Our practice has been using telephone and online consultations for a number of years, prior to COVID19.  This meant we were in a good position to respond when the pandemic started and we were able to safely implement a remote service for our patients and limit exposure to the virus.

As we move in to the next phase of our response, we await national guidance about any changes we may need to implement going forward, however, anyone who needs to be seen face to face has always been able to be seen and this will continue.

Updated 23/03/2021

Updated 23/03/2021

The Practice is working as part of The Coastal Network (Primary Care Network) to deliver the COVID Vaccination Programme to the population of Teignmouth & Dawlish, at Dawlish Community Hospital.

We have delivered thousands of vaccinations to the population of Teignmouth, Dawlish and surrounding villages and are now working through cohorts 7-9 in the below poster. Cohort 9 is anyone aged 50 and over.

We are now using an online booking system for first doses only. Patients will receive a text message with a link that takes them to a page called SystmOnline. On this page you will be asked to confirm your date of birth. You will then be prompted to select a day, time and book your appointment. These invitation texts will come from “GP-Surgery” and are legitimate.

There is a very strict criteria for the order in which we must vaccinate patients, which is set by Public Health & NHS England and we cannot deviate from. We ask that patients respect this and do not become abusive to our Reception team who are simply applying the rules given to us.

Anyone in cohorts 1-6 who has not yet had their vaccination can book in by contacting the practice during surgery hours.

The Coastal Network intend to continue the vaccination programme through Phase 2, which is the rest of the population aged 18-49. We are awaiting details on the next phase of the programme; however we will be contacting patients as soon as we are able to invite them. We expect this to be in May 2021.

Cohort 6 You can view the criteria for cohort 6 here, please note that asthmatics are only eligible if they fit the criteria which can be found here.

Cohort 5 (anyone aged 65-70) should have recieved a letter from NHS England asking them to book online or by calling 119 at the Mass Vaccination Site (Westpoint). This is to allow the practices to focus on the much larger cohort 6. If patients in cohort 5 are unable to get to Westpoint, you must contact the practice to book in at Dawlish Hospital.

Cohorts 1 – 4 – We have completed the first dose vaccination of cohorts 1-4 in line with the Prime Minister’s ambition. There are however a small number of patients in these cohorts that may not have been vaccinated due to being unwell, away or in hospital at the time. If you are in cohorts 1-4, and have not yet had your first dose of the vaccination, please contact the practice as a priority to arrange an appointment for this. We will also be contacting these patients to follow up booking their first doses.

Second doses – We are working our way through contacting patients that have received a first dose of the C19 vaccinaiton to book their second dose appointment. Please do not contact us regarding this, we have a list of patients that we are working through in order of when they had their first dose. Second dose appointments shall be 77 or 78 days following their first dose. Going forward, anyone that has a first dose will be given their second dose appointment

We ask that patients wait to be contacted by the practice for their COVID vaccine. You can help us by ensuring that we have a mobile number for yourself or a nominated representative (i.e. family member) so that we can contact you via text message. You can update your contact details here: Update mobile / email address

Finally we would like to thank our patients for their continued co-operation and understanding whilst we work to deliver the CVP, our teams are working extremely hard to minimise the impact this has on the normal runnings of the surgery and appointments. Please bear with us if there is a slightly longer wait than usual for an appointment with our Nursing team or if we are delayed in answering the phone. The surgery can also be contacted via eConsult which is monitored throughout the day if you have a non-urgent administrative or clinical query.

Yours sincerly,

Will

Practice Manager

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