4th February 2021 – COVID-19 Letters
If you have received a letter from the national booking system about a vaccination appointment and have any questions about this, please contact them on the number given. The practice does not have any information on the centres and is not able to book appointments for patients at these venues.
If you would prefer to have your appointment at our local service, you do not need to do anything – we will contact you as soon as an appointment is available.
Vaccination Invitation Letters from the National Booking System
If you are aged (75) or over, and have not yet had a vaccination, you may get a letter from the NHS national booking system inviting you to make an appointment at a large scale centre or community pharmacy.
These are being sent to people who live within 45 minutes of one of the centres that has been opened, which might be in a different area to where you would normally receive your healthcare.
Please note that you do not have to book an appointment at one of these centres if it is not convenient for you to get there. You can:
- choose to wait for an invitation from your GP practice
OR
- choose to wait until one of the West Yorkshire centres open and are added to the national booking system, which will happen over the next few weeks.
Please do not contact your local practice about an appointment until you receive an invitation from them. They will not be able to advise you on when you will get an appointment or which centres are available. All this information is available on the national booking system website.
The centres in West Yorkshire that are currently on the national booking system are:
- Boots pharmacy in Halifax
- Superdrug in the Merrion Centre, Leeds
- Pharmacy2U at the Village Hotel, Leeds
- Pharmacy2U at Morrisons, Dewsbury Road, Wakefield.
Four large scale vaccination centres will be opening in West Yorkshire between now and mid- February. This will be at:
- Navigation Walk, Wakefield
- The John Smith’s Stadium, Huddersfield
- Jacob’s Well, Bradford
- Elland Road Football Stadium, Leeds
20th January 2021 – COVID-19 Update
We are currently offering vaccinations to those at greatest risk of Covid-19 first (care home residents and workers, frontline health and social care staff and people aged 80 and over), in line with the recommendations from the Joint Committee for Vaccinations & Immunisations (JCVI)
As we are focusing on vaccinating people as quickly as possible, we’re not yet able to confirm where patients are on the list, or when they’re likely to be contacted. When it’s your turn, you will be invited to make an appointment.
Please do not be worried if you or a family member is over 80 but hasn’t heard anything so far. You might know others over 80 who have been invited for their vaccination already, but that does not mean that you or your relative are a lower priority. This is only the start of the vaccination programme and it will take some time to work through everyone.
9th December 2020 – COVID-19 Vaccine
The Pfizer BioNTech vaccine has now been approved for use and the NHS will be starting to offer this to priority groups as soon as supplies arrive.
When will a vaccine be available?
The first, limited, deliveries of the vaccine started week beginning 7 December and the NHS is offering them to those who need them most based on the guidance from the Joint Committee for Vaccinations and Immunisations.
Please note: The Menston and Guiseley Practice do not have a confirmed delivery date for COVID vaccines as yet. We will keep this website updated with further information when it is available.
Who will get a vaccine?
The vaccine will be offered to those at greatest risk from COVID-19 first, people over 80 years old and prioritised frontline health and social care workers. This is based on the guidance from the Joint Committee for Vaccinations and Immunisations which is available here. As more supplies of the vaccine or alternative vaccines become available it will be rolled out in phases to people aged between 80 and 50 and those who are clinically extremely vulnerable. People will be invited for a vaccine when it is their turn so please avoid contacting your GP practice.
Where and when can I get a vaccine?
To start with, vaccines will only be available at hospital ‘hubs’ where the Pfizer vaccine can be stored safely. However, arrangements are also being put in place to offer vaccines from a number of different locations as more supplies and different vaccines become available. These include local vaccine services provided by GPs and pharmacists and new dedicated vaccination centres to make sure that everyone who needs a vaccine is able to get one.
We will be contacting more and more people over the coming days and weeks, as well as protecting those of our staff who are at greatest risk. Please don’t contact your NHS to seek a vaccine, we will contact you.
Further information and how you can help us
We will share further information with you as it becomes available. In the meantime, there are three things people can do to help:
- Please don’t contact the NHS to seek a vaccine – we will contact you when it’s the right time to you to have yours
- Please act on your invite when it comes, and make sure you attend your appointments when you arrange them;
- Please continue to abide by all the social distancing and hand hygiene guidance, which will still save lives.
5th October 2020 – COVID-19 App
The NHS COVID-19 App is now available to download and we encourage all patients to do so; it is the simplest way to help protect those we love.
The NHS COVID-19 App is part of the large scale coronavirus (COVID-19) testing and contact tracing programme and will be used, alongside traditional contact tracing, to notify users if they come into contact with someone who later tests positive for coronavirus – helping to keep us all safer.
The NHS COVID-19 App alerts people at risk of coronavirus, asking them to isolate before they potentially pass the virus on to others as well as providing local area alerts and QR venue check-in.
The app will help the NHS understand if the virus is spreading in a particular area, and so local authorities can respond quickly to stop it spreading further and save lives. The app does this while protecting a user’s anonymity. Nobody, including the government, will know who or where a particular user is.
Please see the document below for further information:2020.09.23__NHS-App_Introducing_NHS_COVID-19_app_Pack_English1
9th June 2020 – Information on COVID-19
For information on the Coronavirus outbreak please go to the page on coronavirus at NHS.UK or the information on Gov.uk
20th March 2020 – Appointment System changes due to COVID-19
Practice Appointments
Due to the ongoing situation with Coronavirus, we are following guidance shared by NHS England and Public Health England to minimise risks associated with the virus. Therefore from Monday 23rd March 2020, the Practice Doors will be locked and we are asking all patients not to attend the practice without prior agreement from a member of our clinical team. This means that all patients are required to contact the practice by telephone to request an appointment, providing details of their need. A member of the clinical team will then phone you back to discuss your need, and wherever possible this need will be met over the telephone. If the clinician deems that you require a face to face appointment, you will be asked some screening questions to determine whether there is a need for a coronavirus assessment. If there is no risk you will be given a face to face appointment.
Please see the Website or telephone Reception for any further information.
Existing appointments
All pre-existing appointments are being reviewed by a clinician. If it is deemed that your appointment is not urgent this may be cancelled by the Practice. If the appointment needs to go ahead, wherever possible this will take place over the telephone. If your appointment is being cancelled or changed to telephone, our reception team will contact you to advise you of this. If the appointment needs to be face to face you will be contacted prior the appointment and asked some screening questions to ensure it is appropriate for you to attend the Practice.
Using the post box
Please use the post box to drop off any routine enquiries you may have. The post box will be emptied regularly by a member of the Reception team. Alternatively please call reception, but please remember the telephone lines may be extremely busy.
May we also ask that all patients remain courteous to our staff at all times; any reported incidents of verbal or physical abuse may result in removal from the practice list.
This is a very challenging time for us all and we would appreciate your co-operation during this period of uncertainty.
Our priority is the health and safety of all our patients and staff.
Thank you.
The GP Partners