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PLANNED CLOSURE FOR URGENT BOOK ON THE DAY OR EMERGENCIES: Wednesday 13th March FROM 12PM ONWARDS TRAVEL VACCINES: Do you need vaccinations for travel? Planned closure for Emergencies from 12pm onwards New entrance to the practice PLANNED CLOSURE FOR TRAINING: Wednesday 24th January from 12pm-6.30pm Update on our Pilot on Access 22/1/2024 Reduction in waiting times and improving access Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year Children in Need 2023 THE NHS APP AND ACCESS TO YOUR ONLINE RECORDS
Bulletin 6 features several joint initiatives involving Portcullis and Pulling Together Ludlow
Clinic in the car park
Portcullis Surgery has been providing routine immunisations throughout the lockdown period, however we wanted to pilot how to provide immunisations to large numbers of patients in the safest most socially distanced way. The pilot has gone well and we are now planning to provide the annual flu immunisations to their 2000+ patients eligible for the flu in a similar way in order to provide the vaccine in the safest most socially distanced way possible.
Pulling Together volunteers worked tirelessly throughout the day marshalling cars in and out of the car park, and keeping general car park users separate from those queuing for their allocated slot. Gracie Pugh one of the volunteers is our youngest volunteer; still in her teens. As one of our team that morning she was in charge of letting the medical staff know which patients were arriving and in which cars – a vital task that ensured an organised flow of patients driving through in the correct sequence. Asked why she volunteered Gracie said “It’s good to be able to help in these times, when everyone is worried. We all need to pull together. A couple of people were really stressed, so it is good that we were here to help”.
Special thanks also go to Richard Duck and Ned Dunne who led the morning and afternoon teams at short notice. They were expertly supported by Ffion Cartwright, Gracie Pugh, Iona & Graham Aylen and Naomi Jones.
Commenting on the all-day vaccination clinic on behalf of the practice, Practice Manager Rachel Shields said “A sincere thank you to all those who volunteered as marshals for the clinic at Portcullis Surgery. Your efforts helped to make the day run smoothly and contributed to a very successful event.”
Befriender training
The easing of lockdown at a national level means communities with a disproportionately high number of elderly people may struggle even more. Those who are shielding or self-isolating will continue to live with little or no social interaction, whilst watching life becoming a little more like normal for others.
Against this backdrop PULLING TOGETHER LUDLOW with the help of our care coordinator Judith Sharod pictured above, have been busy training the volunteers who are leading our teams of befrienders.
The training was spread over several hours using video conference calls. This has highlighted how technology can be used to good effect, and it’s been fantastic to see our volunteers embrace the flexibility that technology offers.
Befriending Team Leaders are now cascading this training to their teams, including Safeguarding and GDPR (data protection) procedures.
Well done to our Surgery’s Care Coordinator Judith Sharod for her help in organising the training sessions, and to volunteers Bev Farnell, Fiona Pizzoni, Richard Harding, John Aitken and Derek Ball who form the oversight team, along with Judith Sharod and Peter Gray.