In North West Leicestershire the 12 practice are working in collaboration as a Primary Care Network (PCN) and this allows us to provide services jointly or at scale.

As a PCN we are now offering enhanced access appointments to you and these are available: -

• Monday to Friday – 7.30am - 8:00am
• Monday to Friday – 6:30pm - 8:00pm
• Saturday – 9:00am - 5:00pm

These appointments are delivered and rotated between two hub locations:-

• Castle Medical Group, Ashby-de-la-Zouch
• Long Lane Surgery, Coalville

This is a bookable appointment service and appointments are available to book and cancel through your online account eg NHS app, SystmOnline. 

Please note: Your appointment may not be with one of the clinicians you usually see at your practice, and depending on the reason for your appointment it may be more appropriate for you to see a Paramedic, Pharmacist or Advanced Nurse Practitioner than a GP.

The clinician you see will be able to access your medical notes and this information will be available to view in your medical records by Castle Medical Group.

When your practice is closed please telephone 01530 566550. If we are unable to answer your call please leave a message or alternatively, you can email: llrib-llr.nwlpcn@nhs.net.

What can this service offer?

The Pharmacy First service went live on the 31^st January 2024.  This service is available to patients as a walk-in service as well as a service to be referred into by NHS 111, GP practice clinicians and GP practice admin staff.

This service will enable Community Clinical Pharmacists to supply some prescription medications, where clinically appropriate under the guidance of a PGD (Patient Group Directive).  Pharmacies who are part of this service in Ashby are Ashby Pharmacy, Boots, Dean and Smedley and Tesco pharmacy.

What conditions can the Clinical Pharmacist treat? 

Bites and stings

Cold and flu symptoms

Congestion (blocked runny nose, hay fever, excess mucus)

Ears (Wax, blocked)

Eyes (conjunctivitis, dry, runny, or sore eyes)

Gastric (Bowel issue, constipation, heartburn, indigestion, haemorrhoids, and vomiting)

General muscular pain (sprains and strains)

Skin conditions (ache, athletes foot, rashes, warts, verruca’s)

Mouth and throat conditions (cold sores, ulcers, sore throat) 

There is also an additional list of some new conditions that Pharmacy First can now prescribe for :

What conditions are not suitable to be referred to Pharmacy First?

Children under the age of one year

Immunosuppressed patients

Severe Symptoms

Pregnant patients

Symptoms or conditions that have lasted for more than 3 weeks.

Has not responded to over-the-counter medication.

For UTI criteria age between 16-64 not pregnant diabetic or had antibiotics in the last 3 week. Males excluded you will need to contact Castle Medical Group to speak to a GP.

What happens when I am referred to Pharmacy First

The referral from the GP practice will share details with the Clinical Pharmacist about your minor illness.

You will need to contact the pharmacy ideally within 1 hour following your referral.  The pharmacy will then arrange a face-to-face appointment or a web cam consultation with the Clinical Pharmacist.  The pharmacy will aim to consult with you on the same day, however the pharmacist will advise if this is not possible. 

You will be asked about your medical history and current symptoms in the same way which a GP practice clinician would ask about them.

The pharmacist will then provide you with advice and prescribe medication to you should they feel it is appropriate.

What happens if Pharmacy First cannot treat my Illness?

If the Clinical Pharmacist feels that you need to be seen by your GP practice urgently then they will call or send the referral back to us to ensure that you are seen.  You may also be referred to us to arrange a non-urgent follow up appointment with a GP practice clinician.

Do I need an account to book online?

Yes, we recommend signing up for the NHS app in the first instance as the identification checks are carried out online during the set up process. 

Alternatively, you can apply for access to SystmOnline which is the online solution offered by our clinical system provider.  Please email the practice at: Castlemedicalgroup.noreply@nhs.net to request an application form.

I cannot find the clinician that I want to book with

We are starting to release appointments for our Advanced Nurse Practitioners and our Registrar Doctors so it could be that we haven’t released appointments for the clinician you wish to book with yet.  Further clinician appointment slots, including our partner GP’s will be released over the course of the next few months.

The appointments offered online are pre-bookable slots and do get booked very quickly.  Our advice is to check online as soon as you know you need to book an appointment.

