We are very pleased to announce that we are currently in the process of upgrading our Practice telephone system. This is due to feedback from both staff and patients and in line with NHS England's Modernising Access to Primary Care scheme. The new system is currently being built and tested, and we can expect to go live from 3^rd October.

Patients will experience a more streamlined process when contacting us by phone. Our new system is equipped with advanced features to ensure that your calls are efficiently routed and promptly answered by our team. Our new patient call-back feature allows patients to hold their place in the queue during busier times, enabling them to receive a call-back once they reach position one. Enhanced telephone lines will mean patients will not be cut-off and have to re-dial. The new system directly links with patients' records, meaning a quicker process in handling your call. The Practice will also benefit from enhanced access to call data as well as improved functionality in updating our telephone messaging for patient information.

We will share updates on the go-live date closer to the time.

From September 2nd 2024 patients will be unable to order a prescription over the phone. So what does that mean for patients who need to order their prescription? The following ways of prescription ordering are in place to allow our patients to order their prescriptions in the easiest and least time-consuming ways.

NHS App

The NHS App is free to download and is the easiest way to order prescriptions, as well a host of other features. You can order your prescription to your nominated pharmacy within 30 seconds, from anywhere! The app can be used on your smartphone or via a web browser on the NHS website. It’s that simple!

Visit your app store to download, https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-app/about-the-nhs-app/ for an overview of what you can use the app for or speak to one of our Practice team.

Postal requests

The Practice has a dedicated post box for prescription requests. Simply pop down to the surgery and drop your request in to us, no need to hang around! Prescription requests are processed throughout the day by our Reception team.

Come on in!

Our surgery is open to prescription requests at the reception desk in the foyer. So pop in, and one of our fantastic team will happily assist you with any queries as well as processing your prescription request.

Your local Pharmacy

Some Pharmacies offer repeat prescription ordering for patients, pop in to your local  Pharmacy to see if this is a service they offer.

Search https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/pharmacy/find-a-pharmacy to find Pharmacies close to you.

Ordering on behalf of someone else

As a parent, carer or family member, you may be able to access prescription ordering on behalf of someone else. This is called “proxy access”. If you wish to grant proxy access to someone, simply collect a form from either of our surgeries and submit this in person. The person wishing to be granted proxy access must also be registered at the Practice. Once verified, proxy access will be granted.

From 1st July the Practice will no longer be accepting cash as payment. Payment for services such as medical reports, insurance claims, taxi/HGV medicals etc. can only be made via contactless card payment.

The Green Impact for Health project has been developed for General Practice by the National Union of Students, GPs, trainees, and medical students. It’s supported by University of Bristol, NHS Health Education South West and the Severn Faculty of the RCGP. The web-based scheme is designed to improve the environmental performance of general practice while saving money and ensuring that the way we provide our services offers the greatest benefit to society as a whole.

Fell Tower Medical Centre is now taking part in this scheme.

The project was based on the highly successful Green Impact scheme run by NUS in over 400 organisations including universities, hospitals and dental surgeries. It works by guiding staff through a set of pro-sustainability actions, each of which earn points towards an overall award; bronze, silver or gold. Each action has a rationale or evidence base, and most have advice on the easiest ways to achieve them. The practice uploads the evidence to show that they are meeting the criteria for the scheme and there is a light tough external validation of the evidence.

A few examples are:

• Encouraging the use of social prescribing (See in Services for information on Social Prescribing)
• Raising awareness of physical activity to our patients and staff
• Reducing office waste
• Energy saving

The Little Orange Book contains advice and tips on how to manage common illnesses and problems that babies and young children often experience in the first 5 years of their lives.  It also has information on more serious conditions, what to look out for and how to help.

Download the digital version here: https://nenc-northtyneside.icb.nhs.uk/your-health/the-little-orange-book/little-orange-book-nt-version-v2-2/

The Practice provides some non-NHS services to our patients, these services can incur a fee. We are able to accept contactless payment for any services carried out and this is our preferred method of payment.

For a list of these services, please see "Fees for Non-NHS Services" at the foot of this page.

If you are aged 18-64 and have a long term condtion, you are elligable for a free Flu vaccination.

Please contact the surgery directly to book your appointment and stay well this winter.

Get moving with Walk and Wheel Gateshead 

Walking and cycling can make you feel better, physically and mentally. It's also good for the environment and your local community.

However, we understand that it's not always easy to walk or ride a bike, even for short distances. We know that lots of people don't feel fit enough or confident enough. For some people, it's simply not practical or they don't know where to start.

Walk and Wheel Gateshead can help. We support people of all ages, fitness levels and abilities, including wheelchair users. Our friendly team works with people to understand how they're feeling and how we can help them take the first steps towards a more active lifestyle. The team will learn from the people they support so that we can ultimately make walking and cycling easier for everyone in Gateshead.

We are currently running a number of free walking and cycling taster sessions throughout Gateshead that anyone, no matter your fitness level can join.

Keep an eye on our Better Health Gateshead Facebook page for the latest dates and times of activity sessions.

For more information about the service please visit the Gateshead Council website