General Information
Check back here regularly to find out what’s going on at Eastwood Group Practice.
Eastwood Group Practice is part of the West Locality Group in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex.
The West Locality Group is a collection of 6 like-minded Practices that provide Primary Care Services to the population known as the West Locality within Southend-on-Sea CCG.
The Group Members are :
- The Group Members are :
- Highlands Surgery
- Dr Krishnan
- Eastwood Group Practice
- Pall Mall Surgery
- The Leigh Surgery
Each Practice maintains it’s own identity and legal entity, but has chosen to work in collaboration with other local Practices in the aim to develop a range of sustainable and quality services.
In the future new services may be delivered by your Practice or from one or more of the above locations.
If you would like to know more about the collaboration please contact Julie Styles via email:
GP Net Earnings
As part of our contractual requirement NHS England requires that the Net Earnings of Doctors employed in this practice is published on our website. You should be aware that the prescribed method for calculating earnings could be misleading, as they are only based on an average for a full-time Doctor at 9 sessions and does not take into account how many actual hours the Doctor spends working in the practice or visiting patients. The average figure should not be used to form a judgment about GP’s earning or make any comparison with any other practice. The average earning for a GP working at Eastwood Group Practice in the financial year 2017 to 2018 before Tax, National Insurance and Pension Contributions is £82,833.00.
Special Medications
There are some medications which require monitoring (usually on an annual basis), in order to prevent toxicity. Common medications which require monitoring include, thyroxine, lithium, carbamazepine and phenytoin. If you take any of these medications you will require an annual blood test, and in the case of lithium a 6 monthly test.
Appointments
We offer both, book on the day appointments and book in advance appointments, bookable over the following 4 to 6 weeks. We have a high ratio of appointments in relation to our patient population, helped by having three branches, but we acknowledge that it is not always possible to see the doctor you want at the time you want. All doctors work equally at our three branches, Belfairs, Kent Elms and Rayleigh Road, and you can be seen at any site once you are a registered patient. Our book on the day appointments open at 08:00, and are distributed on a first-come, first-serve basis, so it is important to call early. Book in advance appointments should be made in the afternoon in order to free the phone lines in the morning. We have appointments that become available at 9:30am at all Branches for the following day. We also offer emergency clinics everyday in the morning and afternoon at all Branches.
Extended Hours
We offer extended clinics on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from 5pm to 8.30pm.
The Belfairs Branch on Monday until 8.30pm.
The Rayleigh Road Branch on Wednesday and Thursdays from 5pm to 8.30pm.
We also offer nurse’s appointments on the Monday and Thursday’s clinic’s. These appointments are intended for patients whom find it difficult to make surgeries during normal working hours for routine scheduled appointments. If you have access to the internet you will be able to book and view your appointments in advance through SystmOnline.
Out of Hours
Between the hours of 6.30pm and 8.00am the following morning, there exists a triaging medical service. This service is designed for emergencies and offers local GP appointments at Southend Hospital, Basildon, Brentwood and Grays. You will be automatically connected to this service by dialling the usual branch number. If your condition is life threatening you should call 999, otherwise the best place for information is NHS direct on 0845 4647.
Home Visits
We offer home visits, but these are intended for patients whom are physically unable to get to the their branch such as the elderly, frail and bedbound. They are not intended for patients whom it is inconvenient to get to the surgery. They are a huge resource on time, and commonly take up the equivalent of 6 normal clinical appointments. Home visits should be booked before 10:30am.
Prescriptions
For repeat prescriptions please allow 48 hours for the scripts to be reviewed and signed. We do not accept requests for medications by phone, and therefore, requests should be hand-written or emailed. You must clearly write your name, date of birth, the medications and dosage that you require. If you have access to the internet you will be able to order prescriptions online using SystmOnline. We regularly review your medications and sometimes we may stop medications, or ask you to speak to a doctor about a certain item. We review your medications annually, and you will be invited to speak or see a doctor regarding your medications.
Choose and Book
We offer Choose and Book, which allows you to choose where you would be like to be seen. Time and convenience are often the driving factors behind patient choice and this is often best served by the local NHS services, but please inform the doctor if you wish to be seen by a specific health provider.