Dear Courtfield Patients,

Further to last week’s message, we would like to update you on the changes that we are making at Courtfield, in response to the rapidly advancing Coronavirus outbreak.

We will be slightly reducing our opening hours to allow a receptionist to work from home. From Monday 23rd March our opening hours will be 8.30am – 5pm Monday to Friday. We will aim to remain open on Saturday mornings for the time being.

We will be providing an alternative mobile phone access to a second receptionist at home who will be available to answer your call if you have difficulty in reaching our reception team on the main number. The “busy” message will advise you on the number to phone if you are unable to get through to main reception.

All requests for face-to-face appointments will now be triaged by the duty doctors who will endeavour to help you with telephone advice only, as long as it is clinically appropriate to do so. If a face-to-face consultation needs to be arranged, then you will be seen by one of the GP’s as usual.

We would prefer if prescriptions were not collected from the practice and they will therefore be sent to your local pharmacy or brought to your door via our home delivery service.

Due to the current high call volume, we may a take a little longer than usual to return your calls.  Please be assured we will always phone you back and will prioritise the most urgent calls.

We are grateful for your patience and understanding, and rest assured we will do everything we can to maintain a service for you throughout this difficult time.

For any general questions about Coronavirus or if you wish to check your symptoms, the online NHS 111 service is excellent (particularly the “symptom checker”) please visit https://111.nhs.uk/covid-19

Yours sincerely,

Dr Tim Ladbrooke

MA MB BChir DCH FRCGP