Noticeboard

COVID-19 is still with us and we must all remain vigilant and look after our community.  We would like to respectfully remind all our patients that access to the surgery building remains restricted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Please help us to all do our best to limit the spread of COVID-19.

  • Please DO NOT enter the surgery building unless you are attending an appointment.
  • Where possible, please attend any appointments alone.
  • Please do not arrive too early or too late for your appointment, please arrive as close to your appointment time as possible.
  • Please wear an appropriate face covering whilst in the surgery building
  • Please use the provided hand sanitiser on entering and exiting the surgery building
  • Please DO NOT attend your appointment if you are concerned that you or someone you have had contact with may be displaying symptoms of COVID-19 (a new continuous cough, fever or a lack of or change in your ability to smell or taste).

Thank you.  We're all in this together

COVID-19 - PRACTICE INFORMATION PAGE

COVID-19 PRACTICE SAFETY MEASURES 

Although social distancing measures have been removed, as a healthcare setting and to protect our patients and our practice staff, some  practice safety measures will remain in place until further notice.  

Please allow us to reassure that the practice is OPEN. 

Patients should continue as normal to request an appointment by telephoning the practice and selecting option 2, Monday to Friday 8.30am to 5pm. If you require a triage call back for an urgent health concern, please telephone the practice and select option 2 between 8.30am and 11am, Monday to Friday.

Measures remaining in place are;

Face coverings

Patients MUST wear an appropriate face covering ensuring that both their nose and mouth are covered - unless you are medically exempt.

Access to the practice building

Patients can enter the building now to make an appointment, post a repeat prescription slip within the dedicated prescription box or to collect a GP Fit note.

Attending the practice for an appointment

If you are attending the practice for a medical appointment, please wherever possible, still attend alone.  Our main waiting area still has reduced capacity to ensure social distancing is in place.

If you have any concerns about COVID

PLEASE DO NOT ATTEND THE PRACTICE IF YOU ARE CONCERNED YOU MAY HAVE COVID-19 SYMPTOMS This could put both our practice team and other vulnerable patients at greater risk.  If you are concerned that you may be displaying symptoms of COVID-19, please follow the current Scottish Government guidance with regards to isolation periods if applicable.  If you are scheduled to attend an appointment in the practice or are feeling unwell due to COVID, please telephone the practice on 01592 620062 and select option 2 for advice.

Repeat Prescriptions

Repeat prescription slips can be handed into the practice.  Repeat requests can also be made via our prescription email address Fife.northglenprescriptions@nhs.scot or via Patient Access for any patient who is signed up to this service.  Patients can also hand in repeat slips to their chosen community pharmacy.  Telephone prescription requests are strictly reserved for our housebound, vulnerable and palliative patients only.

GP Fit Notes 

Enquiries or requests for a GP Fit Note can be made by telephone or to our practice email address fife.f20611northglen@nhs.scot. GP Fit Notes (also referred to as a sick line) can be posted out or can be collected from the practice.  

Please continued to support your local practice team by complying with this guidance.

COVID Vaccination Exemption Certificates - Important Information

GPs and their teams CANNOT issue vaccination exemption certificates.

Further information on the vaccination exemption certificates scheme, including information on safe vaccination and routes to obtain an exemption can be found on the Scottish Government and NHS Inform websites.

Alternatively, you can phone the free NHS COVID helpline on: 0808 196 8565

Get a record of your coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccination status

Your vaccination status is a record of the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccinations you've received in Scotland or the Common Travel Area (England, Wales, Northern Ireland, Guernsey, Jersey, Isle of Man or the Republic of Ireland).

You can request a vaccine status if you're aged 12 and over. Those under the age of 12 will not be eligible for a vaccine status.

You may be asked to provide your status when you're travelling abroad or attending certain venues or events.

How to access your COVID status

You can access your COVID Status through the free NHS Scotland Covid Status app on a mobile device. For example, a smartphone.

You can also download or request a copy of your vaccination status online or by phoning the COVID Status Helpline on 0808 196 8565.

Those aged 12 to 17 can only download or request a copy online or via the helpline. They cannot use the app.

Request your vaccination status letter online

You can view your record and request a paper copy of your vaccination status online by logging in using your unique username and password.

Your username can be found in your coronavirus vaccination appointment letter. You can use this to register and create your own password.

If you have never received a unique username, you can sign up for one by using the 'recover username' option.

If you have lost or forgotten your username or password, you can create new ones by selecting the 'recover username' or 'forgotten your password' options.

