RSV Vaccine
To be offered this winter to Pregnant Patients (28 weeks+)and 75 and over.
RSV is a common respiratory (lungs and airways) illness. RSV infection is more common from late autumn to early spring, but can happen at any time of year.
Sometimes, RSV infection can cause severe lower respiratory infections like pneumonia. It can also cause other life-threatening conditions.
Who can get the RSV Vaccine
If you are pregnant vaccine can be given by your midwife or the Practice Nurse, regardless of age at week 28 or over.
If you’re turning 75 years old between 1 August 2024 and 31 July 2025, you’ll be offered the RSV vaccine. This includes if your 75th birthday is on 1 August 2024 or 31 July 2025.
The vaccine will also be offered to anyone who is aged 75 to 79 years on 1 August 2024. This means you can get the vaccine if your date of birth is between 2 August 1944 and 31 July 1950. This is because the RSV vaccine is new, and this group could not be given the vaccine before now.
In future years, the vaccine will be routinely offered to those turning 75 years old between 1 August and 31 July. It is given once.
Getting the RSV vaccine is the best way to protect yourself against infections caused by RSV.
Accessing your GP-held records via the NHS app or NHS website
As your GP practice, we have been asked to provide you with, from 31 October 2023, access to your full medical record going forward via the NHS app (and NHS website) if you have a suitable NHS login. Patients aged 18 years and over only.
Your GP medical record contains consultation notes based on conversations between you, your GP and their team: medicines prescribed to you; all test results including hospital investigations; allergies; vaccines; and your medical conditions along with documents that may have been sent from local hospitals, clinics or other agencies, eg the police. There is likely to be sensitive and personal information within your medical record
We are supportive of providing you with access to your record, but we wish to do this safely and make you aware that this is happening so that you can opt out, if you so wish. If you are in a difficult or pressured relationship for example, you may prefer your records to remain accessible only to those treating you, with them not appearing on your smartphone or online. Government has been clear that if a patient does not wish to have access, then we do not have to provide it. For those patients with access now we will start by sending out a message to allow you to choose or decline the switch on.
It’s important to remember that these documents may, at times, contain information that could be upsetting, especially if they contain news of a serious condition. It can also be a cause for worry seeing results online when it isn’t clear what the results might mean, and no one is available to ask, as can be the case during the evening or at weekends, for example.
Sometimes people with a mental health condition might prefer not to see documents that remind them of difficult times in their life. Letters from mental health teams sometimes go into detail about past events, and great care would be needed in deciding whether you would want to see these letters.
Great care is also needed in case private details might cause harm at home, should people in a difficult or pressured relationship be forced to show their medical record to an abusive partner. Anyone in such a position should make this clear to us at the practice, so we can take steps to keep you safe. This might mean removing access through the NHS app for the time being, or through a careful process where we hide sensitive things. We would talk this through with you.
Requesting access – (patients not already linked to NHS APP or SystmOne online) what do I need to do?
The easiest way to get access is to create an NHS login through the NHS app. Although you can also access your GP records via the internet on a computer, the first bit is easiest if done through a smartphone. If you don’t have one, you may have a family member or friend you trust who can help you. You can also ask your practice receptionist, but you’ll need some proof of who you are, eg a passport, driving licence or household bill.
If you use the NHS app, you’ll have to set up an account using a unique e-mail address and then ‘authenticate’ yourself to the NHS system to prove you are who you say you are. This will involve confirming your name, date of birth and contact details. The NHS login has several levels of authentication and to gain access to your records you’ll need the highest level of authentication. This generally involves you recording a short video of yourself to prove you are a real person as well as uploading a copy of a suitable identification document.
Once you have suitably authenticated yourself to the NHS app and created your NHS login you can approach your practice and ask for access, being mindful of the risks associated with access and the importance of not sharing passwords or having them stored in your smartphone if you think other people might want to see them without your permission. If you have any concerns, you should explain these to your GP practice team who can guide you.
Your GP practice will have a form they will ask you to complete, with your NHS login (this will be the email address you used to sign up). Once you are happy to get online access, your request will be passed to the clinical team to review. It may be that the practice wishes to contact you to discuss your request if there are any concerns raised so that access can be given safely. We’re not sure how many people will ask for access all at once so there may be a wait, but we will do our best to get you online access as soon as we can.
New User Application Form
Flu and Covid-19 Seasonal Campaign
Vaccination is an essential part of protecting the public and staff over the colder months. We our now delivering our Flu vaccinations and the Covid-19 vaccinations from the Practice.
The groups to be offered a COVID-19 booster vaccine are:
- Residents in a care home for older adults
- All adults aged 65 years and over
- Persons aged 6 months to 64 years in a clinical risk group
- Frontline health and social care workers
- Persons aged 12 to 64 years who are household contacts of people with immunosuppression
- Persons aged 16 to 64 years who are carers and staff working in care homes for older adults.
- The National Booking Service (NBS) is open for the public to book appointments, whether via NHS.uk, the NHS App or telephone. In support of co-administration people will be able to book a joint flu and COVID-19 appointment which improves the experience for citizens and offers efficiency for providers.
