Coronavirus (Covid-19) Notification

PLEASE DO NOT COME TO THE SURGERY IF YOU HAVE CORONAVIRUS SYMPTOMS.

Due to the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, ALL of our initial GP consultations are by telephone, if the GP needs to see you face to face they will inform you during the initial telephone call.

In an EMERGENCY dial 999

Dispensary Notification

Due to the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic we are currently accepting telephone requests for repeat medications, this is to reduce the number of patients walking in to the surgery, please note that the Dispensary will ONLY take telephone calls between 12:00 and 15:00 (please do not call the Dispensary at any other time).

The Beckington Family Practice is a medical practice covering an area of about 100 square miles, including the rural area north of Frome and the town itself and extends over the borders into BANES and Wiltshire. We have two surgeries, St. Luke's Surgery, Beckington and Fromefield Surgery, Frome. There is a car park adjacent to the buildings with marked disabled parking bays, and there are no steps into the buildings or to the consulting rooms.

We are a dispensing practice. Those patients who live more than one mile from a pharmacy and who have registered as dispensing patients may have their prescriptions made up immediately after seeing the doctor at Beckington surgery and obtain their repeat medication there.

NHS COVID-19 VACCINATION PROGRAMME UPDATE

We know that everyone is eager to find out when they will get their Covid vaccination and that this is an anxious time. The NHS is working very hard to invite people who are eligible to have their vaccination, as quickly as possible, and in Somerset, a third of all adults have already been vaccinated.

NEW - People who are aged over 60 can now book their appointment directly with the national booking service online, or by calling 119. You don’t need to wait to be contacted by the surgery.

The groups currently being prioritised for a coronavirus vaccine are:

• Residents and staff of care homes for older adults
• Anyone aged 60 and over
• Frontline health and social care workers, and adult unpaid carers
• Any adult identified as clinically vulnerable to complications following Covid-19 infection, including those on the GP Learning Disability Register

If you are aged between 65-69 (priority group five), we urge you to use the national booking service to book your appointment as soon as you receive a letter from the NHS – please don’t delay.

If you are aged between 16 and 64 (priority group six), with specific underlying health conditions that increase your risk of serious illness, you will be contacted by the GP primary care network team to invite you to your appointment, as soon as we possibly can.

You can really help to support the local vaccination programme and our surgery by:

• Attending all booked vaccination appointments at exactly the right time you’re asked to
• Unless you are in the groups being invited now, please don’t contact the surgery to seek a vaccine, you will be contacted by the NHS when it is the right time;
• and whether you have had your vaccine or not, please continue to follow all the guidance in place to control the virus and save lives.

We are sending some text messages to patients with a booking link.                     

For more information on the NHS Vaccination programme please visit: https://www.somersetccg.nhs.uk/health/local-services/health-services-during-coronavirus/covid-19-vaccinations-in-somerset/

Thank you for your patience.

For general advice and guidance on Coronavirus (COVID-19) please visit the NHS website:  https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

At Beckington Family Practice we offer additional appointments outside of our normal working week including some Saturday mornings; this is on a rotational basis between St Luke's and Fromefield.

Please contact reception for dates and times of available appointments.

Our practice now offers a range of online services through Patient Access, a few of the services we offer are, ordering prescriptions online, requesting non-urgent medical advice and viewing your medical record.

If you do not have online access but wish to register then, please read the GP Online Services Information Leaflet, then download and print the Application Form.

Bring the application form along with the 2 forms of ID (1 photo ID and proof of address i.e. recent utility bill) to reception for verification.

The Admin Team will then process your application and will contact you with the details to complete the Online Registration process.

Please be aware that this initial process may take up to 2 weeks.

Planning ahead for a time when you may become less well and writing an Advance Care Plan may be something you have considered but are unsure how this can be done?

The Mendip Symphony of GP practice's across the Mendip area and the Health Connections Team can support you and talk about your wishes and preferences for the future.

We all deserve the opportunity to consider what might be important to us towards the end of life, click Planning for the future for more information.