Tuesday 27^th of February 2024

The Practice is closed for essential training from 1pm.

We re-open on Wednesday morning at 8am

If you have a life threatening emergency, please call 999 to contact the ambulance service. 

999 should only be called for an emergency situation.

If you need to contact a GP with an urgent medical need that cannot wait until we re-open, 

please telephone the surgery and your call will be transferred to our out of hours service.

Thank you for your understanding and support.

PHASE are fundraising to continue their work supporting local communities, please search Big Give Christmas Challenge to donate.

Practical Help Achieving Self-Empowerment (PHASE) Worldwide was founded in 2005 and empowers isolated communities through integrated and sustainable programmes in health, education and livelihoods.

Dr Daniels recently spent time working with the team in Nepal.

“The Phase Nepal team in Jair deliver vital health and social care in their community, with a twin approach combining preventative and reactive health care and technical support for farmers to improve crop production and land management . Their work is primary care at its best, with staff offering child protection training to local community leaders, practical sessions in creating superfoods, organising village cleaning and outreach clinics to monitor and manage malnutrition, alongside regular medical activities such as antenatal and post natal care and drop in clinics for illness and injury. The team live in the community and are highly valued by the locals and every opportunity is taken to offer proactive and reactive health care. In terms of impact for each pound spent, this is as good as it gets."

www.biggive.org/christmas-challenge/  

TALKWORKS is now offering a FREE 6 week course for those experiencing physical and emotional side effects as a result of the menopause. 

The 6 week CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) or Menopause course aims to provide information, strategies and techniques to reduce the impact of symptoms of menopause and perimenopause. The weekly sessions are 2 hours long and will include time for participants to share experiences of their symptoms, as well as learning how we can apply CBT techniques to improve our own symptoms.

The courses will be running for 6 weeks from the following dates:

• Thursday 13 July at 17:00
• Tuesday 12 September at 15:00
• Monday 16th October at 17:00
• Tuesday 14th November at 10:00

If you feel this course could be helpful to you, please call our team today on 0300 555 3344 to book your free place.

Ahead of the August bank holiday, we encourage all patients to order your prescriptions in plenty of time allowing us to process them for you. 

Patients in Devon have had their say on local access to general practice in the latest national survey, published by NHS England last week. 

The results show that almost 8 in 10 people are satisfied with their local practice, some of the highest achievement seen across the country.

Dr Nigel Acheson, chief medical officer at NHS Devon, said: “Our Devon GP practices have performed incredibly well considering the extreme challenges they continue to face.

"The current demand for GP appointments is way above that seen pre-pandemic levels, and there has been significant growth in the appointments that are now offered to patients."

The Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is looking for people to join the Trust’s Council of Governors by nominating themselves to be a Public Governor.

The Council of Governors plays a vitally important role by providing a direct connection between the Trust’s Board of Directors and its staff, patients, the community it serves and its partners. They appoint the Trust’s Non-Executive Directors (NEDs) and hold them to account, which includes observing their work and involvement in the appraisal process.

Governors have a wide range of experiences and backgrounds, but what they share is a real passion for helping to shape local health services in a way that best meets the needs of patients and the public.

You can nominate yourself from Tuesday 18 July. The closing date is 5pm on Wednesday 2 August. Find out more about the role and how to apply: https://royaldevon.nhs.uk/about-us/foundation-trust-and-membership/council-of-governors/governor-elections/

Before nominations open, the Trust is holding two information webinars. Those who are interested in becoming a Governor can find out more about the role, hear from some of the current Governors, and ask any questions.

The sessions will be held on Monday 10 July at 12 noon-1pm and Monday 17 July at 4.30pm-5.30pm.

5th July 2023 marks 75 years of the National Health Service and we want you to help us celebrate this major milestone. 

