Welcome to Ivel Medical Centre 

Ivel Medical Centre in Biggleswade aims to provide the highest quality healthcare to patients. Our doctors, nurses and all our other staff are dedicated to offering a professional service and this surgery website will help us to keep all our patients up to date with news and information about our practice.

As well as a source of information about our practice, the staff and the services we provide, we hope you will use this website as a useful resource for other health-related information. Please have a look around and do send us some feedback if you like. We can use  your ideas to improve our online services and further develop the content of this site.

CORONAVIRUS

The NHS in Bedfordshire and Public Health England (PHE) are extremely well prepared for outbreaks of new infectious diseases. The NHS has put in place measures to ensure the safety of all patients and NHS staff while also ensuring services are available to the public as normal.

 The risk to the general public is moderate. If you have arrived back to the UK from mainland China, Thailand, Japan, Republic of Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia or Macau within 14 days, follow the specific advice for returning travellers.

 Anyone who has travelled to China or places listed above in the last 14 days and develops symptoms of cough or fever or shortness of breath, should immediately:

 Stay indoors and avoid contact with other people as you would with the flu

• Call NHS 111 to inform them of your recent travel to the country

 Information for the public is available at gov.uk/coronavirus.

 Like the common cold, coronavirus infection usually occurs through close contact with a person with novel coronavirus via cough and sneezes or hand contact. A person can also be infected by touching contaminated surfaces if they do not wash their hands.

 The risk of being in close contact with a person with coronavirus or contaminated surfaces is very low at the current time, as members of the public who have visited Wuhan, Hubei province, China are currently in isolation.

 Testing of suspected coronavirus cases is carried out in line with strict regulations. This means that suspected cases are kept in isolation, away from public areas of the GP practice and returned home also in isolation. Any equipment that come into contact with suspected cases are thoroughly cleaned as appropriate. Specific guidance has also been shared with NHS staff to help safeguard them and others. Patients can be reassured that their safety is a top priority, and are encouraged to attend all appointments as usual.

 Everyone is being reminded to follow Public Health England advice to:

 Always carry tissues with you and use them to catch your cough or sneeze. Then bin the tissue, and wash your hands, or use a sanitiser gel.

• Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after using public transport. Use a sanitiser gel if soap and water are not available.

• Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.

• Avoid close contact with people who are unwell.

 You can find the latest information and advice from Public Health England at www.gov.uk/coronavirus.

EXTENDED ACCESS TO GP APPOINTMENTS 

Appointments with a GP or a Practice Nurse are now available in the evenings and weekends for all patients registered with the Ivel Medical Centre, and other Practices within Central Bedfordshire and Bedford areas.  These are called "Extended Access Appointments".  Practices are working together to provide these appointments to increase access to healthcare at times that are convenient to patients.  They may be evening appointments between 6.30pm and 8pm or weekend appointments, both Saturday and Sunday mornings.

Appointments for this service can be made by telephoning the surgery, you may be offered an appointment at this Practice, or another Practice within the area, and it may be made with a GP or a Practice Nurse from another Practice.  The reception team will confirm all the information, the time of the appointment and the location at the time of booking.  You will receive a text confirmation of the appointment.  These appointments are not currently available to book online. These appointments are in addition to the normal surgery appointments here at the Ivel Medical Centre.

 Staff Vacancies

The Ivel Medical Centre is currently recruiting for a Salaried GP.  Please visit NHS Jobs for more information.

https://www.jobs.nhs.uk/xi/vacancy/?vac_ref=915868761

Walk in Centres Locally

There are walk in centres in St Neots and Bedford.  They provide medical treatment for urgent but non emergency issues.  You do not need to make an appointment to use these services. 

St Neots Health Centre provides traditional doctor and nurse services as well as a walk-in service for patients that are not registered with their surgery.  The centre is open 12 hours per day, Monday to Friday, including bank holidays, as well as being open on both Saturdays and Sundays.  They are closed Easter Sunday and Christmas Day. The centre is centrally located within the town with both bus and train routes.  The surgery team includes doctors, nurse practitioners, practice nurses, receptionists, community nurses, health visitors and midwives services. 

Bedford Urgent Treatment Centre, is located next to the A and E Department in the Cauldwell Centre at Bedford Hospital.  The centre is open from 11am - 11pm, 7 days a week, 365 days a year and will offer same day access to GP and Nurse appointments.  The UTC is for when patients need urgent medical treatment but it is not an emergency.  The UTC is open to all those living in and visiting Bedfordshire.

Electronic Prescription Service

The Practice transferred to EPS with effect from 01.10.18.

This will mean that if you are registered with a Pharmacy, your prescriptions will be sent electronically to them.  It will make the process easier and more efficient for the patients, the Pharmacies and the Practice.  If you do not already have a nominated Pharmacy, you can discuss the process with them, and register.  You can still come to the surgery to pick up your prescription yourself if you prefer.

Important information regarding your repeat prescriptions!

Community pharmacies will soon no longer be able to order medication on your behalf (exclusions apply for vulnerable patients)

Patients are requested to take responsibility for ordering their own medication to ensure safe and responsible ordering, reduce errors, and to prevent unnecessary medicine waste.

There are various ways in which you can order your regular medications, for example -

• on-line - via SystmOne, (you will need to register to be issued with a username and a password)
• by dropping the prescription request into the surgery 
• by sending the prescription request in the post.
• Requests for repeat medication CANNOT be taken over the telephone

If you use a nominated pharmacy to collect and supply,your medication, this will continue. Please allow seven days from when you request your repeat prescription to when you collect it from your pharmacy.

For more information, contact the surgery and speak to the reception team.

New Minor Eye Condition service

This is a free service offered at participating opticians for patients who have a minor eye condition. This is to save GP appointments and prevent A&E attendances. Please see the page on the Clinics & Services section for more information about the conditions that can be seen by this service and which opticians are participating.

Non-Emergency Patient Transport Service

To contact this service please phone 0208 045 4254 or 0330 1331 1027.

For further help and information click here or see the NEPTS page in the Further Information section.

When the surgery is closed:

For medical assistance out of hours please phone NHS 111.

Save time – do it online!

GP online services gives patients the option to book appointments, request repeat prescriptions and view their GP records, using their computer, tablet or smartphone rather than having to phone or visit their practice.

Online services complement the existing ways patients can access appointments, prescriptions and their records. Our practices already have the facility to offer online access to records and transactional services for our patients.

If you are not already registered for GP online services please let a member of the practice team know you would like to use this service.

Would you recommend our Practice?

Please tell us what you think by going to the Friends and Family Test here and answering one quick question.

Important Notice for Patients on Warfarin

Due to a change in prescribing regulations you must now bring your yellow book to all medication review, Diabetic and Heart Clinic appointments. You must also bring your yellow book when collecting prescriptions from our Dispensary.

We cannot issue your prescription without having seen the book. 

You are now able to book blood test appointments via the Access the Appointment system icon below. A limited number per clinic will be available to book online.

Urgent Care - Public Consultation

A public consultation is underway about the proposal to change the way we provide urgent care. The proposal is to close the Walk-in Centre at Putnoe, Bedford and replace the service with an Urgent Treatment Centre sited at Bedford Hospital.  The CCG is very keen to involve as many local people as possible and hear their views.  Take the survey via the link below:

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/PutnoeWalkIn