Two clinics are now conducting all initial appointments by telephone in effort to stop spread of Covid-19
Two Coventry GPs' surgeries are no longer conducting initial face-to-face appointments in order to "safeguard" patients and staff from coronavirus.
Moseley Avenue Surgery and Paradise Medical Centre now require consultations to take place over the phone before any physical attendance by patients.
Moseley Avenue confirmed this afternoon (Tuesday, March 10) that it has taken the move to "safeguard the health, safety and welfare of patients, staff and the wider community".
All surgeries in England have been advised by NHS England to consult online, by phone or video link in order to tackle the spread of coronavirus.
The triage system has been drawn up to reduce the risk of an infected person attending a clinic, while easing the pressure on surgeries.
Though the step has not become a blanket policy at 7,000 GP surgeries in England, some have already taken the measure of their own accord.
Moseley Avenue Surgery, in Coudon, confirmed yesterday (March 10) that it is no longer accepting face-to-face appointments as a first port of call.
In a statement, the surgery said: "In order to safeguard the health, safety and welfare of patients, staff and the wider community we have moved to an initial telephone appointment for all patients.
"The surgery is still open and patients can access all its services. Many surgeries operate a Dr First triage as part of their routine practice, therefore we are taking these steps as a precautionary measure.
"At this current time there have been no confirmed cases of COVID-19 at Moseley Avenue Surgery."
A similar measure has been put in place at Paradise Medical Centre in Foleshill.
Operations manager Zafar Khan said: "I am rolling out a temporary contingency plan whereby we will only offer telephone triage appointments for patients. After the telephone conversation, if the clinician decides that the patient needs to be physically examined, we will ask them to come to surgery the same day.
"The whole idea is to stop potential virus carrier patients from travelling to surgery and spreading the virus to the public and medical staff."
Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2020 11:00 pm
