eConsult is for non-urgent queries only
Mission Statement
' To improve health,well-being and lives of those we care for '
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR JULY 19TH ONWARDS
In line with NHS and Public Health England guidance for all healthcare settings, we will continue the use of face coverings and social distancing at Probus GP Surgery and Probus Surgical Centre after July 19th.
Patients and Staff will be asked to wear face coverings when inside the building and seeing a clinician. We will also continue to limit waiting room capacity in accordance to the strict and robust infection control guidance set out by the NHS and Public Health England. With cases still on the rise this is important to protect the workforce and our patients who may be vulnerable.
We thank all of our patients for your continued support and trust that patients attending the surgery or surgical centre understand this decision and will support us in continuing to try and keep everyone safe and maintain our services to our patients.
Please do not attend the surgery if you are showing symptoms of coronavirus, please telephone 119
Thank you
Welcome to Probus Surgery
At Probus Surgery the doctors and nurses take pride in offering the highest standard of patient-centred healthcare. We run many clinics for those suffering with chronic diseases and offer a wide variety of other medical services. Please see Clinics & Services for more information.
In addition to our main site at Probus, we also have 3 branch sites in Tregony (Roseland Parc Nursing Home), Hewaswater (The Merlin Centre) and Summercourt (Village Hall). Most sites have disabled access and facilities which help maintain ease of access for patients with limited mobility. For the visually impaired, we can provide copies of practice information in larger text upon request.
For details of our opening hours and appointment times, please visit the appropriate page on this website.
Our practice News page contains information on non-clinical items of news from in and around the practice which we hope you find of interest.
Bank Holiday Monday 30th August
The Surgery will be CLOSED Monday 30th August for the Bank Holiday.
If you have a medical need over the Bank Holiday weekend and the Surgery is closed you have a number of services you can contact.
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All our health services are busy right now, especially our ambulance service and the emergency department team at Truro hospital.
You can play your part in supporting us to care for people with serious and life-threatening illnesses.
999
Only dial for an ambulance in a genuine, life-threatening emergency, for example:
Chest pain / breathing difficulties / heart attack
Stroke
Severe bleeding
Severe allergic reactions
Severe burns or scalds
Serious head injuries
Major trauma such as a road traffic accident or a fall from height
If you have called for an ambulance, please do not ring again asking for a time of arrival. Only call again if:
The patient’s condition worsens
You no longer need help
NHS 111
Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If needed, NHS 111 can book patients in to be seen at their local A&E / emergency department or an urgent treatment centre, emergency dental services, pharmacy or another more appropriate local service – as well as send an ambulance should the patient’s condition be serious or life-threatening.
NHS 119
Available for advice on Coronavirus, symptoms, self-isolation and treating symptoms and vaccination.
LIVI App-
Patients of Probus Surgery can now see an NHS GP by video using Livi. Get medical advice, prescriptions and referrals on the same day – both on weekdays, out of hours between 18.30pm - 22.00pm, and at weekends between 8.00am - 16.00pm. The service is provided free on the NHS.
You can download the Livi app to your mobile phone or tablet, from the App Store or Google Play. Or visit
livi.co.uk for more information.
Livi GPs are all GMC-registered NHS GPS, who (with your consent) will be able to access your medical records and give you a considered, in-depth diagnosis based on your medical history.
Pharmacist
Pharmacists can give treatment advice about a range of common conditions and minor injuries (such as earache, cystitis, skin rashes, red eye and teething)
Pharmacists can help with an emergency supply of medication should you forget to collect/order your medications in time.
Keep safe this Bank Holiday
The Probus Surgery Team
🩺💉NATIONAL SHORTAGES- Important changes to routine and non-urgent blood test appointments 💉🩺
23/08/2021All GP practices are affected by the current national shortage of blood tubes and are taking urgent steps alongside our hospitals to prioritise their use for people with the greatest clinical need. This includes testing for serious conditions such as cancer.
We are following national guidance which has been issued in response to the shortage. As a result, we need to cancel and delay a number of patient appointments for blood tests deemed routine or non-urgent. If you have a routine blood test appointment the reception team at the surgery will be in touch directly if they need to cancel your appointment, this will be by phone or by text message.
Please be assured that appointments will be rescheduled once the situation has improved, and in line with national guidance. There are a few things you can do if you are affected by this change:
Keep checking our website for regular updates – we will be sharing the latest patient information here as soon as we receive it.
Check your phone for messages from us – we will also be using our patient text service to keep people informed.
Please don’t call or contact us with questions about routine blood tests – we are experiencing exceptional levels of demand at the moment, and your cooperation will help us to reach those without smartphone or internet access with this critical information.
Do get in touch online if your condition worsens or changes so that we can prioritise your blood test if necessary following clinical review. Please use eConsult where possible (via the NHS APP or the link on our website).
The changes are likely to be in place for at least four weeks. We will keep all our patients regularly updated as the national situation changes. We fully understand the frustration this is likely to cause, and apologise for the inconvenience.
