2023 News

Dispensary Telephone Line

In order to ensure patients receive their medication on or as near to their collection date over the imminent bank holiday period, we will be restricting the opening hours of our telephone service.
For the next two weeks, our telephone operating hours will be 13:30 – 16:30.
The telephone line is for medication queries and medication ordering only. Please do not call to query if your prescription is ready. Also, please do not contact Reception as alternative, except if it is a genuine emergency related to medication. Any non-emergency callers will be asked to call the Pharmacy line during the operating hours.
Dependent upon the results of this trial, we may alter our telephone operating hours on a permanent basis. Any changes will be communicated in advance.
Thank you.

Important Information National Emergency Alert 23rd April

We have been made aware that the UK government will be carrying out a national test of the UK Emergency Alerts system on Sunday 23rd April at 3pm.
A siren-like noise will sound from the phone with instructions to respond to. This will sound even if the phone is on silent. The test will go to everyone, regardless of whether the government have the phone number or not. https://www.gov.uk/alerts
Our concern is for people who may be living with an abusive partner, or in similar situations, in which they may have a hidden safety phone. This may expose the phone to the perpetrator and place a number of people at increased risk. Refuge have released a video on YouTube with instructions on how to turn these alerts off.

2023 COVID-19 Spring Booster Vaccination Programme

You may have seen on the news recently that there will be a 2023 COVID-19 Spring Booster Vaccination Campaign, available to patients in the following categories:

  • Residents in a care home for older adults
  • Adults aged 75 years and over
  • Individuals aged 5 years and over who are immunosuppressed

The national programme launches on Monday 3rd April focussing initially on the vaccination of care home residents. The programme will open up to the remaining eligible patients from Monday 17th April.

We are making the appropriate arrangements now to deliver the 2023 COVID-19 Spring Booster Vaccination Campaign, and will be sending letters of invitation to eligible patients within the next few weeks.

To keep call queue times down please do not contact the practice to enquire about your vaccination, be rest assured that you will receive your invitation in due course.

If you have any queries, please email our dedicated COVID-19 email address at woolpit.covid19queries@nhs.net

**Car Park – Important**

We are having some repairs and resurfacing carried out on the Health Centre car park between Thursday 9th and Saturday 11th February. During this time, there will be no vehicular access to the Health Centre car park. Alternative parking is located in the community car park at the rear of the Health Centre, which can be accessed via Old Stowmarket Road, turning right into Clay Pit Close and finally Beaker Place.

We are hopeful to have some marshalling in place, however this has not been confirmed.

Please note, these works are weather dependent.

Thank you.

Goodbye to Dr McCann

We bid a fond farewell to Dr Ben McCann who moved to Australia to work as a GP in Melbourne earlier this month.

He joined us 8 years ago as a GP Registrar and became a partner at the end of his training. His calm demeanour, and great sense of humour, will be much missed by all the staff and we are sure our patients will also miss his caring manner and excellent clinical skills.

We are sure his patients in Australia will not be long in discovering how lucky they are to have him.

We wish him the very best of luck in his career.

February 2023

Dr Armitage and Dr James

Dr Zohra Armitage joined us in preparation for Dr McCann retiring as a partner in October 2022. She will be familiar to many of you as she had been our regular locum for several years before joining us permanently.  Dr Armitage was previously a partner at Victoria Street Surgery  in Bury St Edmunds and has held various roles at our local commissioning board making her a highly experienced GP.

Her working Days will be Monday,  Wednesday afternoons and Fridays. We are very lucky to have her on the team and hope she is very happy here.

Dr James requires no introduction having been a non-partner GP here for several years. We are delighted that he is now part of the partnership team – he has made a slight adjustment to his working days in his new role and now works Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.

February 2023

Goodbye Dr White

We also are sadly saying goodbye to Dr White who has decided to join the medical staff at RAF Honnington as a civilian medical officer. She was a firm favourite of many patients and we know that she will also be greatly missed by them and staff alike.

February 2023

Welcome Dr Lucy Gerza

We are delighted to announce that Dr Gerza will be joining us in April 2023. She is currently a GP in Ely but has decided to move a little closer to home. We are very much looking forward to her joining us. We know that Ely’s loss will be Woolpit’s gain!

February 2023