From Britain’s first kidney transplant in 1960, to Europe’s first liver transplant in 1968. From the world’s first CT scan on a patient in 1971, revolutionising the way doctors examine the body, to the world’s first test-tube baby born in 1978. Large-scale vaccination programmes protected children from whooping cough, measles and tuberculosis, and in 1999 the meningitis C vaccine was offered nationally in a world first.

The NHS has delivered huge medical advances, including the world’s first liver, heart and lung transplant in 1987, pioneering new treatments, such as bionic eyes and, in more recent times, the world’s first rapid whole genome sequencing service for seriously ill babies and children.

As some patients may already be aware, Dr Harris has needed to take some emergency leave from the practice. 

You may be contacted by our reception team regarding an appointment or may need to be seen by another GP during this time. 

Message from Dr Harris

I am currently away from the surgery due to a family emergency.

Thank you for your understanding and patience during this time. I am very grateful to my colleagues at Townsend House for all their support and hard work reorganising appointments and clinics enabling me to be with my family at this time.

NHS England is encouraging all eligible patients to have their spring booster vaccination.

Friday 30th June is the last chance for those yet to have their first or second covid vaccine dose to come forward. After this, the NHS is moving to a targeted seasonal offer for those at increased risk. The National Booking System will close from 29th June. 

We are delighted to have been rated as EXCELLENT by the RD&E NHS Foundation Trust for the quality of our GP Placements.  We value our role as a GP trainee placement practice and enjoy providing supervision and observation opportunities to the potential GPs of the future!

Protect is an innovative online research study for people aged 40 and over, run by the University of Exeter and King's College London.  It aims to undersatnd what happens to the brain as we age and to conduct important new research into how we might protect the brain from conditions such as dementia.

Protect is gathering information from 50,000 adults in the UK including brain health, lifestyle, medical information and DNA samples.

Who can take part?  Protect is open to anyone aged 40 and over without a diagnosis of dementia.  You need to have regular access to a computer and the internet and be able to speak English.  You can take part in the study at hoom, online, for free.  You can register at www.protectstudy.org.uk.

Ahead of the May bank holidays, we encourage all patients to order your prescriptions in plenty of time allowing us to process them for you effectively prior to the bank holidays throughout May. 

We would like to thank all of our patients and people in the community who have bought a book from our surgery as all funds go to Hospiscare.

We recently have raised £258 for Hospiscare. 

We are currently have a new telephone system installed. We apologise in advance for any issues as a result of this and would like to reassure patients that we are working to minimise any impact caused. Please bear with us!

Ahead of the Easter bank holiday weekend, we encourage all patients to order your prescriptions in plenty of time allowing us to process them for you effectively prior to the bank holiday. 

Recent data shows that Devon’s GP practices have seen the biggest improvement in access since the start of the covid-19 pandemic and CQC inspectors rate Devon practices highly.

The number of face-to-face appointments has also risen dramatically since the height of the pandemic, when GP practices were required to reduce the risk of infection spreading by increasing their remote consultations through online and phone triage. More than 65% of appointments in general practice in Devon are now face-to-face, in line with the national average.

This means there are now 8% more appointments available locally since before the covid-19 pandemic.

Dr Harris added: “The latest CQC ratings demonstrate the excellent GP services we have in Devon.  With 97% of our practices receiving the highest ratings by the CQC, local people can be confident that they are receiving the very good care.”

Unfortunately, at Townsend House we have not been given any vaccines to offer our patients for the COVID Spring Boosters. If you have an enquiry, regarding your vaccine - please contact devon vaccination support. 

Email: d-icb.devonvaccinationsupport@nhs.net 

Telephone: 01752 398 836 

Alternatively, you can call NHS - 119

You can also see where your nearest clinic is located which is offering the Spring Booster vaccine at: COVID 19 Vaccines - Local Sites 

Pholcodine-containing cough and cold medicines are being withdrawn from sale as a precaution and will no longer be available from pharmacies. 

