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Welcome to Faversham Medical Practice

Our mission statement:

"At Faversham Medical Practice we aim to provide health care in a professional and compassionate manner and we are committed to delivering a high quality service to our patients."

COVID Booster Vaccinations

People aged 18 years and over, care home residents, frontline health and social care workers, and those aged 16 or over with specific underlying health conditions will be offered a booster vaccine dose.

You'll be offered a booster dose at least 3 months after you had your 2nd dose. We will be offering a booster dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.

We will be aiming to initially co-administer the COVID Booster Vaccination with the Influenza Vaccination this year.

We have been asked by NHS England to specifically target patients over 60 years old as well those patients who are immunosuppressed (this is not the same as Shielded or Clinically Vulnerable patients-these patients would have had a letter from their hospital consultant advising them to have a 3rd COVID vaccination dose, not a booster).

We will not be offering a booster vaccination to patient under 60 at this stage at the practice (unless you are immunosuppressed). If this affects you and you are more then 3 months after your second COVID dose, you can book a COVID booster at one of the COVID vaccination centres.

Please do not ring the practice to enquire about your vaccination as we will contact you directly-either by phone or text. We are trialling an innovative online booking system for those with a mobile number.

There is no need to inform us of your vaccination as we will be informed directly by the Vaccination Centre. However, if you have been given an appointment with us and you then decide to get the vaccination done at the mass Vaccination Centre, then please cancel your appointment with us, so we can offer your appointment to someone else. We do not want to waste any vaccines.

If you need to contact us to cancel your appointment or you wish to alert us of any change to your telephone number or address, please email us on kmccg.fmp@nhs.net

Young People aged 12 to 15 years

All young people aged 12 to 15 will soon be offered a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. This will be carried out by the School Nursing Team or at the COVID Vaccination Centres, and will not be done at GP practices. Please contact your school for further information and not your GP practice.

Patient Vaccination helpline

Involve Kent has also been appointed by the CCG to provide support to patients who have not yet been vaccinated and may be hesitant about vaccination or underrepresented in the vaccinated population. Translation in a wide range of languages is also available. 

Involve Kent manage a dedicated telephone helpline and advice service to answer questions from the community relating to vaccine hesitancy, provide assurance, information and signposting to encourage booking and attendance at vaccination centres. 

The service is not clinical and does not provide medical advice, but refers to NHS accredited and assured information sources. It operates between 8.30am and 5pm, Monday to Friday. The number is 0330 320 4444.

Coronavirus Vaccination Scams

We are aware of some scams involving COVID vaccinations. COVID vaccinations are FREE of charge on the NHS and cannot be obtained by any private means in the UK.

The NHS:

• does not ask for your bank details or card details
• does not ask for your pin or banking password
• does not ask for copies of personal documents to prove your identify such as your passport, driving licence, bills or pay slips.

Pregnant women

Update from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) in relation to COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy.

The statement from JCVI states:

“There have been no specific safety concerns identified with any brand of coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines in relation to pregnancy.

Real-world data from the United States shows that around 90,000 pregnant women have been vaccinated, mainly with mRNA vaccines including Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, without any safety concerns being raised.

Based on this data, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) advises that it’s preferable for pregnant women in the UK to be offered the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines where available.

There is no evidence to suggest that other vaccines are unsafe for pregnant women, but more research is needed.

The advice, published in Public Health England’s Green Book, a clinical professional guide for vaccinators in the UK, still advises that pregnant women should discuss the risks and benefits of vaccination with their clinician, including the latest evidence on
safety and which vaccines they should receive.”

We will be contacting pregnant women who may be at risk directly to book in for a COVID vaccination.

Please do not ring the practice to enquire about your vaccination as we will contact you directly.

Further advice about the vaccination can be found here.

Travelling abroad

Please note this advice from the UK government about demonstrating your COVID vaccination status if you intend to travel abroad after the 17th May 2020-this will be via the NHS App. Do not contact your GP surgery about your COVID-19 vaccination status. GPs cannot provide letters showing your COVID-19 vaccination status.

Job Vacancies

We are advertising for a new salaried GP, Urgent Care Practitioners, Receptionists/Administrators and Health Care Assistants. Please see our Job Vacancies page.

Support your GP surgery

Click here to add your support to your GP surgery.

First Contact Practitioners-Physiotherapists

We are pleased to have some First Contact Practitioners (FCP)-Physiotherapists coming to the practice.

• They will be able to see patients with musculoskeletal problems; such as back pains, knee pain, elbow pain etc.
• They will be able to assess, treat and refer on if necessary.
• If you have had an injury and think you may have broken a bone, it would be better for you to see one of our Urgent Care Practitioners (UCP) first in our Urgent Treatment Centre.

Our FCP-Physiotherapists are here on Wednesday afternoons and Friday mornings.

Please book to see them at reception.

