Message from Tiree Medical Practice r.e. Covid 19
Thank you all for your cooperation with the fast moving changes in the medical practice with regards to the Covid-19 outbreak.
Tiree Medical Practice is still open and working as hard as possible to ensure the best care of our patients. In order to ensure the safety of the patients, and smooth running of the surgery, a few measures have been put in place.
Surgery opening times are unchanged, and the doctor is still available out of hours for urgent matters. However, the waiting room remains closed.
Anyone needing an appointment will need to ring the surgery. Reception will take your details and we will organise for a doctor to call you back. We will try to deal with as many problems as possible by phone, but we will book appointments for those people we need to see. If you are asked to come down to the surgery, we ask that you wait in your car, and let us know when you arrive by calling reception. We will collect you from your car.
For those arriving by bus or on foot, please let us know and we will endeavour to meet you at the door on arrival. There is a door bell to alert us when you arrive.
If you need to collect medication, please ring the doorbell and someone will bring your medication to the door.
New government guidelines on actions which should be taken by patients are being released on a regular basis so to keep up to date, please look at the following website.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-stay-at-home-guidance/stay-at-home-guidance-for-households-with-possible-coronavirus-covid-19-infection
Those with a temperature OR a new persistent cough should self isolate and stay at home. If you have these symptoms stay at home for 7 days. If you live with other people, they should stay at home for 14 days from the day the first person got symptoms.
If you live with someone who is considered high risk or very high risk (see below), try to find somewhere else for them to stay for 14 days. If you have to stay home together, try to keep away from each other as much as possible. High risk individuals are advised to be ‘socially distant’, as an absolute minimum, but we encourage these patients, and ‘very high risk’ individuals should self isolate for two weeks to keep as safe as possible. Current guidelines highlight the following ‘high risk’ individuals.
- those who are pregnant
- those over 70 regardless of any medical conditions
- those adults under 70 who qualify for a flu jag, which means
- long term respiratory conditions
- chronic heart disease
- chronic kidney disease
- chronic liver disease
- long term neurological conditions
- diabetes
- post-splenectomy/sickle cell disease
- weakened immune system – HIV/AIDS, on steroid medication, methotrexate or chemotherapy
- Severe obesity (BMI >40) (to calculate your BMI please visit https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-weight/bmi-calculator/)
- long term respiratory conditions
Very high risk individuals include:
- post transplant
- those with cancer having active chemo-radiotherapy
- those with haematological cancers
- severe chest conditions (Cystic Fibrosis, asthmatics who require admission or oral steroids)
- Severe diseases such as those needing dialysis.
If you are not certain whether you fall into a ‘high risk’ group, please contact the medical practice to discuss your individual circumstances with a GP or nurse.
For further information please see the following website
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
There has been some conflicting advice as to whether to use ibuprofen for a patients with Covid 19 and while there remains an uncertainty, we recommend that you use paracetamol and DO NOT use ibuprofen for potential patients with Covid 19.
Thank you very much for all your support through these difficult times.
Drs Ali, Andy Lindsay and Mike
