Black Country Hub Extended Access Service

If you have a life-threatening emergency then please dial 999, If you have any medical emergencies whilst the surgery is closed then please call 111 for assistance.

Extended Access Address: Portway Family Practice, Portway Lifestyle Centre, Newbury Lane, Oldbury, B69 1HE

Portway Family Practice has collaborated with 11 other local GP surgeries to become the new Black Country GP Hub which is based at Portway Family Practice, Newbury Lane, Oldbury. B69 1HE.

This service will be offered to ALL patients registered at the 12 practices and NOT just our patients at Portway Family Practice.

Patients will be able to pre book an appointment within this service via the reception team at Portway Family Practice during normal surgery hours. Appointments will be available for the Doctor, Practice Nurse, Health Care Assistant as well as Clinical Pharmacists, Social Prescribers, first contact Physiotherapist and ANPs. Appointments are pre-book only.

All 12 practices provide staff to help with the running of the extended access service, so don’t be surprised if you don’t see Portway Family Practice members of staff when you visit the surgery.

_{Opening Hours}

Monday – Friday	6:30pm – 8:00pm
Saturday	9:00am – 5:00pm

Polite reminder

Please note staff at the extended access will not be able to deal with repeat prescriptions, queries, test results, sick notes and private requests. You will need to contact the surgery during normal hours regarding them.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask a member of staff as they will be happy to help.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our patients for their continued support.

Travel Vaccinations

If you require any vaccinations relating to foreign travel you need to make an appointment with the practice nurse to discuss your travel arrangements. This will include which countries and areas within countries that you are visiting to determine what vaccinations are required.

There is further information about countries and vaccinations required on the links below:

Europe & Russia	North America
Central America	South America
Caribbean	Africa
Middle East	Central Asia
East Asia	Australasia and Pacific

It is important to make this initial appointment as early as possible – at least 6 weeks before you travel – as a second appointment will be required with the practice nurse to actually receive the vaccinations. These vaccines have to be ordered as they are not a stock vaccine. Your second appointment needs to be at least 2 weeks before you travel to allow the vaccines to work.

Some travel vaccines are ordered on a private prescription and these incur a charge over and above the normal prescription charge. This is because not all travel vaccinations are included in the services provided by the NHS.

Travel Health Questionnaire

To help us offer the appropriate advice, please fill out the online form before coming to see the nurse. If you are travelling in less than 1 month unfortunately we cannot guarantee vaccines and it may be quicker to visit a local travel clinic.

Additional Services

Blood pressure
Baby clinic – held on Tuesday and Friday mornings.
Cervical smears
Contraceptive services – including Depo injections.
Child health surveillance
Maternity services – antenatal clinic run by the midwives on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.
Smoking cessation – via a referral to the Sandwell Stop Smoking Service.
Vaccinations and immunisations – including travel advice.
Well person checks

Essential Services

Management of long term conditions such as:

Asthma
COPD
Coronary heart disease
Diabetes

Home Visits

Who are Home Visits for?

Home Visits are reserved for the following groups of patients:

Terminally ill
Truly bedbound
Patients who are severely ill and cannot be mobilised

Please arrange a telephone appointment in the normal way. If your clinician feels a home visit is necessary this will be arranged.

Although a traditional part of general practice, home visits are time consuming. Please remember that several patients can be seen in the practice in the time that it takes to make one home visit. So please help us to help you and our other patients by visiting the surgery whenever possible.

A doctor’s ability to properly assess and to treat a patient seen in their own home is often impaired by the non-ideal clinical situation of poor lighting, absence of chaperones, unhygienic conditions and such simple difficulties as soft beds, making it impossible to palpate abdomens or complete other examinations correctly.

We want to see patients as quickly as possible, and the best way is often to encourage them to come to the health centre, because your GP will have access to all your medical records, including those held on computer. There are also better facilities for examining and treating patients at the Health Centre.

Babies and small children should be brought to the surgery where we will do our best to see them promptly. If the Reception staff are made aware that your child is particularly unwell, they will do everything they can to see that you are not kept waiting unnecessarily to see the doctor.

Transport / Social Problems

We cannot undertake home visits for reasons of convenience or lack of transport. We will be happy to provide you with details of local taxi firms. From experience, we are aware that relatives, neighbours or friends are often willing to help out. Our responsibility to you is to resolve the medical problem you have; your responsibility is to take all the reasonable steps you are able to, to enable us to do that.

This is to enable the doctor to assess if a visit is required, and then prioritise visits. It may be that your problem can be dealt with by telephone advice, or that it would be more appropriate to send a nurse, or indeed arrange a hospital attendance. It also prepares the doctor to collect some information required as necessary for the visit.

He/she may ask you to come to the surgery, where you will be seen as soon as possible.

Home visits are discretionary and not an absolute requirement of the GP terms and service. GPs are not obliged to visit a patient if they have assessed the patient’s clinical need on the telephone and found them to be suitable for an alternative method of healthcare.

The doctors would like to stress that NO patient in definite need of a home visit will be refused.