If you are taking a cough medicine (including tablets and syrups), check the packaging, label or information leafle to see if pholcodine is a listed ingredient – if it is, and you have any questions, you can talk to your pharmacist who can suggest a different medicine suitable for you. 

There is no increased risk of allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis, with other allergens following pholcodine use and the absolute risk in patients who have used pholcodine is very small, but patients concerned should talk to a pharmacist.

For further information, please visit: https://www.gov.uk/drug-safety-update

Unfortunately, due to the power cut in Seaton we are experiencing issues with our telephone lines. 

We are working to get our phone lines back working as soon as possible, in the meantime if you wish to contact us urgently and are unable to get through on the phone, please contact us online.

PHONE LINES ARE BACK OPEN. APOLOGIES FOR ANY INCONVENIECE CAUSED. 

Townsend House has joined up with CPRD which is a government organisation to provide anonymised patient data for research to improve patient and public health. 

This is completed on a opt out basis and you can opt out by speaking with your GP. 

Unfortunately Beer Surgery will be closed today - Thursday 26th and Friday 27th January. 

All appointments should have been rescheduled for this date and we do apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused. 

The surgery will re-open on Monday 30th January. If you have any enquires, please call Townsend House on 01297 20616. 

We are now re-starting our Patient Participation Group at Townsend House. 

A Patient Participation Group (PPG) is a group of people who are patients of the surgery and want to help it work as well as it can for patients, doctors and staff. If you would like to join our group or would like some more information, please contact the surgery on 01297 20616. 

Our next meeting is on Wednesday 22nd February 2023 at 6.30pm. 

We hope this holiday season gives you a lot of joy and a pleasant time with family and friends.

Our Beer Surgery is closed over the Christmas period however please see below the opening dates and times for Townsend House:                                              

Friday 23rd Dec - 08.00-18.00                                  

Christmas Eve - CLOSED                                          

Christmas Day - CLOSED                                          

Boxing Day - CLOSED                                               

Tuesday 27th Dec - CLOSED                                      

Wednesday 28th Dec -  08.00-18.00                         

Thursday 29th -  08.00-18.00                                    

Friday 30th -  08.00-18.00                                        

New Years Eve - CLOSED                                                     

New Years Day - CLOSED                                                       

Monday 2nd Jan - CLOSED                                                    

All services open as normal following Tuesday 3rd January. 

We are holding a raffle to raise funds for Seaton Community Larder until Monday 19th December. 

Raffle tickets are £1 each and funds raised will help to support the larder in the community. 

Donations will be hugely appreictaed. Please contact reception for more information, or if you would like to donate any items to the Community Larder. 

Please visit the webiste for more information and how we can all work to save food waste. 

https://www.savefoodhub.org.uk/why

Beer Walrond Surgery will be closed on Wednesday 28th, Thursday 29th and Friday 30th of Decemeber. 

During this time Townsend House Medical Centre will still be open with their usual Hours. 

Should you require non-emergency out of hours GP advice, please continue to call the Out of Hours service (telephone 111) provided by Practice Plus Group or you could use the NHS 111 Online serive by Clicking Here. 

In an emergency, always call 999. 

We hope you have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year! 

You may have recently seen in the media the guidance for parents and carers to be aware of symptoms of Group A Strep in children. 

The latest public guidance from the UKHSA is available here.

 The current guidance for parents and carers is to contact NHS 111 or your GP if:

• your child is feeding or eating much less than normal
• your child has had a dry nappy for 12 hours or more or shows other signs of dehydration
• your baby is under 3 months and has a temperature of 38°C, or is older than 3 months and has a temperature of 39°C or higher
• your baby feels hotter than usual when you touch their back or chest, or feels sweaty
• your child is very tired or irritable

 Call 999 or go to A&E if:

• your child is having difficulty breathing – you may notice grunting noises or their tummy sucking under their ribs
• there are pauses when your child breathes
• your child’s skin, tongue or lips are blue
• your child is floppy and will not wake up or stay awake

Aiming to provide parents with information on where they can find support and information around breastfeeding and can help mothers to access timely support with feeding problems. Ongoing breastfeeding is recommended where possible for a variety of evidence based health benefits to both mother and baby. Breastfeeding and breastmilk is recognised as a source of nutrition, protection and comfort and in Devon Public Health Nursing we support parents who choose to breastfeed to do so for up to two years and beyond. We also fully recognise that feeding difficulties can be a challenge and we are committed to ensuring that consistent information on how to access support around infant feeding is available to all parents. 

