By Sarah.G

As the temperature dips and the weather becomes colder, we are more prone to stay inside and cooped up. The thought of staying inside, away from the cold sounds ideal, however, germs and infections are more likely to spread between one another due to close contact. For most of us, when we end up having a cold, we are able to rid it by ourselves, via home remedies and medication that can be bought from over the counter. 

Unfortaintly, for a few of us, the cold ends up worsening over the day and the next step is to see the doctor for them to be able to prescribe us something stronger. However, due to more people needing help from our clinicians, it means the appointment slots are booked a lot quicker than the warmer months. 

Luckily, there are other places that a patient can go to if there isn’t availability at Garden City Surgery.

PharmacyFirst

If you had read our first article Which Clinician Do I Need To See? we mentioned PharmacyFirst which first operated on January 31st 2024. Although they do not deal with chest infections, this programme can help with other minor illnesses such as sore throat, sinusitis, urinary tract infection and more. Please bear in mind that depending on your sex or age, it may affect if you can be helped.

We understand the irritation of waiting on the phone to be told that unfortunately there are no more appointments available, especially when you are in agony; meaning it is good to check at the pharmacy beforehand to see if they can help you. 

During the procedure at PharmacyFirst, the pharmacist will ask you some questions and check you over. If needed they will prescribe you some antibiotics. If they think it is necessary, they will advise you to see your GP, but they will only suggest this if anything is urgent. 

111

If you are in urgent need of healthcare help that isn’t life threatening then calling 111 is ideal, especially when there isn’t availability at your local GP surgery. If needed, the 111 service will book you to be seen by their local A&E department, pharmacy or more appropriate local services, depending on the symptoms of your call. 

If you do not feel comfortable calling, 111 also has an online page where you can put your details in, please bear in mind this option is for patients over five. There will be a series of questions, and depending on how you answer these multiple questions will affect the advice that they give you. 

Walk In Centres and A&E 

If there are no available appointments at Garden City Surgery, we might advise you to go to the QE2 walk in centre in Welwyn Garden City, or the walk in centre at Lister hospital, or if you have contacted 111 they might end up pre-booking you an appointment at one of these places. Both walk in centre are opened every day from 8:00-22:00, and the clinicians that work there help with minor illnesses or injuries including: 

• Sprains and dislocations
• Bites and cuts.
• Burns
• Minor eye and head injuries
• Objects stuck in ear or noses

A&E is also another place where you can go, especially when you need urgent care during the hours the walk-in centres are shut. If you have contacted 111, they may send you to A&E and have an appointment with an emergency doctor there. 

It is understandable that you would like to be seen by your local GP, however, unlike the summer season, appointments are booked up a lot quicker. As already mentioned, please look into these other services that you can go to during the busier seasons. The clinicians at Garden City Surgery do try their best to help wherever they can. Please do understand why receptionists might advise you to check your local pharmacy or contact 111 or even go to A&E or a walk in centre.

Prescriptions 

In order to help our patient during the upcoming festive season, we agreed to issue repeat prescriptions up to 14 days earlier than their due dates.  You’d be happy to know that in  December you can request prescriptions up to fourteen days before your repeat prescriptions runs out.  If you are ordering your prescription from you pharmacy, please let them know so they can put your prescription request as early as possible. 

When you order prescriptions, either through the NHS app, through your pharmacy, email or the form in the surgery, it will take two to three working days.