Greystoke Surgery

As a Practice we have decided to introduce a new system for repeat prescriptions and Long Term Condition appointments which, we believe, will be more efficient and reduce the number of telephone calls you have to make.

Repeat Dispensing is a new way of getting your medicines without having to ask the doctor for a prescription each time. Your doctor will supply several prescription forms that will be kept at your usual pharmacy. With these prescriptions, you can collect your medicines from the pharmacy at regular Intervals for up to 12 months. Your doctor will decide how often you should collect your prescription and how long it will last for.

Your doctor will make sure it is safe for you to get your medicines in this new way. Not all medicines can be supplied on a repeatable prescription. It is only suitable for patients whose medical condition is described as “stable” by their doctor. Any medication which is not taken on a daily basis and used as required e.g. painkillers will still need to be ordered by telephoning the prescription line.

If you have any questions or concerns or would like more information regarding this, please speak to your pharmacist or telephone the surgery and ask to speak to a member of the medicines management team.

From 1 April 2015, practices are required to allocate a named, accountable GP to all patients.
All patients at Greystoke Surgery have now been allocated a named GP. This will have no impact on appointments at the surgery as patients can still see the GP of their choice.
If you would like details of who your allocated GP is, then please ask a member of our reception team.

New arrangements introduced from January 2015 give people greater choice when choosing a GP practice. Patients may approach any GP practice, even if they live outside the practice area, to see if they will be accepted on to the patient list.

The new arrangements (which are voluntary for GP practices) mean GP practices now have the option to register patients who live outside the practice area but without any obligation to provide home visits.

If accepted, you will attend the practice and receive the full range of services provided as normal at the surgery. If you have an urgent care need and the surgery cannot help you at home we may ask you to call NHS 111 and they will put you in touch with a local service (this may be a face to face appointment with a local healthcare professional or a home visit where necessary).

We may decide that it is not in your best interests or practical for you to be registered in this way. In these circumstances we will advise you to seek to register (or remain registered) with a more local practice. If accepted but your health needs change, we may review your registration to see if it would be more appropriate for you to be registered with a GP practice closer to your home.

If you are completely new to the practice, you will require an appointment with a Partner to assess suitability.

Please enquire at reception for more details.

The practice has recently been advised of an incident whereby a person claiming to be working for GP surgeries in Morpeth was telephoning patients advising they were carrying out a survey.  This person enquired about the patients medical conditions and then went on to say they could prescribe a high strength cod liver oil tablet at the cost of 29.99.
Can the practice assure patients that we do not share your medical records or prescribing details with 3rd parties and would never ask anyone to contact patients on behalf of the practice.  Although this is alarming, we believe such incidents are generally rare.  We would however like to encourage patients that if they do get any such calls, to advise the practice and we will report to NHS Counter Fraud.

We would like to encourage all our patients to use our online service.

In the past it has been possible to order repeat mediciation and also to book certain appointments by using our on line service which is available via this website.

However we now have enabled our system to show you your specific  summary care record . If you would like to know more about this facility then please ask at the surgery next time you call in and we will give you the necessary forms to enable you to use this service.