You may well have seen the news that the COVID vaccinations are being made available to 45-49 year olds. You may be surprised to learn that we were given no advance warning on this and are yet to receive any formal notification of this change. As such we are now working hard to arrange clinics and staff to enable us to meet the demand to administer these vaccines as quickly as we can. The first clinics will be this week, but bear with us as we had no warning and we need to ensure we have the space and staff to run safe and efficient clinics.

Please feel free to use the national booking system:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-vaccination/book-coronavirus-vaccination/

Or you can await a text from us.

Respectfully we ask you not to phone us to book an appointment. We have no back door into the national booking service and we don't have the capacity to manage urgent medical queries and to book patients in for Clair Hall vaccines with our finite staff.

Your patience and understanding is appreciated.

Whilst Covid19 cases are reducing, lockdown is starting to ease and the sun is shining- it feels like things are going back to ‘normal’.

We are still following NHS England guidance to keep our doors closed and have a total triage model, however we are functioning as normal behind closed doors!

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

MSHC Covid-19 Vaccination enquiry number: 01273 837981

Due to the increased number of calls we are getting about the Covid vaccination we have set up a designated phone line for Covid vaccine queries. This is for routine enquires about the vaccination.

For all other queries or if you have Covid symptoms please use the main land line (01273 834388) and not the enquiry line. Thank you. 

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.

We will soon be required to supply your personal and confidential medical information to the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC). This information will be taken from the practice in a form that can identify you. The practice has NO choice but to allow the HSCIC to extract this information. However, individual patients can instruct their practice to stop the transfer of their data. For more information on the reasons for this data extract and how to opt out of sending your confidential information ask the receptionist for a leaflet or go to the website at www.nhs.uk/caredata

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.