Neasden Greenhill Park St Andrews Medical Centres Coronavirus

Neasden, Greenhill Park & St. Andrew’s Medical Centres Coronavirus (Covid 19) advice and Changes to the Way We Operate

Dear Patient, We hope you are keeping safe in this challenging time. It is important to keep informed and we are writing to you with a short summery describing how we ensure your safety during any contact you may have with our practice. We have also uploaded onto our website a more comprehensive power point presentation on measures taken to prevent infection (social distancing and hygiene) as well as advice how to access support from government / local council and voluntary organisations. Infection control has always been a top priority for our practice and you may have seen this during your visits to our office. Our infection control processes are made so that when you receive care, it is both safe and comfortable. We want to ensure that you continue to feel safe while in our practices and are making all necessary preparations for when we reopen to be able to continue delivering superior patient care. You may see some changes when it is time for your next appointment. We have made these changes to help protect our patients and staff. For example: 1. Our staff will communicate with you before your appointment to ask some screening questions. You may be asked those the same and additional questions again on the phone by the doctor and when you are at the surgery. An unwell patient may be instructed not to use public transport or taxis and may be placed in a room away from other patients and staff. Depending on your symptoms, you may require to get to a hospital for your initial assessment. 2. You may see that our waiting room will no longer offer magazines or pamphlets of any sort as we cannot disinfect these items. 3. Appointments will be managed to allow for social distancing between patients. That might mean that you’re offered fewer options for scheduling your appointment. 4. We will do our best to allow greater time between patients to reduce waiting times for you, as well as to reduce the number of patients in the reception area at any one time. 5. All of our staff, including reception, will now be wearing personal protective equipment Unwell patients may be requested not to use communal toilet facilities and not touch anything or anyone. When toilet is used please wash hands thoroughly before and after toileting. These are just some of the protocols that we intend to implement. There are many more clinical and staff protocols that we are bringing in. We look forward to seeing you again and are happy to answer any questions you may have. We hope to be able to reopen soon and once we know when we can open we will be letting our patients know. Precisely when we are able to reopen will also depend on further government guidance and instruction from the NHS England our ability to acquire the suitable protective wear that is required to keep you and our staff safe. Thank you for being our patient. We value your trust and loyalty and appreciate your patience during this difficult time. We look forward to welcoming you back to our practice once it is safe to do so. In the meanwhile, should you have any problems, please call us on the practice number during our normal working hours and we will assist you in the best manner possible given our current limitations. Sincerely, Neasden Greenhill & St Andrews Medical Centre

Links to NHS Guidance Please use link by copying and pasting Coronavirus (COVID-19) global background https: //www. who. int/health-topics/coronavirus#tab=tab_1 Virus transmission https: //www. england. nhs. uk/coronavirus/primary-care/about-covid 19/virus-transmission/ Public Health England: what you need to know https: //publichealthmatters. blog. gov. uk/2020/01/23/wuhan-novelcoronavirus-what-you-need-to-know/ Prevention https: //www. england. nhs. uk/coronavirus/primary-care/prevention/ Social distancing https: //publichealthmatters. blog. gov. uk/2020/03/04/coronaviruscovid-19 -what-is-social-distancing/

Isolation https: //www. england. nhs. uk/coronavirus/primary-care/isolation/ Guidance for households with possible coronavirus infection https: //www. gov. uk/government/publications/covid-19 -stay-at-homeguidance Public Health England: 5 Things you can do to protect yourself and your community https: //publichealthmatters. blog. gov. uk/2020/03/04/coronaviruscovid-19 -5 -things-you-can-do-to-protect-yourself-and-yourcommunity/ Hand washing https: //www. nhs. uk/live-well/healthy-body/best-way-to-wash-yourhands/ Catch it, Bin it, Kill it https: //www. england. nhs. uk/south/wpcontent/uploads/sites/6/2017/09/catch-bin-kill. pdf