London Bangla A Force for the community…
NORTH EAST LONDON health bosses have issued advice on how the public can obtain medical advice over the bank holiday – but the message coming out from the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is rather mixed.
Much of the information is very useful.
Don’t run out of drugs
If you take prescription medicine, don’t forget that your GP surgery will probably be closed on Bank Holiday Monday. If you need a repeat prescription, order it and collect it and cash it in at a pharmacy in good time.
Ask at a pharmacy
There are pharmacies across North East London, run by qualified pharmacists who can give basic advice on a number of relatively minor conditions such as indigestion, headaches, sunburn, etc.
Emergencies
If there is a genuine emergency, the NHS 999 service is there to help 24/7 over 365 days of the year.
Mental Health support
Mental health services can be accessed via your GP. You can also go to the Compass Wellbeing website. This is a local social entreprise and it is not clear why the service they offer is not fully within the NHS. Patients who are uneasy about creeping privatisation of the service may be concerned about this. In an emergency, patients suffering from mental health issues can talk to a mental health professional on 020-3594 3179.
However, when it comes to GP services – the NHS front line on which so many of our local residents rely – the CCG message is more disappointing.
GP Services
Some of us don’t see a GP for years, but many residents are regular visitors. In terms of general healthcare, little beats seeing someone you know, who has your notes – and you – in front of them as they try to diagnose exactly what the problem is or tweak your medication.
Our CCG’s Bank Holiday Message is to remember that you can dial 111 24/7 for immediate medical advice. Indeed you can – and indeed if you are unwell this Bank Holiday, or at any other time, go ahead and do that. However, some patients who have phoned 111 have found that the service has not been satisfactory.
The NHS 111 service was rebranded on 1st August as the NHS 111 Clinical Assessment Service where a trained medic can book you in to an Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC) – and that is the problem. The system we have of GPs who know you and hospital A&Es for emergencies is moving over to a system of ringing up and getting a prescription over the phone or a referral to a UTC rather than a hospital-based A&E. The NHS England website says as much. Their plan is that “GP out of hours and 111 services will increasingly be combined.”
The drive to get us to have advice over the phone in what may be emergencies is being mirrored by the attempt to introduce GP services which can be delivered by phone. To date this is being done by private companies which are targeting young professionals who need a quick prescription – the more profitable sections of the community. One of these companies – GP at Hand – is operating from rented rooms at a Tower Hamlets GP surgery. Be careful: if you are talked into using this service, you will be de-registered from your regular GP and may not be able to return. (See below for links to more coverage of GP at Hand.)
There are four centres in Tower Hamlets where patients registered with a Tower Hamlets GP can see a GP by appointment between 8am and 8pm every day of the week. Minor injuries which are not life-threatening can be treated at these centres. They used to be called NHS Walk-In Centres, but appear to have been re-branded to take the role of a GP out of hours service. This would seem to be a way of getting medical help without have to wait hours in the Royal London Hospital A&E department. However, if it was easier to get appointments at your regular GP, perhaps fewer patients would need to see a GP who doesn’t know them just in order to be seen within a reasonable time.
Stay well this Bank Holiday, but call on the NHS if you need it!
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