We have now started delivering the national 'phase 3' COVID booster programme and our annual flu vaccinations. This week we have been visiting Care & Nursing homes, and are starting clinics at our vaccine centre at New Milton Health Centre, Spencer Road, New Milton, from 27th September.

All patients over 50 are eligible for both vaccines, along with those under 50 in the 'at-risk' categories. The only limitation is that patients need to have had a 6 month gap between their second COVID dose and their booster dose.

We are able to administer both vaccinations at the same time, which means you only need to attend one appointment. However, if your booster dose is not due until later into the autumn due to the 6 month gap, you are welcome to book in to have a flu vaccine now, and we can book your covid vaccination appointment whilst you are here - just call our booking line, details of which are below.

Our invitations are being sent out in line with the 6 month gap since your last dose. They are via SMS text to those with mobile phones, and to those without by email, letter, or a telephone call from our booking team. Once you receive your invite, you will be asked to book online via a 'link' or contact the booking line on 01425 611788 to book your appointments, Monday-Friday 08.30am - 1pm, if you have no access to internet.

When you have a booked appointment for your vaccine, it is really important you attend so that you don't deny others the opportunity to receive theirs as soon as possible. If you are not able to attend, then please telephone our booking line, 01425 611788 Monday - Friday between 8.30am and 1.00pm, or your site's reception team outside these hours.

24th September 2021

IMPORTANT - PLEASE READ:

As a result of the pandemic, there is now a worldwide (global) shortage of blood test bottles. These are the tiny bottles that are used for ALL patient blood tests. Every single Hospital, GP Surgery and outpatient clinic is affected by this. 

We have been told by NHS England that we must reduce our blood tests by at least 66%. 

We must do this to make sure that the sickest patients and those who are being investigated for possible life-threatening illness can be tested appropriately.  

Sadly this means that we have to postpone non-urgent blood tests. 

We are so sorry. We appreciate how frustrating this is for you, having been so patient during the pandemic.  

Our GPs are reviewing all our blood tests, to determine which can safely be delayed. If you are affected, your name will be put onto a waiting list so that we can rearrange your blood test when this crisis resolves. 

We are all incredibly sad that we have to take this step. Thank you for your support for the NHS and our Surgery. Every bit of positive feedback we receive is heard and appreciated. We are here for you, and we will continue to be here for you. 

Update, 24th September 2021

Blood bottle supplies have been procured nationally, and we may start to see supplies being replenished soon. Once these have been received, we can start resuming normal testing, but this may be 2-3 weeks away yet.

***UPDATE 11.15am*

Our phone lines are now working. There was a fault with Christchurch Telephone Exchange. Please be kind to our staff answering the telephones. They are aware there has been a fault and that you will have had difficulty contacting us this morning. Therefore, it would be helpful if you could state the nature of your query in a succinct manner so we can clear the queue of calls as quickly as possible .

Thank you for your understanding and patience, it's much appreciated.

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08:00

Good morning, we are very sorry to report we have a problem with our phone lines. The engineers are trying to resolve the situation as fast as we can and apologise for any inconvenience caused.

We will report any updates here.

Thank you for your patience.

Thursday 27th May 2021

Coastal Medical Partnership are aware of the concerns raised nationally and locally, surrounding both whether GP surgeries have ‘opened up’ since the easing of lockdown restrictions, and about the ability to get through to their practice and book appointments.

Contrary to what some sections of social media portrays, and unlike many parts of the health system, our surgeries have remained open each and every single day throughout the pandemic, including some bank holidays and weekends, fully staffed, and working harder than ever. In the 12 months to 30^th April 2021, we carried out 179,843 appointments across The Arnewood practice, New Milton Health Centre, Barton Surgery and Webb-Peploe surgery, without including our COVID vaccination clinics. This is for a patient population of 34,000. This equates to 3,459 appointments per week, or 692 appointments per working day. To compare this to other services, in April 2021 Southampton A&E had 10,663 recorded attendances, whereas we provided 23,553 appointments in the same month, or 1177 per working day.

In addition to the ‘day to day demands’ placed upon us, we have dealt with:

-providing tens of thousands of covid vaccination appointments, and a very high level of telephone queries or enquires about this service

-continuing to deal with covid patients, queries on covid, or those living with the long-term effects of covid

-facing the demands of meeting the needs of those who understandably chose to stay away over the last 12 months but who now feel they need to see a GP

-dealing with e-consults, patient queries, prescriptions, and all the other areas involved in caring for our patients

Despite having a separate covid booking line, and encouraging the use of e-consults, the phonelines are incredibly busy due to these reasons. We are sorry if this is causing frustration but the reception team are doing all they can to support you as quickly as possible. Our people are our most valuable asset, and any rudeness or aggression towards them is unfair, unacceptable, and will not be tolerated.

Moving forward, despite having around 30 GPs, 17 Nurses and 8 Health care Assistants in our sites, backed up by a large team of receptionists and admin staff, there are often more appropriate clinicians for our patients to see than a nurse or GP. During the last 12 months, we have been busy expanding our workforce to include a frailty team, an expanded pharmacy team, First Contact Physios for joint or bone pain presentations, and a Primary Care Mental Health Team for patients to see MH professionals to try and cope with the increasing demands placed upon us.

Although the last 12 months have been exhausting for the whole team at Coastal, we continue to strive to provide the best care possible within our community.

Monday 1st March 2021

All GP practices are required to declare the mean earnings (e.g. average pay) for GPs working to deliver NHS services to patients at each practice.

The average pay for GPs working in Coastal Medical Practice in the last financial year was £71,729 before tax and National Insurance. This is for 5 full time GPs and 27 part time GPs who worked in the practice for more than six months.