Scottish Government Instructions
Restrictive measures still remain in place at this stage in the pandemic, with Ms Sturgeon now putting the country into a further lockdown - so that only essential workers and essential travel is permissible.
More detailed information is available at www.gov.scot/coronavirus-covid-19/

We are now delighted to announce that we have the imminent arrival of our first batch of CoVid Vaccines (100 doses) - so we will be in contact with our patients in priority group 2 from Monday 18th onwards with the offer of an appointment to attend for vaccination.

The process of the attendance will be explained at the time of the invitation. If you get an invitation please accept this opportunity to attend for a vaccination!

If you have a general query about the COVID-19 vaccine, please look on the NHS Inform website or use the national helpline 0800 030 8013 which is open from 8am to 8pm, seven days a week https://www.nhsinform.scot 

Vaccine rollout
CoVid Vaccinations for the general public will initially be based on age and underlying health conditions. They will start on 21st January 2021 commencing with the 80 years old and over population - so please look out for a letter or telephone call and a leaflet which will invite you to make an appointment for your vaccine https://www.nhsinform.scot/covid19vaccine

Please avoid calling the surgery with any general queries about the COVID-19 vaccine as we are unable to give you any more information at this stage and we need to try and keep phone-lines open for people who are unwell and needing medical care. 

Many thanks for your ongoing patience and cooperation – continue to follow the guidelines issued by the Scottish Government - hopefully the vaccination program will be successfully in alleviating the restrictions soon.

General Health Issues

We realise that there are many other major stressors on health at this time. With the assistance of NHS Inform we have appended health care links for many of these conditions which can be accessed on the top bar of the website https://www.nhsinform.scot/ If however you have specific health concerns please telephone the surgery on 0141 883 8887 during our standard working hours Monday to Friday 9am-1pm and 2pm-6pm

There is specific information available on frontline healthcare providers including GPs Receptionists, Pharmacists, Dentists and Opticians on https://www.nhsinform.scot/communityhealth

There is additional advice on emergency medical care, minor injuries and acute mental health problems on https://www.nhsinform.scot/right-care

Notification from the Chief Medical Officer Dr. Gregor Smith

As vaccine supply increases, we will work our way through the priority list set by the Joint Committee of Vaccinations and Immunisations (JCVI) with the aim of completing this by the end of spring 2021

1. Residents in a Care Home for Older Adults and their carers
2. All those aged 80 years and over and frontline health and social care workers
3. All those aged 75 and over
4. All those aged 70 and over and clinically extremely vulnerable individuals
5. All those aged 65 and over
6. All individuals aged 16 to 64 years old with underlying health conditions which put them at higher risk of serious disease and mortality
7. All those aged 60 years of age and older
8. All those 55 years of age and older
9. All those 50 years of age and older

The JCVI estimate that taken together these groups represent around 99% of the preventable mortality from CoVid-19.

The JCVI advises that implementation of the CoVid-19 vaccine program should aim to achieve high vaccine uptake.

Implementation should also involve flexibility in vaccine deployment at a local level with due attention to:

• mitigating health inequalities, such as might occur in relation to access to healthcare and ethnicity
• vaccine product storage, transport and administration constraints
• exceptional individualised circumstances
• Availability of suitable approved vaccines, for example for age specific cohorts.

The JCVI acknowledges that operational considerations, such as minimising wastage, may require a flexible approach, where decisons are taken in consultation with national or local public health experts.

The initial vaccination program will take place in hospitals (including the Louisa Jordan Hospital at SECC) and will not be rolled out to General Practice in the first tranche of the vaccination program. However we have been requested to provide an accurate register of our 80 year old and over patient group with early vaccination in mind.

We will update this information when we receive notification from the Chief Medical Officer and Public Health Departments when there are any changes.

Telephone Contact

We still wish to continue with minimising access to the Medical Centre at this time by conducting telephone and video consultations for our patients as our first assessment measure. So please telephone the surgery for an appointment rather than just attending the Centre.

These measures are for patient and staff safety.

We have installed new Perspex screens for our reception area for the benefit of our staff, visitors and for patients who have to attend the practice
Wherever possible prescription requests will be handled as normal BUT the prescriptions will be passed to a pharmacy of your choice to minimise unnecessary surgery attendance. Please assist with this request. There is more information on our Prescription Page.

We can allow limited access to the surgery by prior arrangement with patients to come in through the front door and normally exit through the back door at the Treatment Room area. Patients who are asked to attend should do so with a face covering and ideally gloves until further notice.

We may open up the waiting room as necessary – with a maximum of 5 people to allow for effective social distancing - if the weather is poor but we may still utilise the pram park for waiting if the weather is fair.
Sanitising Units are available at the entrance and exits of the building

Consultation Structure
There will be a telephone triage for all calls between 9am-11am
We have a Crookston “Cobra” for the doctors and staff where important developments are discussed and prescriptions signed at 11.00 -11.30am every morning
Necessary patient attendances will be at 15 minute appointments from 11.30am-1.00pm
Lunch break and emergency calls only between 1.00pm-2.00pm
Telephone Consultations and Triage 2.00pm – 4.00pm
15 minute appointments 4.00pm – 6.00pm

Near Me or Attend Anywhere

We have a facility for safe encrypted video consultations which can be arranged via an appointment – after making an appointment you can access this service via a mobile smart phone or in some cases via computer (you will need Google Chrome or Sarfari as your Internet Browser) by typing in:

 https://nhsattend.vc/crookstonmedicalcentre 

then completing your name date of birth and contact telephone number. This will then be flagged up on our system and a doctor will be available to conduct a video consultation (essentially an encrypted Skype/Facetime video consultation).

We would recommend that you telephone the Practice in advance if you wish to arrange this service.

House visit requests

Will be thoroughly vetted - for patient and clinician safety - to minimise risks of virus transmission.

While the conduct of the vast majority of our patients has been empathic and exemplary – the behaviour of a small minority of our patients, at this difficult time for everyone – has been extremely unhelpful.

The severity of the epidemic has been very traumatic for the clinicians and staff at Crookston Medical Centre – many of whom have been off with symptoms of the virus or having tested positive for coronavirus exposure. We have also had to witness many deaths at our local Nursing Homes and deal with bereaved relatives in as sympathetic a manner as possible considering the distancing and exposure requirements.

In addition, we have had to adapt to changing circumstances and a plethora of bureaucratic edicts to try and contain the spread of the virus and minimise its impact on the most vulnerable.

Thus, while acknowledging the stress on many individuals it is still very disappointing to report the abuse of our repeat prescribing system (which was altered to assist with social distancing).

It is additionally the case that certain individuals have been plaguing the practice with daily demands and nuisance calls. With many examples of rude, aggressive and inconsiderate behaviour!

WE ARE A CARING SERVICE DOING OUR UTMOST TO HELP OUR PATIENTS (WHICH MAY INCLUDE SAYING “NO” TO UNREASONABLE OR HARMFUL DEMANDS). WE EXPECT A SIMILAR LEVEL OF CARE IN RETURN!

While we have been obliged to put up with this “bad behaviour” due to the requirements of maintaining a medical service for everyone during the lockdown – this will not continue!

We will be asking several individuals to leave the practice and find another medical service. In some more extreme cases the people involved will receive an explanatory letter and simply be removed from our Practice List!

However we are a stoical community that has lived through this crisis together and we sincerely hope that the individual characteristics of our country will pull us together and provide mutual support at this challenging time.

We therefore appeal for politeness, care and compassion for our staff and promise that these sentiments will be reciprocated from our clinical team in return!