Coronavirus Update

We would like to update you on some urgent changes that are affecting Tamar Valley Health.

As you will be aware, COVID-19 infection rates for Cornwall are high. As well as supporting our patients, our colleagues are also being affected; we are assisting in the delivery of the largest vaccination programme the NHS has ever delivered. All of our staff are at the forefront of the vaccination programme and we aim to deliver vaccines to you and your families, as quickly and safely as possible.

To enable us do this, national guidance from NHS England has advised us to pause all non-urgent work where clinically safe (i.e. coils, implants, steroid injections, private medicals, medication reviews, ear syringing).

Tamar Valley Health will remain open during our normal working hours with a reduced clinical and administration staffing list, in order that we can deploy some of our doctors, nurses, paramedics, health care assistants, reception and admin workforce to the COVID vaccination programme.

We are asking all patients to only contact us if you have an urgent concern or if you have been asked to do so. Patients can also use our eConsult portal (via our website) to contact us and we will respond to you within 2 full working days.

We will continue to offer urgent advice, emergency appointments, medication, prescription ordering and housebound visits.

If you have a routine problem that can wait, it will help us greatly if you wait until our normal services resume. We expect services to be back to relative normality in 4 to 8 weeks.

You can also use www.nhs.uk or call 111 for support. NHS 111 is available 24/7 and as well as providing advice can also direct you to a local service and will let them know you are on the way.

We can also offer out of hours GP appointments via the LIVI app.Please visit our website for details and instructions.

Medication

Due to added pressure on the practice and its staff, please note that from Monday 18th January2021, the temporary turnaround time for processing repeat prescription requests will be 5 clear working days. Thank you once again for your co-operation and understanding.

If you would normally be due for a medication review, please continue to order your medication and one of our clinical team will make contact with you if they need to discuss any areas of concern before updating your medication. As always, should you have any concerns regarding your medication or management of any chronic condition, please continue to contact the health centre and we can arrange for one of our clinical team to speak with you.