We currently have three GP partners unexpectedly and unavoidably off work. In addition, we are experiencing problems finding any additional GP  locum cover.  As such, we are working with reduced numbers of GPs and appointment availablility. 

In order to prioritize urgent care for our patients you may need to wait much longer than usual for a routine appointment. Please bear with us, our team will try to help you, and may suggest alternatives to seeing a GP, for example we have a multi-disciplinary team including First Contact Physio, who may be able to help you. 

If you have an urgent problem please do not hesitate to contact us as we have appointments available every day for problems that cannot wait.  

We hope to be able to return to full capacity soon, and in the meantime, we all appreciate your support and understanding. 

MSHC

We would like to make you aware of a Covid Passport scam that is currently active.  The scammers are sending a text message which looks as though it has been generated by NHS England, the text tells you to click on the link as you are entitled to a covid pass/passport.  It then asks for your bank details and requests a payment of £4.99.

COVID PASSPORSTS ARE ACCESSED THROUGH YOUR OWN NHS APP LOGIN, THEY ARE FREE - YOU SHOULD NEVER BE ASKED TO PAY FOR ONE.

The only info you need re Covid passports is here:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/demonstrating-your-covid-19-status

For access to links with additional travel information, please go to our Coronavirus page and click on the Covid Vaccine icon.

No one should ever charge you money to prove your COVID vaccine status.

P.S. you are all amazing for getting your vaccines done - one of the best vaccine uptake areas in the country (and therefore the world). Helping yourself helps us all.

A huge thank you to all our wonderful patients, patient participation group members, and of course all the team at MSHC for making the our Saturday Flu clinics such a success. Since the begining of the flu season 4,700 people have had a flu jab - protecting themselves and protecting our community.

We are running our next clinics at Hurstpierpoint on 30th October between 8.30 and 11.30, Mondays 08 & 15 November between 18:00 and 19:30 so please book in via system on-line, or call the practice if you don’t have access to on-line services.

We unfortunately can't give you a COVID booster at Hurstpierpoint, but the Clair Hall COVID Vaccine team in Haywards Heath will be contacting you soon to get a COVID booster if you are more than 6 months after your second dose.

More info is available here including walk in clinic info:

https://abcltd.org.uk/nhsbookajab/

https://abcltd.org.uk/covid-vaccination-programme/walk-in-clinics/

Thanks again, and we hope to see more of you in the next few weekends.

All the team at MSHC

Dear Patients,

Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances we have a reduced number of GPs available for the next few weeks which will significantly affect the services we can provide. We are extremely sorry and we ask you to bear with us during this short term problem.

Fewer GPs means you may need to wait a little longer for a routine appointment or you may be offered an appointment with another member of our team. We hope you understand that it is important to ensure that patients with urgent health care needs are still seen, despite the reduce number of GPs.

When you contact us for an appointment our reception team will use a professional guided process called Care Navigation to help decide with you which professional from our team would be best suited to help you with your problem. We are very lucky to have a multi-disciplinary team including our Nurses, Care Co-ordinators, Social Care Prescribers, Physiotherapist and Pharmacists who all work alongside our GPs, and will be here to provide their usual support during this time.

Our reception team will try to help you with your problem as best they can and we thank you in advance for your patience.

The Mid Sussex Health Care Team

Please follow the link below to read the information regarding vaccinations for under 18s.

Click here for the Under 18s update.pdf

Dear all,

We wanted to let you know that we will continue to require all visitors to our practice sites to wear a face mask and maintain social distancing to enable us to continue to protect our vulnerable patients.  If you are exempt from wearing a mask, you may be asked to wait outside until the clinician is ready to see you.

Thank you for your help in making sure the most vulnerable in our community are protected.

All the team at MSHC.

ABC Mask Guidance MSHC.pdf

Hello all.

We are in contact with quite a few patients now who are presenting to us with 'viral' symptoms: sore throats, headaches, runny nose and earaches most commonly.  If you have these symptoms and you also happen to have a cough, a high temperature (37.8c or more) or altered smell or taste then you still have to assume you might have COVID. 

You need to follow the 'blue advice' below: Self isolate and arrange a formal lab based PCR test. The home lateral flow tests you have are not good enough sadly.

You can still call us and if we need to, we will see you but you don't need to wait to contact us before arranging the PCR test and the earlier you get the test the less time you will have to self isolate.

Thank you for working with us on this.

All the team at MSHC

More walk in clinics - https://abcltd.org.uk/covid-vaccination-programme/walk-in-clinics/

Hello

We are receiving lots of calls from patients asking us about their referrals. Once we send a referral off to the hospital or other provider we do not get notified of when the appointment will be and do not have any control over these bookings. If you want to find out how long the wait will be or other queries please contact the provider directly on the numbers attached to the link below.

https://www.midsussexhealthcare.co.uk/_common/getdocument/?id=99831

We know it is unsettling and difficult to not know when your appointment will be but we don't have any influence over appointments and don't have any special access to finding out. All we can do is ring the same numbers you can.

We are working with the local health authority (West Sussex CCG) to find ways to get you more information and ideally better access to clinics and appointments.

Thanks for your understanding.

MSHC.

If you need to book an appointment with a GP you will be given a phone call appointment initially where a GP will assess your symptoms over the phone and if you need a face to face appointment they will arrange a time for you to come in.

We are receiving large volumes of calls every day and are trying to answer them as quickly as possible. We have a designated phone room based in Hurstpierpoint which takes calls for all of our sites, where we have 6-8 staff answering your calls from 8.30-6pm, our staff will ask you for some information regarding what the appointment is for in order to be able to make your appointment with the right clinician, if you do not wish to share this you can let them know it is private.

If you are on hold when you call us please be patient and wait while we try to answer your call.

There are alternate ways to contact us

• Book online via our website https://www.midsussexhealthcare.co.uk/online-services
• Send in an econsultation request https://midsussexhealthcare.webgp.com/
• Use the NHS app https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/online-services/nhs-app/
• Download the LIVI app and access video consultation with a NHS GP. https://www.livi.co.uk/
• If your query is about Covid 19 vaccination appointments you can contact us on our designated phone line   01273 837981  This line is answered between 8:30-18:00 however there is a delay due to demand.  If there is noone answering the phone, the answerphone will kick in and we will call patients back.

Please click here to see the guidance

Patient Online Smartphone Apps

Please see links below to SystmOnline for patients smartphones and tablets (one for Apple and one for Android).

Apple iPhones and iPads: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/developer/tpp/id711398513

For Android devices: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=px.app.systmonline&hl=en_GB

Logging into Systm Online for the first time

You should have been given a username and temporary password by the receptionist after they have activated your account. You will need to log in to your new account before midnight in order to set a new password.

In order to log into your account you will need to go to the web address on your letter and then scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the logo.

You will then be prompted to enter your username and password and should then be directed to update your password.

Should you have any problems logging in or forget your password at any time please bring photo ID to the reception desk and ask for a password reset.

As a practice we have elected to not offer NHS Health Checks for 40-74 year olds because of the lack of evidence of benefit, and the risks of detecting 'illness' that would not cause any harm. The recent Cochrane review of 14 trials (with 182,880 participants) demonstrates this clearly, and includes an excellent plain language summary.

Furthermore, we believe this to be a waste of public resources, not targeting the population who stand to benefit the most. Please read the Cochrane review link above for an explanation of the science behind this decision.