A Message from Ellergreen Medical Centre

In the two and a half years since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, there have been many changes and challenges that have been faced by the NHS and Ellergreen Medical Centre. Despite national lockdowns, a GP recruitment crisis and reductions in access to secondary care services, the surgery has remained operational throughout.  We sincerely thank our hard working staff for all their effort during this time. 

Access to GP services is a reflection of the overall limited access throughout the NHS. Initially there were delays caused by reduced services during the pandemic and patients stayed away hoping to avoid contact with coronavirus.  As restrictions eased and we started dealing with this backlog, further problems developed. Despite patients being referred for tests and appointments, these have been delayed with patients waiting for up to 18 months to be seen. Patients are also finding that precious follow up appointments have inexplicably been cancelled. All of this means patients are needing to access their GP surgery more frequently, which means access to appointments is more difficult. 

To address this, during the pandemic we recruited both regular and locum GPs to improve access. We have employed more administrative staff to answer calls from our patients and deal with the increasing volume of paperwork.  Our Primary Care Network allowed us to employ pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, care coordinators and link workers. These have not only worked in the surgery, but also in helping roll out the coronavirus vaccine program.  We also invested in improving our existing phone and IT infrastructure. This meant that even when our staff were unable to be physically at the surgery due to isolation guidelines, they were still able to work. 

Despite this demand is still outstripping supply when it comes to appointments. Our response to this is to invest further in the practice and the care we give to our patients. In August we will launch a brand new telephone system which will significantly improve access to the surgery. It has the capacity to queue calls, arrange call backs and redirect patients to local services. With this, no patient should ever hear an engaged tone again. 

We are employing more staff at every level. New doctors, nurses and administrative staff are being interviewed to expand our workforce and ensure that there are even more appointments available. 

We didn’t hide from the challenges of the pandemic, we never stopped seeing our patients and we will continue to be here looking after our community in the future. 

Ellergreen Medical Centre