In the past, GPs were able to do routine follow up home visits. Sadly, pressures of time and more patients needing attention means this is usually no longer possible.

Some problems such as severe chest pains or shortness of breath are medical emergencies and you may be advised to dial 999.

Chargeable Services

Some services provided are not covered under our contract with the NHS and therefore attract charges.

Examples include the following:

Medicals for pre-employment, sports and driving requirements (HGV, PSV etc.)
Insurance claim forms
Prescriptions for taking medication abroad
Private sick notes
Vaccination certificates

The fees charged are based on the British Medical Association (BMA) suggested scales and our reception staff will be happy to advise you about them along with appointment availability.

Why does my doctor charge fees?

When your doctor is asked to give medical information about you in the form of a report, letter or certificate, the request kick starts a series of processes.

This takes time and is not always straightforward or simple to complete. Some of the information is not available easily and will mean the doctor has to sort and select the right information for the request.

The doctor also must establish who is funding this work and if it is not part of their NHS work, agree a fee for this.

Surely the work is paid for by the NHS?

Many patients see their doctor as the embodiment of the NHS and all that it provides – free care at the point of delivery. However not all work doctors are asked to do is paid for by the NHS and many GPs are self-employed.

This means they must cover their time and costs – staff, buildings, heating, lighting, etc – in the same way as any small business. The NHS only pays for NHS work, any work outside of the NHS must be funded by other means and this is why fees are charged.

Why does it take so long?

Your doctor receives large amounts of request and which is often to do with whether your general health allows you to do something e.g. to work, receive benefits, drive, play sport, attend school, own a house, a firearm or it is for insurance, court or other medico-legal reasons.

All requests will vary in complexity, volume and consistency ranging from signing a certificate which can take minutes, to an in-depth report with an examination that can take hours.

What your doctor is signing

When your doctor signs a certificate or completes a report, it is a condition of remaining on the Medical Register that they only sign what they know to be true.

In order to complete even the simplest of forms, they may have to check your entire medical record (some of which may not be accessible on a computer or on site).

Carelessness or an inaccurate report can have serious consequences for the doctor with the General Medical Council (the doctors’ regulatory body) or even the Police.

Why does my doctor seem reluctant or say no to this request?

Your doctor is inundated with work. They have to balance their time with treating the sick, keeping their practice afloat and making sure they are doing all of this safely and within their professional duties as a doctor.

With certain exceptions written within their contract, doctors do not have to carry out non-NHS work. However, many choose to for the benefit of you and other families they treat.

Where a doctor chooses to undertake the work, we advise them to inform and always agree a fee in advance of undertaking work.

Should their volume of work prove to be greater or more complex than expected, the doctor will contact you to discuss how to proceed.

What can I do to help?

– Not all documents need a signature by a doctor and can be done by other professionals. Please check the form and accompanying guidance as you may get a quicker response that way.

– If you have several forms requiring completion, present them all at once and ask your doctor if he or she is prepared to complete them at the same time to speed up the process.

– Do not expect your GP to process forms overnight. Urgent requests may mean that a doctor has to make special arrangements to process the form quickly, and this will cost more.

– Don’t book an appointment with your doctor to complete forms without checking with your doctor’s administrative staff as to whether you need to or not.

Get test results

General Information about Test Results

When you attend for a test of any kind you will be told how long you should expect to wait for the results, please bear this in mind and call the surgery between 11:00 – 13:00 once sufficient time has elapsed.

Our reception staff are not qualified to comment on results therefore it is your responsibility to check them and make any necessary follow-up appointment with the doctor.

Please note that we do have a strict policy regarding confidentiality and data protection. In this respect we will only give out results to the person they relate to unless that person has given prior permission for their release or if they are not capable of understanding them.

You can use your Systmonline account (or the Airmid app) and access the results from there. Please note that results are only available once the doctor has reviewed them. If you don’t have access to your record online, please request this in your online account or ask our reception team for help, ideally after 2 pm.
You can telephone the practice at 0121 612 3424.

Please note that the results of tests carried out during hospital visits are not normally sent to the practice.

Why have I been asked to have a repeat test?

If a doctor asks you to have a repeat test, it is usually because:

The result was borderline or unclear, and the doctor wants another sample to monitor the situation or to re-check the results.
The result is abnormal, and the doctor cannot interpret the result without further tests and has asked you to come in for more tests.

Please do not worry if the doctor has asked you for a repeat test. The doctor will speak to you or request to see you directly if they need to discuss the results.

Get a sick note for work

The NHS provides sickness certification only after seven continuous days of illness. If you need a sick note to cover this period of sickness you should complete a Self-Certification (SC2) form which is available from your employer or on the HMRC website.

Need a sick note after seven continuous days of illness?

Please contact the GP surgery as you normally would for a routine appointment as it may be necessary to arrange to discuss your request with a GP.

Do I need a note saying I’m fit for work?

No. You do not need to see your GP again to be ‘signed back to work’.

Can I go back to work before the end date on my fit note?

Can I get a fit note without seeing a healthcare professional?

Taking sick leave

When do I need a fit note?

Online Services

Connect to your GP services online and save time. Quick, easy and secure.

If you are registered with our GP surgery, you can access some health services online. This means you can do some tasks when it is better for you and avoid telephoning the practice.

You can do things like:

Order repeat prescriptions
See parts of your health record, including information about medicines, vaccinations and test results
See communications between your GP surgery and other services, such as hospitals
Book, check or cancel appointments with a GP, nurse or other healthcare professional
Send us a query or request a sick note

Below are some of the main online services we use in our GP surgery:

Proxy Access

As a parent, family member or carer, you may be able to access services for someone else. We call this having proxy access. We can set this up for you if you are both registered with us. To request proxy access, collect a proxy access form from reception

Patient Responsibilities

It is your responsibility to keep your login details and password safe and secure. If you know or suspect that your record has been accessed by someone that you have not agreed should see it, then you should change your password immediately.

If you can’t do this, we recommend that you contact the practice so that they can remove online access until you are able to reset the password.

If you print out any information from your record, it is also your responsibility to keep this secure. If you are at all worried about keeping printed copies safe, we recommend that you do not make copies at all.

NHS App

You can find out more about the NHS App, how to download it and get support here (https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-app/).

You’ll need to provide extra proof of who you are to get full access to your NHS account.

Once you have full access, you can:

order repeat prescriptions – see your available medicines, request a new repeat prescription and choose a pharmacy for your prescriptions to be sent to
book appointments – search for, book and cancel appointments at your GP surgery, and see details of your upcoming and past appointments
view your health record – securely access your GP health record, to see information like your allergies and your current and past medicines. If your GP has given you access to your detailed medical record, you can also see information like test results and details of your consultations
get your NHS COVID Pass – view and download your COVID Pass for travel abroad. There are also other ways to get your NHS COVID Pass
register your organ donation decision – choose to donate some or all of your organs and check your registered decision
find out how the NHS uses your data – choose if data from your health records is shared for research and planning
view your NHS number – find out what your NHS number is

If you’re a patient at our practice you can use the new NHS App, a simple and secure way to access a range of NHS services on your smartphone or tablet.

For more information go to www.nhs.uk/nhsapp.

Get Started

Get the app

Non-urgent advice: Having Problems?

Online Services @ NHS.UK

NHS App Help and Support

You can still contact the practice by phone or in person, this is just another option, which other patients have found is more convenient and saves them time. More information including “how to” leaflets and videos of patients and why they are using GP online services are available at www.nhs.uk/gponlineservices

Access NHS APP Services Online, with your web browser!

Your NHS Login

Your NHS account allows you to access your services through the NHS App or website. It also allows you to access authorised apps such as Airmid and PATCHS.

To have an NHS account, you must be aged 13 or over and registered with an NHS GP surgery in England or the Isle of Man.

You can find out more about how to set up your NHS login, you can visit the NHS website: How to set up NHS login

You may find it easier to have an app on your phone to access your account but you don’t have to. If you prefer, you can access your NHS account online: Log in – NHS App Online (service.nhs.uk)

SystmOnline

SystmOnline allows patients or someone acting on behalf of the patient to proactively manage their care. The online services available include the ability to view an online Electronic Medical Record (EMR) as well as booking appointments and managing medication.

SystmOnline is available as an online service if you prefer to use a computer. If you prefer to use an App on your tablet or smartphone, you can find information on the Airmid app.

SystmOnline

Non-urgent advice: Having Problems?

You can get
support and find
some Frequently
Asked Questions
about SystmOnline
below.

SystmOnline Support

airmid

If you would like to benefit from online services and prefer to use an app, you can use the Airmid app. Airmid is the patient-facing app for the provider of our clinical system. If you don’t want to use an app you can still access SystmOne Online.

Want to be setup?

To sign up for online services you’ll need to visit us. You can visit any of our surgeries and ask to be registered for the service. You’ll need to provide some ID.

Through the Airmid app you can:

Access your complete medical record and contribute to it using information from medical devices and wearables, Apple Health and Google Fit.

This includes:

Consultation notes
Medication History
Vaccination History
Allergy/Drug Sensitivities
Procedure History
Correspondence e.g. Referral/Discharge letters
Pathology/Radiology reports
Health data from your personal device

Use it to book and manage your appointments:

View all upcoming appointments
Add appointment reminders to your calendar, so you don’t miss an appointment
Airmid has video consultations built-in, so you can be consulted straight from the app

Use it to manage your medication better:

Request medication and re-order your repeat medication directly through Airmid
Airmid supports the Electronic Prescription Service and can produce barcodes directly in the app ready for scanning at the Pharmacy for medication collection
Update your nominated pharmacy. Integrated maps show you how to get to there too

Get the App

airmid Support

Frequently Asked Questions

Non-urgent advice: Please note

To use the Airmid app, you must set up your NHS log-in.

This is the same login as you would use for the NHS App. For help and guidance on how to do this, please visit the NHS website.

How to set up NHS login