The Next Wave
We would like to thank our patients for their understanding over the past few months as we have adapted the way we work to cope with COVID19. We have remained fully open for all your health needs throughout but we have had to change how we do things.

We are doing everything we can to keep our Surgery available for patients. We find that remote consulting is less satisfying than face to face. However, face to face consulting is the single most risky activity that we conduct. Seeing patients in person when not medically necessary is reckless and foolish.

There is no backup. If several of us are infected with COVID19 we will have to move to an emergency only service. If there is a serious outbreak at the surgery then we will have to close. Other local practices are in the same position and would not be able to absorb our patients. The only options available would be 111 or A&E.

We therefore now conduct all the activity we can remotely via phone or video call.
Face to face contact is reserved for only those things which cannot be done remotely such as procedures or examination. This way of working is much more time consuming. Despite appointing an extra permanent doctor and nurse we are still all working at full capacity. Do not be fooled if the Surgery seems quiet. We are deliberately keeping patients from coming into contact with each other and this requires a lot of work in the background.

What you can do to help us:
Avoid doing anything that increases your risk of catching COVID19. Keeping Milton a low COVID19 area will give us more time to look after your other medical problems.
If you have any questions about COVID19 symptoms, isolation or testing please look at the Government website first: www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/ . This will save using appointments to repeat things to you and give you the most up to date information and guidance.
Bear with us if you have to wait for an appointment. We are working as hard as we can but changes to reduce the risk of COVID19 mean that everything takes longer.
Be available when you book a phone appointment. If a doctor has to ring you 2 or 3 times to get through they will have used up the 10 minutes they had to talk to you.
Continue to do what you can to manage your own health. Our patients are very good at this and it allows us to concentrate on those things they cannot do for themselves.
Try to order medication before you run out completely (without hoarding). While we try to issue urgent prescriptions within 24 hours, sometimes the current workload makes this difficult.

We are in this together
It seems likely that we will have to work in this way for at least the next 6 months. We want to make sure we are available for all patients who have serious symptoms while still coping with changes that reduce our capacity to see people. If you have troublesome or worrying problems we definitely want you to contact us. However we ask for your patience as you may have to wait while we work through them in order of seriousness.

Once again, thank you for your help. We look forward to better times in 2021.