Rothschild House Group News

Berkhamsted Living Magazine Rothschild House Surgery

Our thanks to the Tring & Pitstone Patient Participation Group for the following update.

Practice News

The partners and staff of Rothschild House Group would like to extend their thanks and gratitude to Chiltern Academy, Tring School, Beechwood Park School, Berkhamsted School and Chilfest for providing their surgeries with much needed PPE during this time. The visors you have made will afford their clinical and nursing staff more protection when seeing patients and will more importantly help to reduce the spread of coronavirus. They are incredibly grateful for all your kind donations.

The surgery is still open and available for all patients so if you are feeling unwell or are experiencing any change in your health, please contact the surgery by telephone or via the online service now available via Patient Access – https://www.patientaccess.com. The Patient Access web site and mobile app can provide clinically approved advice and self-help guidance 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You may also use this service to check your symptoms or review any long-term conditions using a form which will go directly into your medical record for your doctor to see. A doctor can then review your form and contact you if appropriate, please allow at least 5 working days for a response. Please do not submit any urgent queries using this service, for any urgent medical concerns please call NHS 111. The associated https://patient.info/ web site has over 2,000 patient information leaflets, features and medicine leaflets as well as multiple tests, quizzes and a symptom checker. With over 20 years of content, https://patient.info/ is one of the UK’s most trusted clinical content resources, used by patients and clinicians alike.

Rothschild House Group are still your GP surgery and here to look after you. Their doctors and nurses are working and are available to speak to you and then offer you a face-to-face appointment if they feel you need to be seen. Many patients may be having health issues and they are keen for these not to be forgotten. If you have any health concerns, please do contact the surgery for telephone advice initially.

Prescriptions

When you order a prescription please allow five working days and do not re-order immediately after receiving your medication but wait until five working days before the next repeat is due. By following this procedure, you will ensure that all those who need medication receive it promptly. Please note that the surgery has lost some administrative staff through self-isolation and care for dependents, so please be patient when calling.

COVID-19 Support

The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting individuals and communities in many ways. If you become aware of someone who needs support and you’re not sure how best to help them, please refer them to the HertsHelp advice and information service in Herts. Either call 0300 123 4040, text hertshelp to 81025, minicom 0300 456 2364 or email info@hertshelp.net . If in Bucks telephone 01296 383065 for information, advice and support assistance –  https://www.bucksfamilyinfo.org/kb5/buckinghamshire/fsd/home.page.

Advice for parents during COVID-19

Whilst Coronavirus is infectious to children it is rarely serious. If your child is unwell it is likely to be a non-Coronavirus illness, rather than Coronavirus itself. Whilst it is extremely important to follow Government advice to stay at home during this period, parents shouldn’t delay in seeking help or advice if their child is unwell. NHS 111, GPs and hospitals are still providing the same safe care that they have always done. Health professionals are still working to help all patients – even if those services are currently being delivered slightly differently. For example, most GP consultations are now being carried out by phone or video to avoid people having to go into practices and are only inviting patients in for an appointment if needed. NHS111 online is now the first place for to seek advice for over 5s. As it can be confusing to know what to do when your child is unwell or injured, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health has developed some information to advise parents on how best to seek help during the current pandemic. This is available on the practice website here www.rothschildhousesurgery.co.uk/advice-for-parents-during-coronavirus.

Useful sources of information which are regularly updated include:

  • Rothschild House Surgery website – www.rothschildhousesurgery.co.uk or on Facebook facebook.com/rothschildhousesurgery. Includes important national information on “shielding” vulnerable patients, see also below.
  • Herts Valleys Clinical Commissioning Group – hertsvalleysccg.nhs.uk
  • Hertfordshire County Council is promoting the use of TeamHertsVolunteering as the official volunteering network for the county, coordinating efforts to support those affected by coronavirus and creating a pool of trusted volunteers. If you know of or are part of a community group offering support in your area we’d be grateful if you could make #TeamHerts aware directly by visiting thvolunteering.org.uk and completing the online form. Military planners are working with the council to assist with this work. Schools are open to the children of key workers and vulnerable youngsters and teachers are rising to the challenge of supporting young people to continue to learn and stay healthy and well at home. The council is issuing information and guidance to schools on a regular basis through a web-based resource and has brought together useful information for residents at this address: www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/about-the-council/news/news-archive/coronavirus-frequently-asked-questions
  • UK Gov Extremely Vulnerable Registration – gov.uk/coronavirus-extremely-vulnerable If you or someone you care for hasn’t already registered your specific needs, you can do so on this site or call 0800 028 8327 as soon as possible.
  • Local COVID-19 Support Groups – covidmutualaid.org/local-groups/?place=Tring

We believe that patients have useful ideas and feedback to share and we would also like to keep you updated by emailing you with regular updates like this during the COVID-19 pandemic. Please contact us using the email address rhsppg@gmail.com.