Today the Partners of the Pinn Medical Centre (PMC) agreed to a request from the Harrow Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to close the Walk in Centre (WiC) as a temporary measure. In its place the CCG has asked the PMC to set up a temporary GP Access service for non-Covid-19 patients.
As of Saturday 28 March 2020 the Walk in Centre will be closed to patients who do not have an appointment. It should be noted that patients who are acutely ill and who cannot be redirected elsewhere will continue to be seen at the Pinn.
The Pinn will continue to remain available to our registered patients for initial telephone consultations and booked face-to-face consultations as are necessary.
Unregistered patients wishing to have an appointment should call 111 where they will be triaged by a non-Pinn clinician. Once they are confirmed as a non –Covid-19 risk they are likely to be given a face-to-face consultation based on their condition and/or the availability of clinical staff.
To minimize the potential spread of Covid-19 the Pinn staff will continue to phone patients before allowing them to enter the waiting room. All suspected Covid-19 cases will be redirected to the Covid hub at Alexandra Avenue clinic.
Patients will be informed of the Pinn’s change from a Walk in to a GP Access service via text from the CCG and from messages posted on both the CCG and PMC websites
The Partners wish to extend their apologies for the very short notice but these are exceptional times and they felt they needed to act quickly to support the CCG and all Harrow patients in the fight against Covid-19.
The Covid-19 outbreak has, understandably, interrupted the final details to the outcome of the Save the Walk in Centre campaign.
The campaign was long and hard, especially for those volunteers giving out leaflets under cold and wet conditions. We are immensely grateful for the support we have had from all of you, our supporters and volunteers, led by Prakash. The Trustees particularly wish to acknowledge the significant support we had from David Simmonds, MP and Lord Daniel Finkelstein. Their direct representation to Matt Hancock, the Secretary of State, was crucial to the successful representation we made to the Harrow Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).
I wish to reassure our Members, and all of you who supported the campaign to save the WiC, that this campaign is not over. The agreement by the Partners to change its services to a GP Access service is a temporary one during this Covid -19 crisis. The CCG has given its written assurance that they are committed to reopening the Walk in Services at the Pinn once the crisis is over. The Patients’ Association shall continue to keep its dialogue with the CCG open.
As we enter the peak phase of the Covid-19 pandemic we are all aware that it has been likened to a war, and that we must now be on a war footing.
Like all wars we know it will end at some undesignated time in the future and hopefully, we shall return to some semblance of normality. Life may never be quite the same again, but at least we will be able to go about our daily lives as we did before.
The Trustees of the Pinn Medical Centre Patients’ Association (PMCPA) wish to reassure you that you are not alone. We cannot face this fight against Covid-19 as individuals. We must strive to support each other as best we can. It is beholden on all of us to look out for each other. Kind words and support for each other in all its forms will go a long way to helping each of us get through these difficult times.
We are grateful to the huge numbers of you who have contacted us to offer your support as volunteers.
We are very conscious of the precautions needed to contain Covid-19 and are advising our volunteers to keep contact with and between vulnerable neighbours, friends and family members to a minimum – mainly through telephone/email communication.
Face-to-face contact should be limited and under strict social distancing guidelines. Those of you in self-isolation should not be making any unnecessary journeys or visits to the shops.
Do get in touch with Kevin at: kevin@pinnpatients.org if you are in a vulnerable position and wish to keep in contact with someone on a regular basis.
My very best wishes to you all – stay strong and stay safe.
Jo Daswani
Chair, Pinn Medical Centre Patients’ Association