The Practice will be closed on the following dates:

• Wednesday 25 December 2024
• Thursday 26 December 2024
• Wednesday 01 January 2025

For any medical attention required during these closure dates, please contact Out of Hours on 028 2566 3500. Please ensure all medications are offered in a timely manner. Patients should allow 3 working days for their prescriptions to be delivered to their nominated Pharmacy.

From all at Meadowbridge Surgery, we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Thank you for your ongoing support.

Private Healthcare Services: Providing Clarification on Private Consultations, Procedures and NHS follow up Guidance.

This guidance is intended to provide clarification regarding pre and/or post treatment support within Primary Care by General Practitioners around private patient consultations.

Individuals choosing to seek healthcare privately are effectively stepping outside of the health and social care (HSC) system. In these circumstances, there is no obligation on GPs to provide pre and/or post treatment support. Therefore, it remains important for individuals wishing to avail of private healthcare to ensure that all pre and post treatment support costs are included in the overall package of care procured from the private healthcare provider.

An outlook of work output throughout the month of September by all Practice Staff:

Treatment Room Appointments:

• 1,274 treatment room appointments

Online Statistics:

• 3,988 online prescriptions ordered
• 5,815 patients registered for online services

Daily Triage Areas:

• 45 patient home visits by a GP
• 3,623 Face to Face appointments
• 722 triage call back to patients

Appointments Booked and Not Attended:

• 165 – these are appointments that have been wasted and could have been offered to another patient

Administration Tasks:

• 2,222 Hospital letters actioned by Practice Staff
• 18,188 General admin tasks by Clinical and Admin Team
• 5,436 Prescriptions issued
• 2,557 Patient results reviewed

Antibiotics are needed for serious bacterial infections including:

• Sepsis
• Pneumonia
• Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs)
• Sexually transmitted infections like gonorrhoea
• Meningococcal Meningitis

If you are worried, speak to a doctor who will be able to advise you on the best treatment for your symptoms.

Don’t let your protection fade! Winter is coming and so are the respiratory illnesses that circulate during this time of the year.

Community Pharmacies across Northern Ireland are offering advice and support on a wide range of winter illnesses to help us stay well during the colder months. The Living Well initiative is offered in over 500 pharmacies across Northern Ireland and provides information and advice on public health issues. The latest Living Well campaign highlights actions you can take to protect your health over the winter months and the support available to you through your community pharmacy.

The ‘Stay Well this Winter’ campaign is running in Living Well community pharmacies during December 2024 and January 2025. This campaign aims to help the public prepare for the winter months by encouraging them to plan ahead, take positive steps towards better health by advising them on how to care for themselves, and to visit their pharmacy for advice if needed.