Welcome to John Hampden Surgery 

We are confident that our website will provide clear and concise help and give our patients the information they require in an easy and convenient format. It has been designed with the patient’s needs at the forefront of everything, from checking surgery times to letting us know what you think of us.  Please see our National Patient Survey results to see how fellow patients rate us.

Surgery News  

• IMPORTANT sharing your data + opt out.  NHS Digital are collecting patient data for planning and research purposes.  If you want to opt out, the deadline is September 1^st.  More information is here .  Our form for opting out is here .

• NHS APP. We have decided to use the NHS App instead of Patient Access for online access in future, although we’ll still respond to Patient Access requests.  The NHS App has a number of advantages for you and us, which we have described on the Online Services page of the surgery website where there are also instructions on how to upload the NHS app and register with it. 

Appointments

At the moment both face-to-face and remote appointments can only be booked by ringing the surgery:  telephone 01494 890900.

Everything you need to know about when we are open, which GPs and nurses are on duty, and how to get care when we are closed can be found in the  ‘opening times’ pages of our website.  Look at ‘practice staff’ pages to see details of our GPs, nurses, practice manager, receptionists, health visitor, and adult community health care team.  Our repeat prescription system is computerised and easy to use – see here.  

If you come to the surgery, there’s a public car park next door.  The surgery has disabled access and a disabled toilet.

Our services

Our dedicated team are here to treat those minor ailments that occur as well as providing specialist management of long-term conditions and clinics covering a wide range of healthcare issues. Once registered, patients and healthcare professionals work together to ensure the most appropriate care is provided. This partnership philosophy extends even further and our active patient group exists to make sure that patient needs and the practice offering are always heading in the same direction.

New patients:  see here for information about how to register

Our clinics:  we provide family planning, child immunisation, blood tests, asthma and spirometry monitoring, chronic disease reviews, heart disease and ECG monitoring, travel advice, routine injections, an ante-natal clinic,  etc.  Full details are on our ‘clinics and services’ pages of our website.  Our receptionists are trained in care navigation, which means they can direct you to appropriate support and services.

Covid  

Thanks to everyone who has been looking at this page for updates rather than ringing us; but do call if you have any other medical concerns - we're open for business!  

We are now working toward a safe and new way of working for the future:  face-to-face appointments will continue where medically necessary after clinicians have triaged each patient’s needs.  See Covid page for the surgery’s full statement.

Vaccinations:  information about the continuing vaccination programme can be found on the NHS website.  Ring 119 if you believe you are due a first or second jab or book online using the website. The NHS have advice on going abroad – please do NOT contact the surgery. 

Booster Covid jabs and flu jabs are likely to be done at the surgery in October, subject to NHS approval.  Watch this space from more news in due course.

Practice update from July 19th

We would like to reassure all our patients that General Practice is open and here for all who need to use our services.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, our practice has remained open and here for you.

We have simply been doing things differently, with greater emphasis on remote assessments and inviting patients for face-to-face appointments only when necessary. But we have never closed our doors as a service; we have simply been operating in a COVID-safe way.

Although lockdown restrictions are easing it is still important for the safety of patients and staff that we continue to maintain a COVID- secure environment. It is hugely encouraging that the vaccination rollout has been so successful, but infection rates are still concerning and the emergence of new COVID variants poses a risk we cannot ignore. For this reason, we will continue to ask visitors to our practice to please wear face masks when they enter the building and to socially distance for the time being. By taking these simple precautions we can work together to prevent infections among both patients and staff. This also helps us avoid having staff members isolate, which in turn will help us keep your GP services running smoothly.

We will also continue to assess patients remotely first and will offer face-to-face appointments to those who need them. This will include people with existing medical conditions who need greater support (for example, people with learning difficulties or who may be living with hearing loss), and those who we assess to have a particular need that requires a face-to-face appointment.

As we are sure you appreciate, it is really important for us to focus on patients who need us the most and who may have an urgent or long-term health need that requires attention. It is also the case that administrative work has increased considerably for GPs and staff as a result of the pandemic. Using telephone assessment methods means we can make sure our time is used to help each patient in the best way for their particular health concern. We would like to reassure you that we will always be working hard to put your needs, as patients, first.

Routine screenings, health checks and immunisations all continue to be available at your GP practice.

We are very aware how difficult the pandemic has been for many patients. We also understand that some may be frustrated at having to wait a little longer than usual for certain treatments. Similarly, our telephone lines have been far busier than usual for this time of year, and patients may find themselves on hold for slightly longer while we deal with calls.

We would ask, however, that all patients please treat our staff with kindness and respect. General Practice has been working extremely hard, and very long hours, throughout the pandemic and the recent vaccination rollout. This has been a difficult and exhausting time for many of our staff, who continue to work diligently to support all our patients.

We appreciate your patience and understanding in this and would like to thank our patients for their support.

Using NHS services

If you have any concerning or suspicious symptoms, we would ask that you please do not hesitate to contact us. We understand that some of you may have put off contacting your GP because of the COVID situation, for various reasons. But if you have a genuine concern, please get in touch as soon as possible. We want to help you.

Remember, you can also use our online service (Ask NHS).

However, we would still ask that you consider how urgent your request is before you contact us. Often with mild complaints your pharmacy, the NHS111 telephone service or www.111.nhs.uk will be able to give you the help you need quickly and easily.

If you need urgent care we would again urge you to call 111 or go to www.111.nhs.uk first. These can then direct you to the most appropriate local service (for instance, the Urgent Treatment Centre or A&E).

And please always call 999 for a life-threatening illness or injury.

COVID-19

If you have COVID symptoms – a high temperature, new continuous cough or loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – please make sure you get tested and continue to follow the guidance by self-isolating to help protect those you may come into contact with.

For more information about COVID-19 and how to arrange a test, please click here.