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The more we use antibiotics, the greater the chance that bacteria will become resistant to them so
that they no longer work on infections.
Most aliments like colds, most coughs, sinusitis, ear infections, sore throats and other infections
often get better without antibiotics, as your body can usually fight these infections on its own. Visit
your local Pharmacist who can recommend medicines to help your symptoms/pain.
European Antibiotic Awareness Day (EAAD) takes place annually on 18 November.
‘What is antibiotic resistance, and why should we care’?
www.antibioticguardian.com
HAY FEVER
Hay fever is a common allergic condition
caused by an allergy to pollen.
Common symptoms of hay fever are:
 sneezing
 runny/blocked nose
 itchy eyes
Before visiting your GP, you could first speak to your
Pharmacist and try treating your symptoms with over-thecounter medications, such as antihistamines.
Y
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LATE FOR YOUR APPOINTMENT?
Please be aware that there is a 10 minute cut off time if
you arrive late for your appointment. After this time you
will need to re-book. Please do not try to self-check-in
as the system will not allow you to do so. In some
instances, we may be able to offer you another
appointment on the same day, but please do not ask our
Receptionist to ‘squeeze you in’ as we are sure you will
appreciate the knock on effect this would have to other
patients waiting. THANK YOU
CHAPERONE
If you would like a chaperone present for any
consultation, please request this at the time of
booking your appointment.
H
PLEASE NOTE
E
This practice will not
tolerate any physical or
verbal abuse towards any
staff members.
C
K
NEW MISSED APPOINTMENTS
POLICY
Due to the number of unattended
appointments we have had over the last
few months, we have been forced to reevaluate how we deal with this situation.
With 271 DNA’s in Feb and with GP and
Nurse appointments in high demand, we
hope that you can understand the need
for us to take action.



Miss 3 appointments
Receive notification
Further DNA’s may result in
further action by the Practice
Appointments
We aim to offer you an appointment
with a doctor on the same day as your
request, providing you call early in the
day. To enable us to do this, we release
appointment slots daily. We also offer
pre-bookable appointments early
morning, late evening and Saturday
morning.
HOME VISITS
If you are too ill to attend the surgery, please
contact us before 10am for a home visit. If
you feel the problem may be dealt with over
the phone, you can ring after 11.30 and speak
to one of the doctors.
Dear Patient,
You will no doubt have heard in the media and observed for yourself that General Practice is under
increasing pressure and there is a generalised difficulty with recruiting new doctors to be GPs.
Here at The Limes we have had senior doctors retiring and have experienced difficulty in replacing
them with GPs of a similar standard and we therefore have tried to think laterally and reorganise our
services recruiting other health professionals such that a quality service can continue to be
maintained.
We now have 4 senior urgent care nurses who are all trained in minor illness and injury, as well as
chronic disease management and are nurse prescribers. They run an urgent care service which runs
daily from 8am till 6pm and in which they will see a variety of new problems. (A full list of
appropriate problems is available at reception and on our website). We also have recruited 2 senior
musculoskeletal practitioners who work alongside consultants in the hospital setting and who will
see musculoskeletal problems to offer assessment, investigation where appropriate, diagnosis and
advice. In addition we have a sexual health nurse specialist who offers contraceptive advice and
performs smear tests for us.
There continue to be 6 doctors working in the Practice who are always available as a backup in
urgent care, and who are available for patients with more complex medical problems. Unfortunately
with fewer established Partners remaining, it will not always be possible to see the Doctor of your
choice at a convenient time. Dr Graham Prowse has now retired, and has been replaced by Dr
Simon Vincent, who is already an experienced GP, and we are sure will perfectly complement our
team.
In order for this system to function efficiently, and provide the quality care that we strive for, we
would ask that you allow our reception staff to guide you towards the most appropriate
appointment for your problem as many problems do not require that you are seen by a doctor. We
would however like to reassure you that a doctor is always on hand and that if any of our
Practitioners find that your problem is more complicated than anticipated, they will arrange for you
to see a Doctor on the same visit.
We look forward to continuing to provide you with the excellent service for which the Limes is
renowned.
Dr T Rowley & Partners