We have still got flu vaccines in stock and will be giving them to eligible patients until the end of February.

We have sent flu invitations via the text messaging service if we have your mobile number recorded.

If you have a mobile number registered with the surgery, please make sure that it is up to date at all times.

NHS guidelines state that the following registered patients are eligible and it is recommended that they have a flu jab:

• Patients with the following conditions: Respiratory Disease (such as COPD or for certain Asthmatics), Heart Disease, Kidney Disease, Liver Disease, Neurological Disease (such as past history of a stroke), Diabetes, Immunosuppression
• All people aged 65 or over
• All pregnant women at any stage of pregnancy
• Health & Social Care Workers
• Carers
• Children who are 2, 3 or 4 years old (nasal flu vaccine)                      

WE STRONGLY ENCOURAGE ALL ELIGIBLE PATIENTS TO HAVE A FLU JAB WITH US!

We had to order stocks at the beginning of this year and vaccines will be wasted if not used.

Without a seasonal flu jab eligible patients will be at risk of developing serious complications from catching flu, such as pneumonia. Most people experience no complications after a flu jab, but you can sometimes get a sore arm, mild fever or chills. These symptoms usually settle within a few days and since the injection does not contain any live virus, contrary to popular belief, it cannot give you flu.

We are streamlining our services to offer a ‘one stop shop’ for your health monitoring.

• We will offer you an annual appointment in your birthday month – so for the first year of our new service your check-up might be sooner or later than you expected.

The appointment will be with one of our Nurse Practitioners and will include the routine checks for all ongoing, long term medical conditions such as heart problems, asthma, diabetes, COPD, hypertension, stroke, mental health and dementia. 

• We will send you an invitation in the post and we will include the forms for any blood tests that you need.

By combining the different clinics we hope to save you time, and improve the service we offer to you.  If other appointments are needed, such as medication reviews with the doctor, or extra checks, they can be arranged. 

• Please bear with us while we make these changes

The partners and management of Eskdaill Medical, Weavers Medical and the Linden Medical Group are pleased to announce that they have agreed to work closely together to offer joint services and share management functions.

This development is a consequence of changes in the way the NHS wishes to commission services and the increasing requirement to offer services at scale and having to develop a much greater level of integration. Working together as a combined practice offers the practices opportunities to develop innovative care models and offer better opportunities for patients to access services.

Together the practices care for 45,000 patients within the Kettering area, any merger would be subject to agreement by NHS England.

Dr Paul Barclay, Senior Partner at the Linden Medical Group said "There is a strong history of cooperation between the three practices and we share the same vision to improve the care experience of our patients wherever possible. Practices need to adapt to meet both the increasing demand from patients and also to enhance our attractiveness as a place to work and learn for GP's and other staff.".

Dr Kay Bryant, Senior Partner at Eskdaill Medical said "We are greatly looking forward to this exciting opportunity to collaborate with our local colleagues to continue to deliver high quality primary care services to our patients. Working together will allow us the flexibility to develop new services to Complement those we already offer as well as providing a more stable environment for both patients and staff as we adapt to meet future demand.".

Dr John McManus, GP partner at Weavers Medical said "This is a wonderful development for patients of our three practices. It ensures that we all have a vibrant future at a time when there is a shortage of GPs and Nurses. We can build on the high quality work which is already being done by sharing best practice and being able to take innovative approaches to looking after people more effectively.".

The practices stress that they will continue to operate from all existing premises, that the project will seek to improve access to acute services and that continuity of care for those with complex needs is an integral element of the proposal.

All GP practices are required to declare the mean earnings (average pay) for GPs working to deliver NHS services to patients at each practice.

The average pay for GPs working in Eskdaill Medical in the last financial year ended 31st March 2021 was £62,978 before tax and national insurance.

This is for 1 full time GP, 5 part time GPs and 3 salaried GPs who worked in the practice for more than six months.