Drop in patients making appointments at Melton GP surgery prompts concern

Latham House Medical Practice wants to remind residents that doctors and nurses are available to support them as normal despite the restrictions imposed to limit the spread of Covid-19.

Patients are currently asked not to visit the Sage Cross Street health centre but to call ahead so staff can assess their treatment needs.

But the surgery’s executive manager, Kate Hunter, said fewer people were calling to make an appointment in recent weeks.

She told the Melton Times: “We have seen an overall drop in requests for appointments which we completely understand and this has helped us with reconfiguring how we deliver services.

“But we are concerned that people who need care for conditions other than Covid-19 are not receiving the help they need.

“We are very much open for business and would encourage patients to contact us by phone or Engage Consult if they need our help.

“Along with the rest of the NHS we are looking now at how we can continue to deliver as many services as possible ensuring the safety of patients and staff.”

The recently-launched Engage Consult service allows patients and carers to make appointments and have consultations with health professionals at Latham House via their computer or mobile phone and should make it easier for people to contact the surgery going forward.

Guidance about non-emergency conditions, general medical advice and prescription queries can also be accessed via the service.

Ms Hunter urged patients to make an appointment if they felt they or a family member needed treatment or guidance from a member of staff.

“We are providing most services including routine and urgent consultations with GPs, nurses and pharmacists - these are being done by telephone and video consultations and where essential we will ask patients to come to the practice to be seen,” she said.

“We continue to provide a vaccination and immunisation service for children; it is essential that these continue to prevent outbreaks of other serious but preventable illnesses in the community and we would urge parents to bring their children for their vaccinations.

“We have implemented new processes to ensure we can deliver these safely and assure parents.

“We are also doing essential blood tests, injections required as part of cancer care, dressings and stitch removal and cervical smear tests for those at the highest risk of cervical cancer.”

Latham House said it was currently contacting all of its patients who have been advised to shield due to extremely clinically vulnerable conditions to ensure they can continue to provide their essential medical care safely for them.

By signing up to use the Engage Consult service - at www.lhmp.co.uk - patients can get advice from the practice without having to visit or telephone the surgery.

The surgery has set aside its sister practice at Asfordby for only the most vulnerable local patients - there are about 700 who fall into this category.

Ms Hunter said: “At present due to the overall drop in demand from our services we have not yet had to set up regular sessions at our Asfordby branch. “However, as part of the planning for gradually increasing the services we can provide we will consider whether we will need to use it for our shielded patients or not.

“We sincerely appreciate the support of those patients who regularly use Asfordby Surgery and will resume normal services there as soon as it is safe and practical for us to do so.”

Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust has launched a dedicated phone line so that people of all ages in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland can access urgent NHS mental health support directly.

The new Central Access Point (CAP) phone service, links callers with call handlers and clinicians who can assess their needs and advise, support, signpost or refer them directly to the appropriate service.

The CAP service is available by calling 0116 295 3060 for 24-hour NHS phone support.