Once you have signed in, you should select 'vaccination status' which will allow you to view and request a paper copy of your coronavirus vaccination record letter. Please allow at least 14 days for your vaccination status letter to arrive in the post.

Request your vaccination status letter over the phone

You can also get a copy of your vaccine status by phoning the COVID Status Helpline on 0808 196 8565. 

The helpline is open every day from 10.00am to 6.00pm.

Please request your record online if possible.

Clinical trials

If you were vaccinated as part of an official clinical trial in Scotland, you should have received a letter confirming this.

If you have not received a letter, contact your clinical trial site.

More information for clinical trial participants

Vaccination status for children

Vaccination status letters are not available for children under the age of 12.

If you're travelling abroad, your child may need to show a negative test result. Check the entry requirements for the country you're visiting.

Lost your vaccination status letter

If you lose your paper copy of vaccination status, you should make another request online or phone the COVID Status Helpline on 0808 196 8565 for a replacement. You should receive your copy within 14 days of requesting it.

Incorrect vaccination records

If any data on your Vaccination Status Record is incorrect, you should phone the COVID Status Helpline on 0808 196 8565. The helpline can only resolve issues in relation to vaccinations administered in Scotland.

You do not need middle name(s) for status reports or international travel. If your address on your status is out of date you can still use it for international travel, providing your name and date of birth are correct.

Vaccination status in the Common Travel Area (other parts of the UK and Ireland, including Channel Islands and Isle of Man)

If you are a Scottish resident and have received one or more doses of a coronavirus vaccine elsewhere in the Common Travel Area, you can request an update to your coronavirus vaccination record.

If you were vaccinated in England

If you cannot get your complete vaccination certificate due to receiving a vaccination dose in England, it is recommended that you:

  • attempt to contact the vaccination location where you received this dose
  • ensure that your residential Scottish postcode has been recorded next to this vaccination

This will make your vaccination record eligible for a daily cross-border data transfer into Scottish healthcare systems. Once this process has started, your vaccination record will be brought up to date in a few days.

If you are still unable to get your completed vaccination certificate 7 days after completing this step, you should phone the COVID Status Helpline on 0808 196 8565, and they will be able to assist you.

Vaccination status in other international countries

If you've become a Scottish resident and you've received one or more doses of a coronavirus vaccine internationally (outside of the common travel area), the process of getting your vaccination status may also be different.

Vaccinating children and young people aged 12 to 17 years

NHS Scotland is offering the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine to all children and young people aged 12 to 17 years. They will be offered the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.

Advice on coronavirus vaccination for children and young people aged 12 to 17 years

The Joint Committee of Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) provided advice about the vaccination of children and young people aged 12 to 17 with follow-up advice for children aged 12 to 15.

The UK Chief Medical Officers (CMO's) recommend the coronavirus vaccine on public health grounds, given consideration of impacts such as education and mental health. The joint statement from the UK CMO's provides advice on the universal vaccination of children and young people aged 12 to 15 years against coronavirus.

How many doses will children and young people aged 12 to 17 years be offered?

Two doses of the vaccine (eight weeks apart) are recommended for:

  • those who are at increased risk from coronavirus due to underlying health conditions
  • those who live with someone who is immunosuppressed
  • those aged 16 or 17 years who are an unpaid carer, a frontline health or social care worker or are within three months of their 18th birthday

All other children and young people aged 12 to 17 years will be offered a first dose of the vaccine. The timing of a second dose will be confirmed later.

Some children and young people are eligible for a third dose or a booster dose.

Coronavirus in children and young people

For most children and young people, coronavirus is usually a milder illness that rarely leads to complications. For a very few the symptoms may last for longer than the usual two to three weeks.

Getting the vaccine will help to protect children and young people against coronavirus. Although most children and young people usually have mild illness, they can pass on their infection to others in their family and those they come into contact with.

Even if children and young people have already had coronavirus, they could still get it again. The vaccine will reduce their risk of getting coronavirus. If they do get it again, the vaccine can reduce how serious their symptoms will be.

Vaccination for children and young people at increased risk

Some children and young people are at increased risk including those living with certain conditions. If your child or young person is at increased risk, they are eligible for two doses of the coronavirus vaccine.

You will be contacted by NHS Scotland with your child's vaccination appointment details. Some children under specialist care will be contacted directly by their healthcare professional and others will receive a vaccination invitation letter.

