Changes in Response to Covid-19

Following updated NHS guidelines, Happy House Surgery has had to make a number of changes to the way we operate to protect both patients and staff.

Most of our appointments are now face to face however only patients that have a face to face appointment should come to the practice until further notice as our waiting room is limited in the number of patients it can hold.

Please try not to attend your appointment too early.

Non-urgent advice: Patient Notice

Do not attend the practice if you have any symptoms of covid-19.


Attending the Surgery

If the waiting room is busy you may need to queue outside using the markings (2m) guidance.

If the door is locked, press the buzzer on the intercom to speak to the Reception Team who will ask who you are seeing, check you have no COVID-19 symptoms and open the doors

Please continue to follow the guidance markings on the floor and walls in regards to 2m distancing.

Face coverings are mandatory within the practice

Please only use the designated seating.

Although the practice has increased the cleaning of its common areas please use the Hand Sanitiser stations around the reception and corridors.


Increased Demand / Online Services

We are experiencing significantly increased numbers of calls to the surgery so are encouraging those who can access the internet to make use of a number of on-line services.

Patients can register for online access for medication requests via our website; once registered you should be able to request your medication without ringing the Practice.

We are also asking all Patients for a Pharmacy nomination so the script can be sent electronically.  

We are encouraging requests to be made a little earlier so we have more time to process them but, in accordance with NHS advice, will not be doing any advanced requests to ensure supplies and are not anticipating any issues in providing scripts that are given to us in good time.


Sick Notes

Can we remind patients that we do not provide sick notes for the first seven days which is the period of self-isolation for those who think they may have Coronavirus. 

If you need a sicknote for 8 or more days, can you request this using eConsult which is on our home page rather than over the phone.

You can also complete an e-consultation in regards to any health problems you have and we will try to respond within two working days.


Self-Isolation

For guidance on how to safely isolate at home click here.

You do not need to let NHS111 know you are self isolating and you will not need testing for the Coronavirus if you are staying at home.

If your symptoms worsen during home isolation or are no better after 7 days contact NHS 111 online. If you have no internet access, you should call NHS 111, in the case of an emergency call 999.


Non-Urgent Work

Given the significant increase in demand, we are curtailing non-urgent work and may not be able to respond to some requests as soon as we would like: we will ensure all tasks that we deem to be a priority are dealt with quickly.

We are still carrying our services as usual include vaccinations, blood tests, ECGs etc.

Finally, can I remind everyone that our staff are human too; they are working hard to provide the best service possible but we may find ourselves with similar health issues. 

We will always endeavour to meet our commitments but apologise in advance if we need to make some last minute changes to appointments.