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Weekly News Update 6 Posted or Updated on 15 Feb 2022

Welcome to the latest of our weekly newsletters. We regard it as a priority that all our patients are kept fully informed of all developments at Buckshaw Village Surgery, Croston and Adlington Medical Centres and our sites at Lostock Hall. We hope these regular updates will continue to prove useful.

Phone system

As reported on our website we are delighted to advise that the final phase of work on our upgraded telephone system, which will operate at all sites across the group, is now in progress.

Engineers are continuing to work on the system on a daily basis this week and the new system is expected to come into operation very shortly.

We have been determined to address the phone issues which have caused problems for patients for some time.

At several sites, we inherited a limited phone system which is no longer fit for purpose and this has contributed to many of the problems.

However, we are confident that our considerable investment in the new system will pay dividends and will provide a much improved service for all users.

In the mean time, we are aware that until the project is completed, patients may continue to experience issues across the group.

We apologise for this and we would like to thank you for your continued patience and would ask you to bear with us a little longer until the new system is fully operational.

Covid Vaccination Programme

We are continuing to proceed as quickly and safely as possible with our Covid vaccination programme.

A hectic period prior to the Easter weekend saw a series of busy clinics taking place at our vaccination hub Buckshaw Village Surgery, and we are delighted to report that more than 5,500 vaccines were administered in the month of March alone.

We would like to thank all staff, volunteers and other groups for their part in the success of the latest vaccination clinics, particularly RMG Buckshaw for providing cakes, lunches and coffees.

Thanks also to all those vaccinated for their patience and co-operation.  

In the immediate future, we are focussing on patients awaiting their second dose, and those due for this second dose will be contacted shortly.

Please be assured that an appointment will definitely be made for you within the 12 week time limit advised by current manufacturers’ guidelines.

However, due to the logistics of our delivery schedule, appointments may only be made a very short time in advance.

We will also shortly be inviting patients in Cohort 10 ie aged 40-50 for their first doses, and this phase will proceed as soon as our vaccine delivery schedule is confirmed.  

Please note that the situation for both first and second vaccines may change at any time due to a number of factors including supply issues or changes in Government guidelines.

We would therefore ask all patients to regularly check this website or our Facebook and Twitter accounts which will be updated as soon as any further information becomes available.

Reopening of surgeries

As the Covid situation improves and lockdown restrictions continue to be eased, we are hopeful of being in a position to lift the severe restrictions on visiting our surgeries which were imposed at the start of the pandemic.

This is of course subject to conditions evolving satisfactorily and will be fully in line with Government guidelines.

Full details will be posted on the website and on our Facebook page as soon as they become available.

In the mean time, urgent and routine appointments with GPs, nurse practitioners and practice nurses can continue to be made in the normal way, and for the time being all initial GP appointments will continue to be by telephone triage.

Podiatry Clinics

We hold regular podiatry clinics at Buckshaw Village Surgery and these are continuing despite the Covid situation and the site being utilised for the vaccine rollout.

All our patients are eligible for these clinics, which deal with foot and ankle issues, and if you wish to book an appointment, please call us for details.