May Bank Holiday Closure
We will be closed on Monday 29th May 2023 for the May Bank Holiday.
If during this time you require medical advice or treatment you can:
Visit your pharmacy. Your local pharmacy can provide confidential, expert advice and treatment for a range of common illnesses and complaints. Opening times for local Pharmacies can be downloaded or you can visit NHS Choices.
Access NHS 111. To access the service online simply visit https://111.nhs.uk/ and enter your age, sex, postcode and main symptom, and then you will be guided through a series of questions about your health problems.
To access the service via phone, simply dial 111 from any mobile or landline free of charge and you will be put through to an operator who will run through a few questions regarding your health problem in order to get you the right care.
A&E or 999. For a genuine medical emergency including; loss of consciousness, acute confused state and fits that are not stopping, persistent and or/severe chest pain, breathing difficulties, severe bleeding that cannot be stopped call 999 or go to your nearest A&E.
When anxiety becomes an issue
This year’s Mental Health Awareness Weeks theme is ‘anxiety’. Anxiety is a normal emotion in us all but sometimes I can get out of control and become a mental health problem.
You can find out more about anxiety and what help is available at:
Job Vacancy – Occupational Therapist
Northwich Primary Care Network (PCN) brings together the seven GP surgeries in our region: Danebridge Medical Practice; Firdale Medical Centre; Middlewich Road Surgery; Oakwood Medical Centre; Watling Street Medical Centre; Weaverham Surgery; and Witton Street Surgery and provides patient centred care to over 70,000 people.
For two years consecutively Northwich has been named by the Sunday Times as one of the best places in the country to both work and live… with its exceptional transport links, quality of schools, natural beauty, low crime rates, property prices and cultural life.
We currently have the following opportunity:
Occupational Therapist
Full Time – 37.5 hours
£41,659.00 – £47,672.00 + exceptional benefits
To apply for this role visit NHS Jobs (Job Advert (jobs.nhs.uk))
Closed for Bank Holiday Monday
We will be closed on Monday 8th May 2023 for the Bank Holiday to celebrate the Coronation of King Charles III.
If during this time you require medical advice or treatment you can:
Visit your pharmacy. Your local pharmacy can provide confidential, expert advice and treatment for a range of common illnesses and complaints. Opening times for local Pharmacies can be downloaded or you can visit NHS Choices.
Access NHS 111. To access the service online simply visit https://111.nhs.uk/ and enter your age, sex, postcode and main symptom, and then you will be guided through a series of questions about your health problems.
To access the service via phone, simply dial 111 from any mobile or landline free of charge and you will be put through to an operator who will run through a few questions regarding your health problem in order to get you the right care.
A&E or 999. For a genuine medical emergency including; loss of consciousness, acute confused state and fits that are not stopping, persistent and or/severe chest pain, breathing difficulties, severe bleeding that cannot be stopped call 999 or go to your nearest A&E.
Closed for May Bank Holiday
We will be closed on Monday 1st May 2023 for the May Bank Holiday.
If during this time you require medical advice or treatment you can:
Visit your pharmacy. Your local pharmacy can provide confidential, expert advice and treatment for a range of common illnesses and complaints. Opening times for local Pharmacies can be downloaded or you can visit NHS Choices.
Access NHS 111. To access the service online simply visit https://111.nhs.uk/ and enter your age, sex, postcode and main symptom, and then you will be guided through a series of questions about your health problems.
To access the service via phone, simply dial 111 from any mobile or landline free of charge and you will be put through to an operator who will run through a few questions regarding your health problem in order to get you the right care.
A&E or 999. For a genuine medical emergency including; loss of consciousness, acute confused state and fits that are not stopping, persistent and or/severe chest pain, breathing difficulties, severe bleeding that cannot be stopped call 999 or go to your nearest A&E.
Happy Hearts – Together we can reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke during Covid-19
Health services, local authorities, charities and other partners across Cheshire and Merseyside are working together to prevent heart attacks and strokes.
The Cheshire and Merseyside Happy Hearts website is aimed at helping you to reduce your risk of stroke and heart attack by giving you lots of information and tips on keeping your heart happy. The website shares local, practical information on:
- how to live healthily and stay well
- conditions that increase the chances of having a heart attack or stroke, such as
- atrial fibrillation
- high blood pressure
- high cholesterol
- how and where you can get your numbers checked
- how you can help to manage and control these conditions to lower your CVD risk
Visit the Cheshire and Merseyside Happy Hearts website to find out more.
Northwich Primary Care Network: Provision of our services outside the normal practice hours.
As you may be aware the NHS England (who commission our practices services) have set out a requirement that practices work together to ensure that patients are able to access services outside our normal hours of work (8.00am to 6.30pm Monday to Friday).
Northwich PCN (Primary Care Network) covers the following practices:
Danebridge Medical Centre
Firdale Medical Centre
Middlewich Road Surgery
Oakwood Medical Centre
Weaverham Medical Centre
Witton Street Surgery
Watling Street Medical Practice
Northwich PCN has produced a plan based on services being provided from the individual practices and from a local practice-based Hub on Friday and Saturday.
This way of working is not new to us, we have been providing so called Extended Access services for the last five years, including the ability for our patients to access services locally on Saturdays.
The times we provide extended access services from our practice bases have been determined by analysing the preferences of our patients over the last five years, in particular we have been keen to offer services to enable patients who work a distance away from the practice to access services.
Each practice is currently publicising when services are available and we are proposing to add further services to our existing provision, from October 2022.
In addition to the services provided from each practice we are working with our neighbouring practices to offer appointments across the week and on Saturdays. As always, the availability of appointments will be dependent on our capacity, however, please ask the practice receptionist if you would ideally like an appointment outside the normal core hours. It is important to stress that the number of appointments offered outside the normal hours will only be a small proportion of our total appointments, as it is important that we do not undermine our normal level of service particularly given the current high levels of demand and our workforce challenges.
As we have stated we are sure that the time our practices provide services (outside of core hours) reflects the preferences of our patients, but we would be pleased to hear your views so that we can continue to evaluate the best times to offer services.
Serious Shortage Protocol for HRT gels
The NHSBSA have released new Serious Shortage Protocols (SSPs) for HRT products.
The SSPs apply to Oestrogel pump gel, Sandrena 0.5mg and 1mg gel sachets and Lenzetto spray.
Pharmacies are now allowed to switch patients to patches if they are unable to obtain a supply of the gels.
Pharmacies are also allowed to restrict the quantities to 3 months’ supply without contacting the prescriber.
Local pharmacies have been contacted to ensure they are aware of the SSPs.
Please note that you do not need to contact your GP, your Pharmacist will be able to look into this for you.
Patient Research Experience Survey – The Results
A few months ago The National Institute for Health Research asked for feedback on the patient of clinical research taking place in the NHS.
Thank you to all those that took part, your responses will help improve the way clinical research is delivered in the NHS. You can view the final report below.
Patient Research Experience Survey – Final Report
