Welcome to The Bridges Medical Practice 
With patients' needs at the heart of everything we do, our website has been designed to make it easy for you to gain instant access to the information you need. As well as specific practice details such as opening hours and how to register, you’ll find a wealth of useful pages covering a wide range of health issues along with links to other relevant medical organisations.
HELPING TO PROTECT YOUR GP SERVICE
We are experiencing a high volume of calls at this time. Please help protect your GP service by first going to NHS 111 online to check if your symptoms can be safely self-managed before requesting an urgent GP appointment.
Excessive demand for urgent appointments pushes your GP beyond the BMA recommended safe working limits, reduces the availability of routine appointments and delays the processing of prescriptions, hospital correspondence and test results. For children under 18 please visit the 'Healthier Together' website and ring back for an appointment if your child has Amber symptoms.
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Get Help For Your Symptoms NHS 111 Healthier Together
Targeted Lung Health Checks (TLHC)
Targeted lung health checks (TLHC's) have begun for patients. These are specialist nurse-led lung health assessments for smokers and ex-smokers aged 55-74.
The purpose of the TLHC is to assess participants risk for undetected lung conditions such as COPD and lung cancer. NHS England is planning to roll out TLHC's across England over the next 5 years. Patients will be invited to have a brief telephone call followed by an appointment at a TLHC clinic.
Patients will be asked a variety of questions and be offered a spirometry at the appointment and if they are found to be at high risk of lung cancer by the nurse assessor, they will be offered a low dose CT scan of the chest (at a separate appointment at Dorset County Hospital). It is expected that all eligible participants will be assessed within the next 2-3 years.
Fake Lloyds Pharmacy Emails
14/12/23
A phishing email campaign is currently targeting people with fake Lloyds Pharmacy emails. The emails falsely claim that by signing up for LloydsDirect you can easily manage prescriptions and get free delivery.
These emails contain links designed to steal personal/financial information or install malware. The fraudsters have made the emails appear more genuine by including LloydsDirect/NHS logos and Trustpilot reviews.
However, these emails are fake. Do not click any links, provide info, or sign up through these emails. Double check directly with your pharmacy if unsure.
To learn more and stay updated on related scams, visit the official Lloyds Pharmacy customer service page: Suspicious Email/Spam Email (lloydspharmacy.com) How to stay safe online Get Safe Online | The UK's leading Online Safety Advice Resource
Key protections:
• Verify pharmacy emails before clicking links or providing info
• Go directly to your pharmacy's website rather than through links
• Check for spelling/formatting issues indicating a potential fake
• Keep device security protections updated to block malware
Stay vigilant against pharmacy-themed phishing campaigns trying to steal personal information or distribute malware. Verify legitimacy through official channels before engaging.
24 October 2023
Dear Patients,
Referrals and Waiting Lists for Hospital Appointments
As you are probably aware, there is still a very high demand for hospital appointments and referrals and waiting times remain longer than we would all like. Dorset County Hospital are making every effort to reduce list sizes in a planned and sustained approach, but this will take time to achieve.
While typical wait times remain long, please be aware that unless there is a deterioration in your condition your GP is unable to decrease your wait time, these are determined by the hospital following very strict national protocols.
If you are unwell and need to see a doctor please book in with your GP in the usual way. If there is worsening of your condition, again, please book an appointment with the GP.
The NHS have created a very comprehensive website to support you while you wait and helps prepare for your hospital consultation, treatment or surgery. This includes waiting times and details of other supporting and local services and is updated weekly, please go to www.myplannedcare.nhs.uk .
All of the Weymouth and Portland GP Practices work together as a network to ensure we are increasing capacity within primary care including evening and Saturday clinics as well as easier access to physiotherapists, liaison between our own pharmacy team and community pharmacies and an increase in the number of same day appointments. This may become apparent when you are offered appointments at Practices other than your usual one.
Yours faithfully,
The Bridges Medical Practice
Did you know you can refer yourself to Physiotherapy?
If you continue to suffer with a condition or injury affecting muscles, joints and soft tissues such as low back pain, shoulder pain, neck pain, a Physiotherapist may be able to help.
Self Referral to Physiotherapy Information
Did you know you can manage repeat prescriptions from The Bridges Medical Practice in the NHS App?
You can easily choose where your prescriptions are sent. So, if you know you'll be away from home or you are moving home, you can change your nominated pharmacy from within the app.
You can also order your prescription at any time that suits you. There’s no need to wait to join a telephone queue or wait until the GP surgery opens.
It’s easy to use, and, if you hit a snag, you can go to ‘Help’ in the top right-hand corner of the app or visit nhs.uk/helpmeapp.
Find out more about the NHS App at: www.nhs.uk/nhsapp.
ARE YOU LIVING WITH HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE?
Every day in the UK, 350 people have a stroke or heart attack that could have been prevented.
To support Dorset residents we are offering the Hypertension Plus App along with a Blood Pressure monitor to help you to better understand, manage and improve your condition.
Please click on the link for more information and how to register.
Waiting Well
If you are on a waiting list for an appointment but haven’t heard from the hospital since your referral please be assured that they will be in touch as soon as they can schedule your appointment.
The hospital specialty team that you have been referred to will be in touch from time to time to check if any of your symptoms have changed, and to check that you still wish to proceed with your appointment or procedure, the waiting lists are reviewed and re-prioritised regularly so that the most urgent cases are dealt with as soon as possible.
If your condition deteriorates significantly at any point, then you may wish to get in touch with your GP for further advice.
This month we are having a real focus on cervical smears for women between the ages of 18 and 65 as part of the national screening programme.
Cervical screening is the best way to protect yourself from cervical cancer.
Cervical screening checks a sample of cells from your cervix for certain types of human papillomavirus (HPV).
These types of HPV can cause abnormal changes to the cells in your cervix and are called 'high risk' types of HPV.
If these types of HPV are found during screening (a HPV positive result), the sample of cells is then checked for abnormal changes. If abnormal cells are not treated, they may turn into cervical cancer.
The surgery has lots of available time slots for ladies, and be rest assured it is safe for your to attend to have this important test as usual. Staff will be in PPE and extra time for appointments is being allocated so that extra cleaning can take place.
Extra recall letters are being sent to anyone who missed their screening through the pandemic period to remind you, and if you know you are overdue, even more reason to get the test to look after yourself.
Please do not put this test off, it could save your life.
(Site updated 16/04/2024)