COVID-19 Information and Effects on Practice Services

Long COVID

The term Long COVID is commonly used to describe signs and symptoms that continue or develop after acute COVID‑19. Irrespective of age and illness severity, around one in five people who test positive for COVID-19 have symptoms for five weeks or longer and around one in ten people, they last 12 weeks or more. More and more is known about the variety of symptoms and conditions which can present after the initial COVID-19 infection. 

• Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland have a help line, support group and information for people with Long COVID symptoms. 
• NHS grampian have also produced a collection of resources and information regarding Long COVID. 
• Speak to a GP or nurse at the practice if you need further advice or have symptoms which need further assessment. 

Appointments and visits to the practice 

Please do not visit the practice unless you have been asked to attend for an appointment. See Appointments for more information. 

When are doctors surgeries going to properly open?

Doctors surgeries are open and have been fully open throughout the past year, providing both scheduled and unscheduled emergency care to the population of Grampian. Due to National and Scottish Government infection control guidance, in order to protect our most vulnerable patient groups, practices are working very differently.  This means that more care is being delivered by telephone or video, however face to face appointments have been available throughout and continue to be available to patients who require them.

Primary Care: Why are GP Practices still working differently?

The Pandemic is over! It is not over yet and we are in a 3^rd wave. We must protect Primary Care Teams and vulnerable patients by keeping contact to a minimum.

How are practices working now? All appointments are being triaged - this means that people with the greatest need are being seen first.

What is Triage? The Duty medic will assess every econsult and phone query and decide who needs to be seen in person, who needs a phone consultation, who needs to be seen via video and who can be directed to a community pharmacist etc.

How do we triage? Duty clinicians will look at all the information available and make an assessment loosely based on:

'Hear it' - phone consult,

'See it' - video consult (Near Me)

'Feel it' - face to face appointment.

Why do receptionists ask personal questions? Put simply, because they have been asked to! Anyone that is tasked with answering a call at a GP practice must maintain strict confidence and only ask questions to help you get the right treatment.

eConsult? Consult is an online way of contacting your doctor to get help and support. There is lots of information that you can use to help yourself too. Find out more by watching this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fGEpzrgAJc

What about emergencies? If it is a genuine medical emergency then you should call 999 and ask for an ambulance. If you need emergency care but are not in imminent danger then you should call 111

Where else can I get help? NHS Inform has a wealth of information to help you help yourself: https://www.nhsinform.scot/ Community Pharmacists (chemists) can help with many common ailments and illnesses and can prescribe some medicines too.

Please be patient. Primary Care Teams have been working incredibly hard throughout the Pandemic. Many of our teams are exhausted and they really are doing their best to help you. We, just like you, want to get back to as close as normal as possible as soon as possible, but we are not there yet.

Further Information

• Grampian Coronavirus Assistance Hub is a a focal point for information and assistance for anyone affected by coronavirus anywhere in Grampian. Find the services you need or links to information from across the area including information about the Psychological Resilience Hub which has been set up to support anyone whose mental health has been affected by the coronavirus pandemic. They can also be contacted by telephone on 0808 196 3384.
• NHS inform Coronavirus information & guidance page contains a wealth of helpful advice and self-help guides
• Other NHS Services - Know Who To Turn To during Lockdown (PDF) includes important information on changes to access for pharmacies, GPs, mental health services, dental services, eye care, sexual health, out of hours and emergency services.

Support for specific groups

• COVID19 Advice in Easy Read Format
• Pregnant women with COVID symptoms seeking advice can call Triage on 01224 558855
• Advice for women seeking contraception, abortion and other sexual and reproductive healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic
• Those at increased risk from COVID-19 (which includes all patients who would usually be offered a 'flu vaccine) and who require support can call a national helpline 0800 111 4000.  
• Patients who deemed extremely high risk will receive a "shielding" letter from the government or from the practice and this will be followed up with a telephone call.If your telephone number has changed, please give us your most up-to-date telephone number. This group can also receive support via a text message service (details in the letter for the most vulnerable patients) or via the assistance centre (telephone number 0808 196 3384) or use the assistance centre phone number above.
• The scottish government has published advice for people with a number of specific medical conditions.

Anticipatory Care Planning

The practice may contact you to ask you if you wish to make an anticipatory care plan. Those who have received a shielding letter will be contacted first, and others may be contacted later on as resources allow. If you would like to receive a phone call to discuss your anticipatory care plan (ACP) and we have not called you yet, please inform our reception staff and we will arrange for someone to call you back.

Video Consultations

We are using video consultations for assessments which require a degree of visual assessment and are therefore not suitable for telephone consultations.See our Video Consultations page for more information.

Temporary Privacy Notice

NHS Grampian has published a guide on the use of personal data during the COVID-19 response.