Local health boards aim to vaccinate those who cannot attend a clinic in their own home or a care setting. Local health boards will contact the parents or carers of these children directly to organise this.

Vaccine invitations

All children and young people aged 12 to 15 will receive a letter inviting them to attend their vaccination appointment.

Young people aged 16 and 17 should have already received an invitation letter. If you have not received an invitation letter you can register online.

Children and young people aged 12 to 17 can attend open access services to receive their vaccine.

Rearranging your appointment

You should phone the number on your letter to rearrange your appointment if the time and date does not suit.

You can reschedule the date and time of your appointment if it does not suit, but we are encouraging people to keep their appointment time if possible.

If you were contacted by your specialist, you should phone them to rearrange your appointment.

If your child or young person’s level of care needs or disability needs mean they cannot attend a clinic, phone the number on their invitation letter.

Consent

It's important for children and young people and their parents or carers to discuss the information in this leaflet and come to a decision together.

Parents and carers are invited to accompany their children to their vaccine appointment and will have the opportunity to ask questions, and to discuss the benefits and risks of the vaccine.

We recommend you get agreement from your parent or carer but it is not always necessary.

More about consent for young people using NHS services

Vaccine safety

NHS Scotland only use vaccines that meet the required standards of safety and effectiveness. All medicines, including vaccines, are tested for safety and effectiveness before they’re allowed to be used. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has to assess all the data and also ensure a vaccine works and that all the necessary trials and checks have been completed.

The MHRA will only approve a vaccine for supply in the UK if the expected standards of safety, quality and efficacy are met. The safety and effectiveness of the coronavirus vaccines continue to be checked while in use.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) booster vaccination

Like some other vaccines, levels of protection may begin to reduce over time. The coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine booster dose will help extend the protection you gained from your first two doses and give you longer term protection.

The booster dose can be offered any time at least 6 months (24 weeks) after your second dose and will help reduce the risk of you needing to go to hospital due to coronavirus this winter.

If you're eligible, your flu and coronavirus booster vaccines will be given at the same time, one in each arm.

A booster dose is different from a third primary dose for people with a severely weakened immune system.

Who is eligible for the booster dose?

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) recommends that the booster dose of the coronavirus vaccine is offered to:

  • those living in residential care homes for older adults
  • frontline health and social care workers
  • all adults aged 50 years or over
  • adults aged 16 to 49 years with underlying health
    conditions that put them at higher risk of severe coronavirus
  • adult carers (aged 16 or over)
  • household contacts (aged 16 or over) of immunosuppressed individuals

You will be offered a booster dose of either Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccine. AstraZeneca may be given as your booster dose if you have medical reasons that mean you cannot have Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna.

Before getting the booster dose

If you have not had either your first or second dose of the coronavirus vaccine, you should arrange to have them.

Register for your coronavirus vaccine

You will still need the booster dose but the timing of it will depend on when you had your first two doses.

If you have recently tested positive for coronavirus, you should wait until four weeks after the date you were tested to get any dose of the vaccine. You should do this even if you have no symptoms.

How you will be invited for vaccination

NHS Scotland are following the JCVI advice and offering a booster dose to those most at risk first.

Residents in care homes and care home staff

Your local health board is making arrangements with your care home to give you your flu and coronavirus booster vaccine at the same time.

You will be vaccinated in your care home setting.

If you are a member of staff working in a care home for older adults, you will likely be offered both vaccinations at work. You can book an appointment online if you were unable to be vaccinated at work.

Those aged 70 and over and those who are clinically extremely vulnerable

If you are aged 70 or over or if you were previously on the shielding list and are aged 16 or over, you will receive a vaccine invitation.

This may be an invitation letter or you may be contacted by your GP offering you an appointment to receive both a coronavirus booster and flu vaccination.

Frontline health and social care workers

If you're an eligible frontline health and social care worker, you can book your coronavirus booster online.

Eligible healthcare workers and social care workers may receive their flu vaccination with their coronavirus booster vaccine.

Other eligible groups

You are eligible for both a flu vaccine and a coronavirus booster if you are:

  • an adult aged 50 and over
  • an adult carer, unpaid carer or a young carer aged 16 years or over
  • aged 16 and over and a household contact of someone who is immunosuppressed

Depending on when you had your second dose of coronavirus vaccine, you may need two separate appointments.

You will be able to book an appointment via the online portal soon.

Letters will then be issued to anyone in these groups who haven’t booked an appointment.

Further information

More information is available in this coronavirus booster leaflet.


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