We are in the process of updating our Patient Participation Group. We are looking to see there are any patient of ours that would be interested in joing the PPG. We holding our first virtual Teams meeting scheduled for 24 September 2024 at 3pm and we invite any interested member to attend the meeting. Please email langtonppg@staffs.nhs.uk to express your interest.

If you have been referred by ourselfs please see the current waiting times until you will receive an appointment from the hospital. If you believe your referral has gone over the recommended waiting times please contact the hospital you was referred to and enquire with them. 

> 2WW Referral - 2-4 Weeks
> Urgent Referral - 3 - 5 Months
> Routine Referral - 6+ Months

GP practices in England are experiencing significant and growing strain with declining GP numbers, rising demand, struggles to recruit and retain staff and knock-on effects for patients.

The latest GP workforce data showed that the number of fully qualified GPs has dropped since September 2015. In July 2023, the NHS in England had the equivalent of 27,177 fully qualified full-time GPs, which is 2,187 fewer than in September 2015. The longer-term trend shows that the NHS is losing GPs at an alarming rate: over the past year (between July 2022 and July 2023) it lost the equivalent of 330 fully qualified full-time GPs and the equivalent of 358 full-time partners. This means that, on average, the NHS lost 28 fully qualified FTE GPs per month over the past year.

The number of GP practices in England has decreased by 102 over the past year – reflecting a long-term trend of closures as well as mergers primarily due to a lack of workforce. This coincides with a rise in patients. As of July 2023, there was another average of 9,834 patients registered per practice, and as a result, the average number of patients each full-time equivalent GP is responsible for continues to rise, and now stands at 2,305. This is an increase of 367 patients per GP, or 19%, since 2015, demonstrating the ever-mounting workload in general practice.

We are one of three practices working with Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care Board (ICB) to register patients from Burntwood Health and Wellbeing Centre (BHWC) which is due to close on 31^st March 2024.

Patients are being reminded to register with an alternative local practice as soon as possible to ensure that your care can continue with a GP of your choice.  Patients will no longer be registered at BHWC after 31^st March 2024.

From January 2024, patients will start to be allocated to one of three practices to ensure that they have access to services after the end of March 2024.  The three practices are:

• Darwin Medical Centre (branch name)
• Salters Meadow Medical Centre
• Langton Health Centre (Boneyhay branch site)

However, patients still have a choice to register at an alternative practice if they wish.

We would encourage you to register with a new practice as soon as possible.

To register with a new GP practice patients should contact the surgery or practice they want to register with. Alternatively, patients can find a nearby surgery using the NHS services directory at Find a GP - NHS (www.nhs.uk). This website gives further information about the practices, like opening hours and patient satisfaction survey results.

Further information including frequently asked questions can be found on the ICS website.

If you would like to register with Langton Medical Group please go to our New Patient Tab or you can click the following link to register with online: [Register with a GP surgery]

You may have heard of the RSV vaccination.  RSV stands for Respiratory Syncytial Virus and is an infectious disease of the airways. It can make you become wheezy or short of breath and can lead to pneumonia and other life-threatening conditions. 

The new RSV vaccine will be offered to patients who turn 75 years of age on or after 1st September 2024, or who are already aged 75 to 79 years of age on 1st September 2024. It will also be offered to pregnant women from 28 weeks, this is to protect their babies from RSV. 

We will be holding RSV vaccine clinics in September. Those eligible for the vaccine will receive an invitation in due course; there is no need to make contact with us, we will be in touch with you. The RSV vaccine isn't normally arranged to be administered at the same time as COVID-19 or flu vaccines, however you can have shingles or pneumococcal vaccines at the same time. 

Please read the patient information leaflet below to ensure when you are invited you are fully aware of the vaccination to either accept or decline the offer of an appointment. This is also available as a hard copy from behind the reception desk.

Come to a meeting or drop in session now!