Update Regarding Data Sharing with NHS Digital
04/08/2021
Originally from 1 July 2021 it was announced data may be shared from the GP medical records about:
- any living patient registered at a GP practice in England when the collection started - this includes children and adults
- any patient who died after this data sharing started, and was previously registered at a GP practice in England when the data collection started
This was then pushed back to September 2021 but following an announcement by the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Jo Churchill, she has set out a new process for commencing data collection, moving away from any previously fixed date until certain criteria is met. This means no new date has been set for the collection of data from GP clinical systems.
The NHS will not share your name or where you live. Any other data that could directly identify you, for example your NHS number, General Practice Local Patient Number, full postcode and date of birth, is replaced with unique codes which are produced by de-identification software before the data is shared with NHS Digital.
This process is called pseudonymisation and means that no one will be able to directly identify you in the data.
The NHS needs data about the patients it treats in order to plan and deliver its services and to ensure that care and treatment provided is safe and effective. The General Practice Data for Planning and Research data collection will help the NHS to improve health and care services for everyone by collecting patient data that can be used to do this.
Please click on the link below for more information:
https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/data-collections-and-data-sets/data-collections/general-practice-data-for-planning-and-research/gp-privacy-notice
You can opt-out of Data Sharing at any point by requesting a Type 1 Opt-out form from reception.
NHS APP- VACCINE PASSPORT
update 13/05/2021
From Monday 17th May once you have received your second dose of the COVID 19 vaccine you will be able to access your Vaccine Passport via the NHS App or via 119
For more information please click on this link:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/demonstrating-your-covid-19-vaccination-status-when-travelling-abroad
You should not need to contact the Surgery to access this information.
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Suspected UTI'S - Urinary Tract Infection
If you suspect you may have a urine infection a pharmacy may be able to help you or please telephone the surgery.
The Reception team will inform one of our in-house Doctors or Paramedics who may call you back and you may be prescribed antibiotics at the time of the call or asked to bring in a sample.
If you are asked to bring a sample in for testing please ensure you complete the form at the reception desk, ensuring you give permission to be informed of the result if appropriate.
Depending on the result of testing the sample at the surgery it may then be sent to the lab for further clarity, which can take a few days for results. Alternatively you may be informed later in the day of the result if it is normal or the clinician feels you need to start treatment that day.
Please do not bring samples in after 14.00hrs as the courier service finishes at this time.
Thank you for your consideration in this matter.
Urinary tract infections (UTIs) - NHS (
www.nhs.uk)
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IF YOU HAVE A DETERIORATION IN SYMPTOMS, OR ARE WORRIED ABOUT CANCER PLEASE TELEPHONE THE SURGERY
01726 882745
Please do not attend the surgery if you are showing symptoms of coronavirus, please telephone to speak to a GP.
HOW TO ACCESS SERVICES DURING COVID-19
Covid-19 has affected everybody in our Community and here at the Surgery we are following national and county wide guidance on how to keep our services running safely for patients and staff.
To access a GP we have moved to a Telephone Triage system, which means that your initial appointment will be booked in for a telephone call back with the GP, and this allows the clinically trained staff at the Surgery to assess health concerns over the phone and manage them in a safe and timely manner. If the clinician feels they need to see you, they will book this appointment for you and can also offer you a video consultation.
You can still book a face to face appointment with the Nurse or HCA as required, but some services may not be available as we are prioritising seeing those patients who have not been able to attend the surgery due to the initial restrictions imposed on the health service.
Ways to book appointments (NOW UP TO 4 WEEKS AHEAD):
- Telephone the surgery
- Online through the NHS App or SystmOnline (you will need to register for these services, details further down this page of our website)
Other services in place:
At the end of March we were delighted to welcome two new additions to our team. Mark Gill and Henry Sullivan who are both experienced Paramedics, and will be assisting the on-call GP each day with urgent clinical problems.
NEW SERVICE: See a GP by video with Livi. Even at the weekend.
Patients of Probus Surgery can now see an NHS GP by video using Livi. Get medical advice, prescriptions and referrals on the same day – both on weekdays, out of hours between 18.30pm - 22.00pm, and at weekends between 8.00am - 16.00pm. The service is provided free on the NHS.
You can download the Livi app to your mobile phone or tablet, from the App Store or Google Play. Or visit livi.co.uk for more information.
Livi GPs are all GMC-registered NHS GPS, who (with your consent) will be able to access your medical records and give you a considered, in-depth diagnosis based on your medical history.
Get the Livi app here: https://bit.ly/35YeCsK
To be able to access the Livi App Service patients will need to give permission to share their medical record with Third Parties. This is different than data sharing with NHS Digital. You may be asked for consent when you call the Reception team.
ONLINE SERVICES TO ORDER MEDICATION, BOOK APPOINTMENTS AND ACCESS PARTS OF YOUR MEDICAL RECORD
NHS App:
We recommend accessing our online services through the NHSApp. This can be downloaded to your mobile through the app store (you may find this the easier option, if you have a Smartphone), or through the following website:
https://www.nhsapp.service.nhs.uk/login
You will be required to upload photo identification, but will also need access to a webcam, if you use the website link on a computer.
