Practice News

Tuesday 15th July PM - PRACTICE CLOSURE FOR STAFF TRAINING

From 12.00pm to 18:00pm on Tuesday 15^th July, this practice will be closed for important clinical education and training purposes:

Emergency cover will be provided, please telephone 111 to access these services:

• Telephone triage
• Face-to-face appointments 

Repeat prescription requests will not be dealt with during these times so please ensure sufficient notice is given to enable your practice to provide these for you prior to practice closure dates.

Patient Information – Mounjaro (tirzepatide) for Weight Loss

You may have seen recent media reports stating that GPs can now prescribe weight-loss injections like Mounjaro. While this is true nationally, in our area (Suffolk and North East Essex), *GPs are not commissioned to provide these medications directly for weight loss*.

Instead, the local NHS has chosen a Community Outreach service model. This means:

• Access is only available through a specialist NHS weight management service (WMCOS). This is not currently operating at present.
• Patients must be clinically assessed to determine eligibility.
• Only those meeting strict NHS criteria (including certain BMI and health conditions) will be offered treatment.

📌 Please do not book a GP appointment just to request Mounjaro. Your GP will not be able to prescribe it outside of the community specialist pathway.

For more details, visit the official NHS Suffolk and North East Essex ICB webpage:

Patient Survey 2025

Dear all

Many thanks to over 900 of you who completed the survey this year. As always your comments and scores are very welcome and it is always illuminating to read the comments. Please find results and analysis of the survey via the link below:

Survey 2025 Analysis

Best wishes
Scott
Practice Manager

Important information for patients considering privately funding an ADHD assessment

Dear patients 

Please find the current guidance we encourage you to take into account if you considering a private ADHD assessment.

Private ADHD Update.pdf

Best wishes

The Rookery Medical Centre

Hospital Appointment and Referral Information

The COVID-19 pandemic has added to the strain on all NHS services. As a result of this, waiting list times for outpatient and specialist appointments and procedures have increased for everybody.

As we do not directly manage the wait times for the hospitals we ask that you please look at the My Planned Care website for the current wait times. This can be found at https://www.myplannedcare.nhs.uk 

My Planned Care gives you advice and support while you wait and helps you to prepare for your hospital consultation, treatment, or surgery. This includes giving you information about waiting times at your hospital and other supporting and local services while you wait.

This site is updated weekly and can be viewed by anyone, which means you, your family or carer as well as your NHS team can all see the latest information. Your hospital team will be in touch with you as soon as they can. If you are looking for an update, please check this website before contacting your hospital.

We appreciate that long waits can cause worry and uncertainty about when you will eventually receive an appointment. However, the practice has no direct access to the hospital appointment lists.

Please only call the practice if your condition has genuinely deteriorated when you will be reviewed by one of the clinical team and appropriate action can be taken in regard to your care.

The Armed Forces Covenant

The Rookery is proud to be a RCGP acccredited Veteran Friendly Practice. This means that we abide by the Armed Forces Covenent which states the following: 

• The Armed Forces community should enjoy the same standard of, and access to healthcare as that received by any other UK citizen in the area they live.
• Family members should retain their place on any NHS waiting list, if moved around the UK due to the service person being posted.
• Veterans should receive priority treatment for a condition which relates to their service, subject to clinical need.
• Those injured in service should be cared for in a way that reflects the nation's moral obligation to them, by healthcare professionals who understand the Armed Forces culture.

This is recognised in the NHS Constitution, which states:

"The NHS will ensure that in line with the Armed Forces Covenant, those in the Armed Forces, reservists, their families and veterans are not disadvantaged in accessing health services in the area they reside"

Community Pharmacy Services

Please see below for the services you can access from your Community Pharmacy

Support and Advice for patients living with Learning Disability / Autism

Dear all

Please find info attached here regarding help and information being provided for patients living with Learning Disability / Autism.

Thanks

The Rookery

Extended Healthcare Team Roles

There are lots of different kinds of healthcare professionals working in your GP surgery, besides your GP. They each have distinct roles and specialist skills.

When you contact the surgery, you will be offered an appointment with the person who is best placed to help your needs.