We are frequently approached by patients requiring supportive medical evidence in the form of a GP letter when completing government forms for various benefits, rehousing , travel passes, travel insurance and disabled badges, DWP renewals and appeals (this list is not exhaustive).

In accordance with local LMC guidance, we only provide patients with an appropriate, free of charge medical summary which includes a list of past and current conditions and current medications as well as recent consultations with our clinical team along with the most recent hospital clinic letters if available.

Once these have been submitted, if the relevant government agency requires further information, they will need to write to us directly.

Starting from Wednesday 19th of June, ShipShape will be hosting a Cost of Living Support Mornings at Shipshape Community Hub.

• It will be every Wednesday 9am to 11.30am.
• Their friendly cost of living support staff can help you with a benefits check, help you with financial application and more.
• Located at: ShipShape Health and Wellbeing Centre. The Stables, Sharrow Lane, S11 8AE

Rebecca will be on hand to help every Wednesday 9am-11:30am.

To book and appointment, you can pop into a session or contact them on: 

Call: Community Support Helpline - 0114 273 4567

Email: CommunitySupportHelpLine@sheffield.gov.uk

Please visit our PRG page to read the latest newsletter from our Patient Representative Group!

Please find below information from our friends at Shipshape Community Hub:

FREE community health checks at Shipshape Community Hub, every Thursday 10.30am to 1.30pm. We can check your weight, height, blood pressure, bloods and help you lower your risk of heart attacks and strokes with a personalised health check. Everyone is welcome!

Located at Shipshape Community Hub, The Stables, Sharrow Lane, S11 8AE.

Booking is advised but feel free to turn up!

For more information please contact Disha Shah or Sophina Asghar on:

0114 2500 222 or text/voice note on 07307766535

Email: d.shah@shipshape.org.uk

Please join us for FREE Tai Chi sessions in the green space behind the General Cemetery 

1^st Thursday of each month from Oct-March 2024, starting 5/10/23.

The Original Wu style Tai Chi School. Please bring warm/ waterproof clothing. We will proceed unless heavy rain or snow! 

We are pleased to annouce that we will be introducing eConsult to our practice from 12 June 2023. 

'eConsult is a digital triage platform that allows patients to make medical or administrative requests to their NHS GP practice. By collecting patient information eConsult enables the practice to make safe and effective decisions on the right care for each patient. eConsult also allows you to seek self-help information from the NHS, through your GP practice or surgery website. Services include self-help information, advice or help from local services which may be appropriate for your condition, such as self-referral services or help from your local pharmacy.

We have some availability for our patients so click on the e-consult button on our website home page. If you are unable to complete a triage or there is no availability remaining to submit your e-consult please contact the surgery on 01142636100 and we would be happy to take your call. 

By submitting an eConsult request  it can help to ensure every patient gets the right care.   If you are able to use eConsult it will help  free up the phone line for those who are not able to use the internet and also saves you having to queue up on the telephone.  

See guide below how to use eConsult.

How to use eConsult | NHS Patients | eConsult Health

In the latest edition of the Patient Representative Group's article the chair explains talks about the new website and oportunities for our patients to get in touch with feedback and suggestions in how they can access the PRG.

Download the lastest edition here

Download the latest newsletter to see whats happening at Shipshape this June

What's on at Shipshape - June 2023

Digital community leaning open day 21st June

Learn About What A Social Prescriber Does & How They Can Help You!

The latest phase of NHS England’s ‘Help Us, Help You’ campaign aims to encourage people who are sent the NHS bowel cancer screening home test kit to complete and return it, The campaign launched on Monday 20 th February and runs until 31 st March 2023 It is supported by Cancer Research UK.

Bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the UK. Yet the latest data shows that almost one third of people who were sent an NHS bowel cancer screening kit in England last year did not go on to complete it. Early diagnosis is vital as detecting bowel cancer at the earliest stage makes you up to 9 times more likely to be successfully treated. 

Read more, download the PDF here. 

Find what's on at ShipShape Community Hub this month

February Whats On Guide 2023.pdf 

GP practices within our network have teamed up to provide weekend and evening appointment for our patients at Porter Brook Medical Centre.

This new service will begin on Saturday 1st October it and will mean that most people will be able to book Saturday and evening appointments closer to where they live. For our patients, appointments will be provided at the surgery as well as acting as a hub for other surgery's and networks within the city. 

Remote and face-to-face appointments can be made with a variety of GP practice staff including Doctors, Advance Care Practitioners, Nurses, Nurse Associates, Health Care Assistants, Physiotherapists and Pharmacists.

Appointments can be booked through you practice direct and online through NHS 111. Click to find out more here.

If there is limited availibilty for appointments available during the usual surgery hours you may be offered an appointment at the Hub outside of core hours. 

Requests for  prospective (future) access to all medical records held electronically in GP systems are currently being reviewed on a case by case basis. Please contact the surgery to discuss requesting this level of access to your GP notes. 

Welcome to the new home of Porter Brook Medical Centre. Please have a look around – there’s lots of information including health advice and details about the services we offer. We hope you find this useful. By pressing the language button at the top of the page you can access the website in a variety of different languages. We will be continually updating and developing our website and we would love to hear your feedback.

We no longer require all patients and visitors to wear face masks when attending the surgery. We are now making wearing a face mask optional. Clinicians may not routinely wear face masks unless they feel there is a clinical requirement.

We will have an online payments page where you can pay for your medical reports, travel vaccines and other services without having to come to the front desk. All payments can be made online to Porter Brook Medical Centre.

We are pleased to inform patients that as of the 9th May 2022 you will be able to access to the Teladoc myStrength Emotional Wellness App from Consultant Connect.

• The app is free and suitable for patients aged 16+ that do not fit other mental health services e.g., IAPT 
• It is designed for patients with low to medium mental health conditions, e.g., issues with anxiety, stress, depression or sleep
• Teladoc myStrength Emotional Wellness App is accessible without you needing to be referred by a clinician

Existing local support for mental health remains available via the usual channels

Download the app on Google Play HERE or Apple App Store HERE

Sign up & simply add the code 'southyorkshirewellness'

Its been a very tough couple of years for everyone and we really appreciate all the support and encouragement we have received from our patients. We know that getting an appointment can be difficult and we are working hard to try to increase the options available. We have re-introduced our online appointment booking system which we hope will make things easier. You can access this by clicking here.

GP Practices across the country are struggling to meet patient ‘demand’ and difficulty getting appointments is not unique to our Practice. Our doctors are working very long hours and are trying their best. It upsets them greatly that no matter how hard they work they are not in apposition to be able to offer an appointment to every patient who calls the Practice.

So, what can we all do to help?

It may be that you can find an alternative solution – 111 can help and www.NHS.uk is great for known health problems or medications. Pharmacies can help with minor illnesses or medication queries. The minor injuries department at the Hallamshire Hospital can help with a number of minor injuries, for more information see here (https://sheffieldurgentcare.co.uk/minor-injuries-unit.html)

When you phone the surgery, please remember that our receptionists will have been taking calls from lots of patients who want to speak to a Doctor. They will try to make an appointment for you but if there are none available, they may have to suggest alternatives. At times a Doctor may ask them to phone you back with further advice – please follow this advice, it might include a suggestion to go to A&E or the walk-in clinics, or you may be offered an appointment at one of the out of hours hub clinics.

If you are offered a telephone appointment, please make sure you answer your phone when the nurse or GP rings.