General Practice Data for Planning and Research (GPDPR)

You may have heard in the press about the new data extraction programme (GPDPR) for the NHS which is due to commence on the 1st September 2021. It is a legal requirement for GP practices to comply with this Data Provision Notice (DPN), but patients are able to opt out of having their data extracted if they so wish. More information about GPDPR can be found here. There is also a short YouTube Video about this.

If you wish to opt out, you can either download and print off an Opt out form from here or else collect and complete a form at our reception desk.

Do I have Cancer?

If you are concerned that you may have symptoms that could point to cancer please visit the following website. If you have a risk of a particular type of cancer that is greater than 3% it does not mean that you have cancer, or even that you need further tests, but you may do, and so you should arrange an appointment with your GP to discuss it further.

Faversham Urgent Treatment Centre appointment are now bookable through NHS 111

To ensure that we are able to maintain social distancing and protect patients and staff we have decided to make some changes to the Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC) at Faversham Health Centre. The UTC is based within the previous Minor Injury Unit (MIU), and now includes minor illness.

If you feel that your condition or injury does not need immediate attention please call NHS 111 first, so that we can book you an appointment at the UTC.

If you can’t call NHS 111 you may come to the UTC, where you will be assessed. If you need urgent assistance you will be able to enter the UTC to wait and be seen. However if your condition is not urgent, you may be asked to call NHS 111 to book an appointment or you may be asked to come back at a booked appointment time by the UTC staff. This is to help us to maintain a safe waiting area for patients and staff.

The UTC at Faversham Health Centre continues to be open from 8am to 8pm and can treat a wide range of conditions, from to minor injuries and minor illnesses.

Thank you for your support as we work to ensure that local services are operating safely for everyone.

Coronavirus

Please note that we are currently offering telephone appointments, online consultations via eTriage as well as Face-to-Face appointments.

Obviously please do not book a Face-to-Face appointment if you think you may have COVID or have any COVID symptoms (high temp, new persistent cough or loss of smell/taste). In these situations it is best to have a COVID test done first.

Thank you for your patience and understanding during these difficult times.

Please see link for further details about some changes in the way GP surgeries are run which are being rolled out across Kent and Medway to ensure the safety of staff and patients during the Covid-19 outbreak.

We have also included a COVID-19 Privacy notice which describes how we may use your information to protect you and others during the COVID-19 outbeak.

Latest guidance from GOV.UK about the coronavirus.

Mental Health Support during the COVID-19 pandemic in East Kent

There are numerous resources available for patients to access during the pandemic. All services are free and you can self refer. Please see link or attached PDF for details.

MH Support

Supporting the mental health and wellbeing of your family during coronavirus

There is also help from the Kent County Council website for young people with mental health issues or anxiety. You can also call 0300 1234496

Electronic Prescription Service

The practice now uses the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS). This will allow us to issue your prescription electronically to a pharmacy of your choice. We may already have a pharmacy recorded for you, but you will need to let us know if you wish to continue to use that pharmacy for this service.

Please see this leaflet for further information EPS Leaflet

Click this link for further information.

Immunisations

Please note that we still doing routine immunisations. It is important that adults, babies and children still have routine vaccinations. They protect against serious and potentially deadly illnesses and stop outbreaks in the community.

Please speak to reception to book in.

HPV vaccine

The HPV (Human Papillomavirus) vaccine has been offered to all girls in school year 8 for over ten years. From September 2019 the vaccine will also be offered to year 8 boys.

This is because the evidence is clear that the HPV vaccine helps protect both boys and girls from HPV-related cancers (such as cervical cancer, some mouth and throat cancers, and some cancers of the anus and genital areas).

School Immunisation Services will be offering the HPV universal programme in all schools for September 2019. The first dose will be given in Year 8 and the second dose will be given in Year 9.

There is no catch-up programme for boys in the older year groups hence only boys in Year 8 from September 2019 will be eligible for the HPV vaccination.

More details about the HPV vaccination here.

Cervical Smears

We are still doing cervical smears for patients who are due a smear. Please book at reception.

We have been informed from Public Health England that due to a national shortage of screeners, the turn-around time for cervical samples to be processed by the local laboratory is slower.

The laboratory will send you the results of the cervical smear directly and will let you know if any further action is needed.

Your GP practice will not receive the results any quicker than you, and they are unable to get your results processed any faster-please be patient.

Breast Screening

During the initial coronavirus outbreak, there was a pause in NHS breast screening services for women as part of the National Breast Screening Programme (women 50-71 years old) and also self-referral patients for women over 71 years and over. These services have now been resumed. If you are due a mammogram, you will be invited as per the programme.

Shingles Vaccinations

Currently in Kent and Medway, less than half of our eligible population have attended for their shingles vaccine. Vaccination can help patients avoid the pain and complications caused by shingles.

Eligible patients aged 70-76 and 78-79 can have the vaccine (there is a rolling programme to cover all ages from 70-79 years old). A shingles calculator (you will need to open the file in Adobe Acrobat in order to use the fill in date form) is available to help you determine if you are eligible to have the vaccination.

CQC

We are pleased to announce our overall CQC rating as "Good" with several areas as "Outstanding".