Whitby Group Practice
Spring Vale Medical Centre, Rievaulx Road, Whitby, North Yorkshire YO21 1SD
Important update about the coronavirus (COVID-19) as of 23 March 2020
We would ask all patients to:
Follow the current government advice on self-isolation and social distancing. Advice is being kept under constant review and you can find the latest guidance at: www.nhs.uk/coronavirus. You DO NOT NEED to contact your GP practice for permission to do this.
Use NHS111 if the first instance if you have COVID-19 symptoms and would like medical advice. Please use NHS111 online if you have access to the internet: https://111.nhs.uk. Phone NHS111 if you do not have online access.
Do not come to any GP practice unless you have been specifically advised to do so after a phone/video consultation with a clinician at your practice.
ROUTINE REFERRALS
GP practices have been instructed not to send routine referrals to secondary care.
This includes:
• Non-urgent endoscopies which are now suspended.
• Non urgent imaging/diagnostics are also suspended.
• Referrals to the chronic pain service.
• Non-urgent referrals to MSK and direct access physiotherapy.
GPs will advise patients to continue to manage with advice given by primary care and re-present if symptoms persist once pandemic is over so an onward referral can be reconsidered. Patients will also be advised that should symptoms significantly deteriorate to contact their GP and case will be reviewed and advice then sort from secondary care.
Neither the hospital nor practices will therefore keep a list of pending referrals it will be down to the patient to re-contact their GP.
PRESCRIPTIONS
Order your medication as normal. Do not stockpile medication or request medication earlier than usual.
Do not request a sick note for any illness lasting 7 days or less or for any periods of self-isolation/social distancing. All non-dispensing patients prescriptions will be dealt with by Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) and sent directly to your chosen pharmacy.
DISPENSING PATIENTS
You can collect direct from our dispensary window, please knock on the window near the patient drop off area at Whitby and the window around the back at Robin Hoods Bay.
INACCURATE INFORMATION circulating regarding special ‘rescue packs’ for patients with pre-existing respiratory conditions
We have been made aware of some inaccurate information circulating regarding special ‘rescue packs’ for patients with pre-existing respiratory conditions such as asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Please do not contact your GP practice for a rescue pack; you should continue to manage your condition in the usual way.
If you feel you have symptoms of COVID-19, go to the NHS 111 dedicated pages at https://111.nhs.uk/covid-19 before doing anything else.
Latest news
Whitby Group Practice is a personal medical services practice located in Spring Vale Medical Centre in Whitby, North Yorkshire with a branch surgery at Robin Hood’s Bay.
Whitby Group Practice is part of the Whitby, Coast and Moors Primary Care Network (PCN). PCNs have been created to help integrate primary care with secondary and community services and provide care at greater scale. In doing this we can develop the services we offer to meet the needs of our local population.
Our new website has links that take you to our main PCN website to avoid duplication of information across each of our local GP practices. The ‘your health’ menu tab will take you to information about all the services in our local area, information about managing health conditions and looking after you and your family.
You can find out more about our network by clicking on the ‘our network’ tab in the main menu. To get back to our individual practice site, simply select our practice name from the ‘practice websites’ menu tab.
We welcome your feedback and comments on our new website.
Introducing care navigation
Helping you get the right care, in the most appropriate place, first time.
When you next request an appointment the receptionist may ask you some brief details about the problem you are concerned about.
Please don’t be offended. You do not have to share this information if you would prefer not to. However, it may help us to direct you to the most appropriate professional to help you with your problem, whether that is one of our GPs, Advanced Clinical Practitioners, Clinical Pharmacist, Nursing Team or another professional such as:
- First Contact Physiotherapy
- Pregnancy Advisory Services
- Better Access Service
- Living Well
- North Yorkshire Horizons