The below groups will be eligible for a flu vaccine:
- those aged 65 years and over
- those aged 6 months to under 65 years in clinical risk groups
- pregnant women
- all children aged 2 or 3 years on 31 August 2023
- those in long-stay residential care homes
- carers in receipt of carer’s allowance, or those who are the main carer of an elderly or disabled person
- close contacts of immunocompromised individuals
- frontline workers in a social care setting without an employer led occupational health scheme including those working for a registered residential care or nursing home, registered domiciliary care providers, voluntary managed hospice providers and those that are employed by those who receive direct payments (personal budgets) or Personal Health budgets, such as Personal Assistants
Eligible school aged children - Reception to year 6 (including those in clinical risk groups) will be offered immunisation by the school age immunisation service. However, the practice will continue to invite eligible school aged children in clinical risk groups for flu vaccination to ensure that they can access a vaccine before flu starts to circulate, where school sessions may be scheduled for later in the season or have been missed.
An expansion to secondary school-aged children (Years 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11) is being considered. Should this be confirmed, further guidance will follow.
All those who turn 65 years by 31 March 2025 are eligible for both vaccinations.
Shingles Vaccination 2024 (from 1 September)
From 1 September 2023 the Shingles National Immunisation Programme changed, and more individuals are now eligible for a free shingles vaccination on the NHS, all newly eligible individuals will be offered 2 doses of the non-live shingles vaccine Shingrix®
Shingles is a condition caused by the reactivation of chickenpox (herpes zoster) virus, sometimes decades after the initial infection. Shingles can occur at any age, with the highest incidence seen in older people. The incidence of shingles increases with age and around one in four adults will experience shingles in their lifetime, the severity of the infection also increases with age and can really affect your life, stopping you from doing all the things you usually enjoy. Infection causes clusters of painful, itchy, fluid filled blisters which can burst and turn into sores that eventually crust over and heal. The blisters usually affect an area on one side of the body, most commonly the chest but also the head, face and eye.
INCLUSION
50 year and over with a severely weakened immune system
Those aged 18-49 receiving a stem cell transplant may also be eligible. Speak to your specialist.
Turning 65 years old - You'll be eligible from your 65th birthday (if your birthday was on or after 1st September 2023)
79-79 years of age
Shingles and its complications can be difficult to manage. The treatment options vary from person to person depending on the area affected by the shingles. It is important to see your GP as soon as possible after the rash occurs, as some treatments work best when given early. Shingles can not be caught from someone with chickenpox, however, it is possible to catch chickenpox from someone with shingles.
Addenbrooke's Hospital
Test results on MyChart
Patients who are under the care of CUH are eligible for, and encouraged to sign up to access MyChart. MyChart is an electronic patient portal at Addenbrooke’s and The Rosie hospitals which allows patients to securely access parts of their health record held within the hospitals’ Epic electronic patient record system. Patients with access to MyChart are able to see results for tests performed at CUH including requests originating outside of CUH, for example by General Practice.
Results are released to MyChart four times a day, with Covid-19 test results being released immediately.
Please be aware that on occasion patients may review their test results prior to the requesting clinician (GP or Consultant) please see the advice to patients on this on the results page in MyChart
www.cuh.nhs.uk/mychart
HOSPITAL WAIT TIMES
The Covid19 pandemic has added to the strain on all NHS services. As a result of this, waiting list times for outpatient and specialist appointments and procedures have increased for everybody.
We appreciate that this can cause worry and uncertainty about when you will eventually receive an appointment. The practice has no direct access to the hospital appointment lists.
If you have been referred by your GP/are waiting for :
- An outpatient appointment
- An appointment for hospital tests (eg scans)
- A date for an operation or other treatment
- A follow-up from your hospital team
We recommend My Planned Care NHS
https://www.myplannedcare.nhs.uk/
Providing direct access to the latest average wait time for appointments and operations for local hospitals, as well as helpful advice and support for patients whilst they wait.
NHS My Planned Care is updated weekly, is easy-to-use and has ‘open access’ which enables carers, friends, relatives to also access information on someone else’s behalf.
Alternatively, patients who have already been in correspondence with hospitals regarding their planned care can also contact the relevant department or service. Details of which can be found on previous letters patients will have received or by contacting the hospital’s Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS).
Addenbrookes
- 9am – 4pm, Monday to Friday
Email pals@addenbrookes.nhs.uk Phone: 01223 216756
Royal Papworth Hospital
- 8.30 – 4.30pm, Monday to Friday
Email: papworth.pals@nhs.net
- Tel: 01223 638896 or 01223 638963
Only call the practice if your condition has genuinely deteriorated, when you will be reviewed by one of the clinical team and appropriate action can be taken in regard to your care.
Covid Vaccinations Given Abroad
Only MHRA approved vaccines can be added to NIMS (NHS). Patients are able to book into a regional centre via National Booking Service (NBS) for a vaccination validation appointment. The Grafton Centre will be one of the regional centres for this service. You will need to take an ID & Vaccination information with you - this service is by appointment only. If the information check meets the requirement for a vaccine record a request will be raised to NIMS. The Practice can manually add information to your GP record but this will NOT update or provide a COVID pass.
You can use this service if you:
- have an NHS number
- Aged 5 years and over
- have received one of these MHRA-approved vaccines outside of England - click on the link below for more detailed advice.
Details: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/nhs-covid-pass#residents-in-england-who-have-received-covid-19-vaccinations-overseas
Booking link: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-vaccination/tell-nhs-about-coronavirus-vaccinations-abroad/
Vaccination queries - missing or incorrect (vaccine given in UK)
For missing or incorrect data, contact 119 and ask for a referral to the Vaccination Data Resolution Service (VDRS), current turnaround time is currently 21 days. This starts from 8 December 2021.
Do not contact your GP surgery about your COVID-19 vaccination status. GPs cannot provide letters showing your COVID-19 vaccination status or update the NHS APP.
To use the NHS App, you must be: