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Welcome to Holmes Chapel Health Centre
Collective Action – ‘Protecting patients, protecting general practice’
In March the British Medical Association (BMA) held a ballot asking GPs to support action against the erosion of funding for general practice that over the past few years has had a negative affect on patient care and staff morale.
- In the last 5 years GP practices have lost funding worth over £660 million.
- We're not allowed to use the poor funding we have to recruit more GPs or more practice nurses.
- GPs and our team are losing morale.
- No matter how many hours we work, we still can't see all the patients that need our care
The result of the ballot was an overwhelming ‘yes’ to taking action and as a direct consequence all practices in the country are taking collective action, to protect patient care, before it is too late. This is not industrial action, and it is not about GP pay - it is to about bringing pressure on the government to invest more resources in primary care and amend the GP contract so that we can employ enough doctors, nurses and staff to provide sufficient appointments and work safely.
If general practice received a fairer share of NHS funding we could:
- Train and hire more GPs
- Deliver the services you require
- Make it easier to get the appointments you need
At Holmes Chapel we have done our very best to provide extra capacity to deal with increasing demand, making the most efficient use of our clinical staff and available resources. Our triage service ensures we see patients appropriately, and timely, and as a result we deal with far more than the recommended number of patient contacts for each clinician. It is exhausting work, and it is not sustainable.
Our practice therefore supports the nationwide campaign to improve funding in primary care so that surgeries can move forwards with sufficient staffing and capacity to provide the quality of care we all want for ourselves and all patients. We hope that the issues will be resolved swiftly, and that general practice can have a brighter future as a result.
From Monday 19th August 2024, as part of a number of actions designed to bring pressure on the government, we will limit the daily patient contacts to the recommended safe level of 25 per clinician per day. Alternative health providers are available, including local pharmacies, urgent care settings and NHS 111, and once our daily maximum safe capacity has been reached patients will be diverted to these services.
We ask for your continued support of the practice and the BMA in our efforts to improve GP services and patient care. For more information visit the GPs Are On Your Side or watch the video A message for patients in England/BMA.
General Practice has been broken. Help us fix it.
Prescription Ordering
We have changed our process for ordering prescriptions. The request box has now been removed from the foyer.
Please use one of the following methods to order your prescription:
- NHS App/ Patient Access
- Send an email to hchcscripts@nhs.net
- Complete a Triage Form, selecting admin request
The process has been updated for a number of reasons:
- To aid with on-going parking issues at the surgery. We hope to reduce footfall making parking easier for patients and staff.
- To provide a more efficient and accessible service to patients. Using one of the methods above, will allow patients to order their medications when it is most convenient for them.
- To reduce our carbon footprint and do our bit for the planet.
- To move towards a more modern General Practice.
If you usually come into the surgery with a repeat prescription slip, you will be asked to use one of the online services. We can no longer accept repeat prescription slips as a method for ordering. We have information leaflets regarding this at the Reception and Dispensary desks.
We are aware that some patients may not have internet access and are unable to use online services. In this case, please speak to a member of staff in the Dispensary, who can arrange additional support as needed.
