offer you an appointment quicker.  This will help free up GPs to deal with more complex health needs and ensure that everyone gets treated at the right time, by the right healthcare professional.

We will be listening to patients about their experience of using this service to inform how we can improve our services, and so are keen to hear your views.  You will be advised how to give this feedback when you access the Community Pharmacy Service.

Please be aware that we are trialling a new on- the-day appointment system.

Emergency appointments will be available from 8am.

PLEASE NOTE THAT IT IS ONE PROBLEM PER APPOINTMENT. 

This is a message from the GP Partners to our patients at Maynard Court Surgery & Nazeing Valley Health Centre

First and foremost, we plan to continue working at Nazeing Valley Health Centre (NVHC). Our plan is not, nor ever been, to close the surgery. We need the estate to deliver our care.

We need to ask our patients for their feedback about the quality of our care and where we deliver this. We must present this feedback to our local NHS commissioners. We need to provide evidence that we are delivering good care in the right place for our patients, in order that we may continue doing so.

We must ask these questions in an unbiased way, that does not lead you to a particular answer, and allows you to make a decision and answer for yourselves, to express your needs to the NHS and to us.

We apologise for any uncertainty and anxiety created by the wording of the questionnaire. We hope this explanation helps you to understand why. We are exceptionally busy trying to run our clinics over both sites safely, through this busy time of year, so thank you for your patience and understanding.

We thank you for the feedback you have given us thus far. We would like more responses, please ask the surgery for a copy of the questionnaire (we can send it to mobile phone or provide a paper copy).

We will add updates here on our website. On our website, you can join our Patient Participation Group (PPG), and email us further questions. We would be happy to speak with you again at our PPG meetings, to answer your questions and update you on our practice.

Thank you.

Dr Perry, Dr Tharma, Dr Kandasamy

GP Partners Maynard Court Surgery & Nazeing Valley Health Centre