Please Click Here for  the Devon Under 5's Website in supporting infant feeding.

We are delighted to be working in partnership with Food Save Beer. 

The aim is to enable people to play their part in reducing food waste and perhaps reduce their own food bills too! Food Save Beer volunteers collect perfectly good in-date food from supermarkets and local suppliers and then offer this to the Beer community. If you would like to take part, come to Beer Congregational Church Hall on Mondays 12-1.30pm or Fridays 6-7.30pm to pick up food in person or contact Food Save Beer to request a delivery for those who are unable to come to the hall themselves.

Please see leaflets in Townsend House and Beer reception for more information.

Click Here for more information on Food Save, reducing food poverty and waste. 

Unfortunately Beer Surgery will be closed today (Tuesday 29th November), as part of the Electric Vehicle (EV) charging point installation at Beer Central Car Park, there will be no access in or out of the car park therefore no access to the Surgery. Work will be going on for a number of weeks in the car park, however, disruption will be kept to a minimum and the car park will remain open for the majority of the work allowing us to re-open as usual.  

If you had an appointment booked and have not yet been contacted please call the Surgery. 

We will re-open tomorrow. 

Beer Pharmacy will now be open on Saturdays from 9am until 1pm.

We thank you for your patience and support for the Pharmacy during this hard time.

Another big thank you from the Surgery for your patience over the past couple months during this difficult time. 

Operation Rudoph Honiton is set out to help ensure anybody who may be finding it hard at Christmas. Relieving pressure on individuals and families who may find the Christmas season difficult financially or socially. The help provided by Operation Rudolph is open to anyone who feels they may need it.  

Please Click Here for more information. 

Unfortunately due to staff illness we have had to close Beer Surgery today on Friday the 14th of October and Monday the 17th of October.

If you had an appointment booked and have not yet been contacted please call the Surgery.

We hope to be back up and running as soon as possible but please check back for further updates soon. 

On Tuesday the 20th of September we were pleased to see Beer Walrond Surgery re-open with the help of Annie Boalch to cut the ribbon. The Surgery will be open weekday mornings and Wednesday and Thursday afternoons, plus there are future plans to increase the support from the Practice Nurses to help deliver the best care for the village. 

Many guests including Annie Boalch, representatives from Total Renewable Solutions, Northcott Builders and Clinton devon Estates were all at the re-opening. 

Over the last six months we have been investing in new windows, doors, security measures and a fully renovated exterior in order to make it a more comfortable and energy efficent space for our patients and staff. We are very proud of our completed renovations and want to say a big Thank You to everyone who was involved in this process. We hope you all agree it looks fantastic and we look forward to having it up and running again.

The highlight of the renovations is the move from inefficient electric heating to solar panels and an air source heat pump. Dr Dove states "We are delighted to have completed the environmental improvements with Total Renewable Solutions, and also to have taken the oppertunity to refresh and renovate the Beer Surgery with Northcott Building Contractors. We look forward to seeing Beer and Branscome villagers in the surgery."

We just wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone who donated and shared the day with us raising money for Hospiscare on Tuesday the 27th of September. We are pleased to announce that the Cake Sale raised £97 and the second hand book sale raised a total of £120! We will continue with our book sales throughout the year and would appreciate all of your kind donations. Thank you all from the team at Townsend. 

Please be aware we have had a problem with our phone lines at Townsend House this morning.

