Dear Dolphins Patients
We would like to start by thanking all of you as our patients for your understanding and patience in what has been a unique 18 months for us all. We would also like to thank the members of the Dolphins Patient Participation Group (PPG), who have supported the Practice and the community by managing the volunteers for the Covid Vaccination programme at Clair Hall. We can honestly say that we could not have managed without them.
The PPG has also supported us as your GP Practice and provided the much-needed link between the Practice and its patients. If you would like to learn more about the PPG and the important role they have within the practice please email: https://[email protected].
The Practice has had to adapt to new national and local guidelines, which have created many changes in the way we work – the appointment system, prescription requests and the addition of a screen in front of Reception to name but a few. We are very proud to say that our doors have remained open throughout the Pandemic and, although access to the surgery has been different for us all, we have continued to see you as our patients on a daily basis.
We have recruited two new doctors who will be joining the team in July and August. Dr Caterina Capurro will be replacing Dr Gordon Taylor who left the surgery in June and Dr William Wetherell will be adding extra capacity to the practice. Our amazing nursing team who have continued to see their patients throughout the Pandemic have welcomed the return from maternity leave one of our practice nurses. Our Reception team has undergone a few changes as well, with two of our longest standing staff retiring. You will no doubt see a few new faces when you come in.
We are now about to enter the next chapter, with Covid restrictions being eased in a bid to return to normality for the general public. We want to ensure that we keep both our patients and staff as safe as possible. We are, of course, governed by the guidelines that the Government ask us all to follow. These guidelines have now been published and we are able to inform you that there is no change. The requirements to maintain social distancing and to wear a face mask when you come in to the Practice remain the same.
There are some conditions that clearly need a face to face consultation and we will set aside as much capacity as we can for this work. However, given that social distancing is still recommended for public areas, we will still be undertaking a certain amount of work by telephone or video consultations. When used appropriately, these help to save you travel, save us time and reduce the risk of further infection. Our Reception staff will be able to guide you through this; they are a very highly skilled and trained workforce and the questions that they ask you are agreed by us as your doctors, to help to get you to the right intervention to meet your needs as quickly as possible. We understand that we are living in stressful times and acknowledge that we cannot always respond to you as quickly as we would like; however, we would ask that you continue to be respectful to our staff who are doing all they can to support you with your enquiry.
While face coverings will no longer be a legal requirement, we can all see that rates of Covid infection are increasing very quickly at the moment, so, unless you are exempt, we ask that you continue to wear a face covering if you come to the Practice, unless there are clear clinical reasons why not. Thank you again for your cooperation and understanding with this.