Your medical care is better managed by being consistent and seeing the same clinician each time for your specific medical problem so if the clinician you wish to book with is not available online then please call our Patient Services Advisors on 01530 414131 and they will be able to help you.

Do I have to give a reason for booking an appointment?

You will be offered the opportunity to give a reason for attending during the process of booking your appointment.  The clinicians at the practice would be grateful if you could state a reason so that they can ensure you are booked in with the most appropriate clinician for your circumstance.

If you omit a reason, you will be contacted by the practice to discuss the reason for attending the appointment. 

Is there any criteria I need to follow when booking an appointment?

We would be grateful if you could select ‘What type of appointment do I need?’ in the NHS app or please read the supporting information in the yellow banner before booking your appointment if you are using SystmOnline.  This will give you an advice regarding the type of appointment you are booking or advice on the clinician you are booking with.

Prior to confirming your appointment, you will be asked to confirm that you have read this supporting information. 

I already have an appointment booked and I have been advised to book another one.  Am I allowed to book this online?

Yes, you are allowed to have a total of 2 appointments booked at any one time.

Can I book on behalf of someone else?

An appointment cannot be booked by someone else if the patient is aged 16 years or over.  Patients aged 16 years and over will require their own online access to be able to book an appointment.

When are online appointments released?

There is no set time for the release of online appointments.  Once our clinical rotas have been decided the online appointment slots are made available.

Can I cancel an appointment I no longer need?

Yes please!  We would encourage you to cancel your appointment as soon as possible! 

You can do this via the NHS app, SystmOnline or by emailing the practice at Castlemedicalgroup.noreply@nhs.net up to 1 hour before the appointment time which the minimum amount of time the system allows.  This will ensure that your appointment time can be allocated to another patient who requires an appointment.

If you fail to arrive for an appointment, you no longer need, this will trigger our Did Not Attend (DNA) process.  If you persistently do not attend, the facility to book appointments online will be removed from your online account.

Appointments are at a premium and every missed appointment could have been offered to another patient if we had been notified within a reasonable timeframe. 

Please see the links below to view the DNA statistics so far for 2024:

October 2024

September 2024

August 2024

April 2024

March 2024

February 2024

January 2024

We're trying to manage our demand and capacity, and one way we’re aiming to do this is by working with all patients that fail to attend appointments. If you would like support with this, please contact a Patient Services Lead.
 
Please be aware, that if multiple DNAs occur within a six-month period, we may restrict your access in the following ways:

• Only being able to pre-book one appointment at a time
• Revoking access to online booking
• We will ask you to confirm your attendance the day before to all future appointments and failure to do so will result in the appointment being cancelled without prior notice

Please ring for home visits between 08:00 and 11:00, if possible, so the GP will be able to see you on their rounds and not have to make a special journey. These visits will be with an allocated GP. All home visit requests after 11:00 will be with the on-call duty GP. 

Our staff are happy to give home care when appropriate. Most ill patients and their carers prefer care to take place in the home rather than in hospital. 

The team is dedicated to providing the best possible standard of care at home but it comes with a lot of disadvantages. Facilities at home can never be as good as the practices and travelling takes up time which could be spent seeing patients in surgery. 

For these reasons the Doctors have asked staff to only arrange home visits when the patient is too ill to come to the Practice. 

Follow this link for more guidelines on our home visits.

If you wish to speak to a clinician but don't need to see them in person you can ask our Patient Services Advisors to arrange for them to call you, rather than attending the practice. The clinicians usually do their ringbacks during and at the end of the morning surgery. Therefore, if you would like a ring back please call before 11:00.

These are particularly suitable for: 

• Prescription queries 
• Continuing sickness certificates - e.g., you still feel unwell after seeing a clinician earlier in the week, but don't need to see them again in person 
• Results of investigations - the Patient Services Advisors can give you results if they are normal and no action is required, however, other cases might require an appointment to see the requesting clinician. If you prefer, you can ask for them to ring and discuss your results.

Sometimes, the clinician may decide they would like to see you in person after speaking to you on the phone, in these cases, they will arrange an appointment with you.

Please note that this is unrelated to the BT Ring Back service.