We are now back online, but experiencing a high volume of catch up phone calls so if you are able to use our Online Consultation tool or email at d-icb.townsendenquires@nhs.net it would be very much appreciated. 

Sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused you. 

Just a reminder that Townsend House Medical Centre will be Closed today due to the national bank holiday for Queen Elizabeth II's State Funeral.

If you believe your symptoms are life threatening please call 999 immediatley.

For non-urgent symptoms please dial 111.

For all other enquiries please call the surgery when we re-open on the 20th September. 

It's Flu vaccination season again and this year Townsend House is providing the Flu vaccinations in weekly blocks, Monday to Friday both AM and PM. Our first week of vaccinations will be from Monday the 17th of October through to Friday the 21st of October at Seaton Hospital, this week of flu clinics will prioritise the Over 65s and invitations will be sent out shortly.
The following clinic is planned for the Under 65s and the dates are as follows; Monday the 31st of October to Friday the 4th of November. These flu clincis will also be taking place at Seaton hospital and again invitations will start to be sent out shortly.

Click Here to Visit our Flu and Covid-19 Clinics. 

Our September vaccine delivery is to be prioritised for Priority 1 patient groups these include Care home residents for older people and staff working in these care homes. We have been instructed that these groups are to be vaccinated first.
In addition to this, we are working on providing Covid-19 clinics for Saturday the 24th and Sunday the 25th of September here at Townsend House Medical Centre. Invites to our eligible patients will be sent out shortly.

Following this we are looking to host clinics every Monday and Friday here at Townsend House in priority order and when the vaccines are provided to us. We will be using the Moderna vaccine for all of our Covid-19 Clinics.
We will be updating the website with all of our Covid clinic dates as they are added, please check back regularly. 

Click Here to Visit our Flu and Covid-19 Clinics. 

The out of hours service (telephone 111) provided by Devon Doctors is changing from 27^th September with a new company, Practice Plus Group, taking over the contract.

Should you require non-emergency out of hours GP advice, please continue to call 111 or use the NHS 111 Online by Clicking Here. In an emergency, always call 999.

We are delighted that Beer Walrond Surgery is due to re-open and provide services to the community. 

Over the last six months we have been investing in new windows, doors, security measures and a fully renovated exterior in order to make it a more comfortable and energy efficent space for our patients and staff. We are very proud of our completed renovations and want to say a big Thank You to everyone who was involved in this process. We hope you all agree it looks fantastic and we look forward to having it up and running again.

We will be officially re-opening the surgery on the 20th of September at 1pm and have invited guests including Lady Caroline Fowles who opened the original building, plus representatives from Total Renewable Solutions, Northcott Builders and Clinton Devon Estates. 

We are looking forward to advertising our Flu and Covid clinics at Beer surgery soon. 

On Tuesday the 27th of September we will be hosting a Hospiscare Day here at Townsend House Medical Centre, this will include a Cake Sale of donations from the Staff at Townsend House. There will also be a second hand book sale, with many patients already making the most of the second hand books we have to offer we are hoping that you can come down and enjoy a cake... or two! 

Hospiscare is the hospice charity providing specialist care to patients and their families living with life-limiting illnesses across Exeter, Mid and East Devon. Click Here for more information. 

Everyone at Townsend House Medical Centre has been deeply saddened by the passing of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. She was greatly respected and admired by us all. Our heartfelt condolences go out to King Charles III and the entrie Royal Family at this very difficult time. 

"Monday 19 September, the date of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s State Funeral, will be a national bank holiday."

Townsend House Medical Surgery will be closed on Monday the 19th of September due to the State Funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

By now everyone who may have had an appointment due for Monday the 19th of September should have been called and the appointment should have been rearranged, however, if you havent heard from the surgery please contact us on 01297 20616.

"The bank holiday will take place across the United Kingdom."

For More information on Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II: Mourning Guidence, Click Here.