News

To help ensure that parking spaces remain available for patients and visitors attending the practice, a new parking management system is now in operation in our Lichfield car park.

Parking remains free for all patients and visitors attending the surgery.

However, on arrival, all patients and visitors who park in the car park must enter their vehicle registration number at the kiosk located in reception. This will register your vehicle and prevent a parking charge being issued.

Why are we introducing this system?

Unfortunately, the car park has increasingly been used by non-patients, resulting in limited parking availability for those attending appointments. The new system has been introduced to:

• Keep parking spaces available for patients and visitors.
• Reduce unauthorised and long-stay parking.
• Improve access for patients attending appointments, particularly those with mobility issues.
• Ensure fair use of the car park and maintain adequate parking capacity during busy periods.

What do I need to do?

1. Park as normal.
2. Enter your vehicle registration number at the reception kiosk when you arrive.
3. Attend your appointment.

Important Information

Failure to register your vehicle may result in a parking charge being issued by the parking management company.

Please note that the practice is unable to cancel parking charges or deal with parking-related queries, appeals, or disputes. Any parking charges, appeals, or questions regarding the operation of the parking system should be directed to the parking management company using the contact details provided on the parking charge notice.

We appreciate your cooperation and understanding as we introduce this system to improve parking availability for our patients and visitors.

We are pleased to inform you that CCTV is now operational on our premises. The primary purpose of this system is to ensure the safety and security of both our staff and patients.

Benefits of CCTV:

• Enhanced Safety: Continuous monitoring helps deter potential incidents and ensures a safer environment for everyone.
• Incident Resolution: Recorded footage can assist in resolving any disputes or incidents quickly and accurately.
• Peace of Mind: Knowing that the premises are monitored can provide reassurance to both staff and patients.

Privacy Statement: 

We are committed to protecting your privacy. The CCTV system is operated in accordance with our CCTV policy and relevant privacy laws. Footage is securely stored and only accessed by authorized personnel for safety and security purposes.

For more information, please refer to our CCTV policy, which is available for you to read.

To enhance the quality of your consultation and ensure accurate documentation, our clinicians may use AI-powered tools to assist in recording clinical notes during your visit.

• All documentation generated by the AI tool is reviewed, edited, and approved by your clinician before being saved to your electronic medical record (EMIS).
• The use of AI tools complies with GDPR and NHS confidentiality standards.
• If you do not wish for AI tools to be used during your consultation, please inform your clinician before your appointment begins.
• If no objection is raised, consent is assumed.

Why we use AI tools:

• To improve the clarity and quality of consultation notes.
• To allow clinicians to spend more time focusing on you.
• To ensure your records are accurate and accessible via the NHS App.

Thank you for helping us improve your care experience.

Help with NHS App at Lichfield library

Face to face support is being offered to people who need help to set up or navigate the NHS App or web account. This support is free.

Lichfield and Tamworth libraries – pop in on Tuesday or Thursday mornings for help.

All our libraries have free PCs to use and free wifi for people to use with their own devices. Library membership is required but this is also free and simple to set up at the library.

The libraries have staff and / or IT Buddy volunteers, who are trained to support with the NHS App or web account. They resolve most set-ups and queries through walk-ins; where the issue is more complex, they may ask people to make an appointment for another day to give more time to help the person.

23 June 2025: From today (23 June 2025), following approval by NICE, tirzepatide (Mounjaro®) will be available in the NHS for eligible patients who meet the strict, nationally-set, criteria. 

The current criteria is that patients are those with a BMI of 40 or higher, and with four or more of the qualifying comorbidities (hypertension, dyslipidaemia, obstructive sleep apnoea, cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes) will be eligible for assessment to identify their suitability for Mounjaro. Anyone not meeting these criteria will not be eligible for assessment in the first year of the drug being available. 

Please do not contact your GP; if you are eligible to be assessed you will be contacted over the coming months and invited to attend an appointment for assessment. Those with the greatest clinical need will be contacted first. 

For more information about alternative local weight management services, visit the ICS website - https://staffsstokeics.org.uk/local-weight-management-services/

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.

The Practice regrets to inform patients that, after 31 August 2026, the Community Midwifery Service will no longer hold a weekly clinic at the Practice.

For any midwifery-related appointments, enquiries, or communications, please contact the Community Midwifery Service directly.