This service is now live and you can self register for this service today.
For user guides on the NHS App please please CLICK HERE
If you are unable to access the NHS App, the alternative option is SystmOnline. You will need to present in person to the surgery and bring some form of identification with you, i.e. driving licence, passport, utility bill. If you haven't already completed a form to access online services, the reception team will ask you to do so whilst you are here and then they will print off the paperwork for you which will contain the website address to access the system and your login details.
For user guides on SystmOnline please CLICK HERE
Repeat Prescriptions
Dear Patients
We would kindly request that you please allow 5 WORKING days before collection of your prescription.
Future requests can be sent to this email address:
prescriptions.probussurgery@nhs.net
As well as your medication request please include your Name, Date of Birth, First line of your address and where you would like to collect.
If you need to contact the Dispensary please be aware they are unavailable between 11am and 3pm.
Thank you for your co-operation
The Dispensary Team
Important information about the coronavirus (COVID-19)
The NHS in England and Public Health England (PHE) are well prepared for outbreaks of new infectious diseases. The NHS has put in place measures to protect patients, our community and NHS staff while ensuring as many services as possible are available to the public.
If you have symptoms associated with coronavirus including a new continuous cough and a high temperature, you are advised to stay at home for 10 days. You can request a test through the Gov.UK website or by calling 119.
Please do not book a GP appointment or attend your GP practice.
If you live with other people, they should stay at home for at least 10 days, to avoid spreading the infection outside the home. After 10 days, anyone you live with who does not have symptoms can return to their normal routine.
But, if anyone in your home gets symptoms, they should stay at home for another 10 days from the day their symptoms start. The most up-to-date public guidance is always online at www.nhs.uk/coronavirus
If your symptoms are serious, or get worse, NHS 111 has an online coronavirus service that can tell you if you need further medical help and advise you what to do.
Only call 111 direct if you are advised to do so by the online service or you cannot go online.
For the latest COVID-19 advice please visit www.nhs.uk/coronavirus
Like the common cold, coronavirus infection usually occurs through close contact with a person with novel coronavirus, via cough and sneezes or hand contact.
A person can also catch the virus by touching contaminated surfaces, if they do not wash their hands.
This means that suspected cases are kept in isolation, away from public areas of GP surgeries, pharmacies and hospitals and returned home also in isolation. Any equipment that come into contact with suspected cases are thoroughly cleaned as appropriate. Specific guidance has also been shared with NHS staff to help safeguard them and others. Patients can be reassured that their safety is a top priority, and are encouraged to attend all appointments as usual.
Everyone is being reminded to follow Public Health England advice to:
- Always carry tissues with you and use them to catch your cough or sneeze. Then bin the tissue, and wash your hands, or use a sanitiser gel.
- Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after using public transport. Use a sanitiser gel if soap and water are not available.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.
- Avoid close contact with people who are unwell.
Do not go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital,if you have symptoms.
Following a stay in hospital, attendance at A&E or a GP consultation, some helpful advice can be found in the following leaflets:
Discharge from A&E or GP consultation
Discharge from a hospital stay
For the NHS Online - Click Here
If you do not have access to the internet, please ring 111 but only if you do not have access to the internet due to the increase in high volume calls.
Mental Health
If you need help for a mental health crisis, emergency or breakdown, or if you are worried about someone else please click on this link for 24hr information and support:
https://www.cornwallft.nhs.uk/i-need-help-now
If you would like to speak to a GP, please telephone the surgery to make a telephone consultation appointment.
CQC Rating
To view our CQC rating please click here
Diabetes
There are an estimated 29,000 people living with diabetes in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. If you would like more information about:
- Self Care
- Looking after your feet
- Getting your eyes checked
- Preparing for pregnancy when you have diabetes
- Top tips for healthy eating
CLICK HERE to access the video library
If you would like more information about Diabetes care please CLICK HERE to access the Kernow CIC useful information.
If you need to visit the emergency department, a minor injury unit or urgent care centre, you must telephone NHS 111 first to make an appointment.
You can see how long you may have to wait by using the online waiting time service, which shows the longest wait, how many people are waiting to be seen and how many people are in the department. It also includes opening times and x-ray availability.
Visit: www.kernowccg.nhs.uk/get-info/choose-well/ed-and-miu-waiting-times for details of services in Cornwall and Devon or the new NHS Quicker app, which can be downloaded for free from the App store: https://nhsquicker.co.uk/app/
Named Accountable GP for All Patients
Every patient has been allocated a named GP who is responsible for your overall care at the practice. If you would like to know who your named GP is, please contact reception and they will be happy to inform you.
If you wish to change the name of your accountable GP, please let us know and we will make every reasonable effort to accommodate this request.
Having a named accountable GP does not restrict your entitlement to see any doctor in the practice.
Practice Information Leaflet
To see our Practice Information leaflet, please Click Here
(Site updated 23/08/2021)