Newent Doctors Practice

22/10/2025

FLU AND COVID VACCINATION CLINIC ON MONDAY 27TH OCTOBER 2025 09:00-12:30

Both COVID-19 and Flu vaccinations continue to help protect against severe illness, hospitalisations and deaths arising from COVID-19 and Flu.

Do you still need to book your appointment at the practice? If so call after 11:00am Monday to Friday to book. or pop into the practice and speak to our reception team.

Our next clinic is available on Monday 27th October 2025 from 09:00-12:30.

This clinic will be for:
Age 75 and over Cohort - eligible for COVID and Flu Vaccinations
Age 65-74 Cohort who are immunosuppressed and eligible for COVID and Flu Vaccinations
Age 18-64 Cohort who are in the at risk group and eligible for flu only.

To find out if you are eligible for COVID-19 vaccination:
https://ukhsa.blog.gov.uk/2025/06/26/whos-eligible-for-the-2025-covid-19-vaccine-or-autumn-booster/

To find out if you are eligible for the flu vaccination:

https://ukhsa.blog.gov.uk/2025/09/01/your-guide-to-whos-eligible-for-the-autumn-2025-flu-vaccine/

This blog post was reviewed and updated in September 2025. When autumn comes, protection from any earlier COVID-19 vaccination you may have had will be starting to wane. For those who are more likely to become seriously ill from COVID-19,

18/10/2025

IMPORTANT NOTICE

Due to sickness we are short staffed of vaccinators for the covid/flu clinic at the surgery this morning . Please bear with us we work as fast as we can however, there may be a longer wait that normal Apologies

11/10/2025

All patients attending the COVID & Flu clinic today, please remember that it is by appointment only. Please wear suitable clothes that can easily expose your upper arm for the vaccinations. If you have COVID-19 symptoms, please remain at home and contact us to rebook your appointment so as not to risk other patients. Please arrive for your appointment time. The car park at the back of the practice is closed for use of the drive-through clinic, however the car park at the lake is open. Thank you for paying attention to and following these requests, and helping to make the clinic run as smoothly as possible.

08/10/2025

URGENT NOTICE

There has been an error in the text messaging for COVID & Flu Vaccines.

If you already have an appointment booked, PLEASE do not ring reception , as there has been no change to your appointment.

We apologise for any confusion and inconvenience this has caused.

Newent Doctors Practice

08/10/2025

07/10/2025

There are still spaces available this Saturday afternoon for a COVID and/or Flu vaccination. This clinic is for patients aged 65 and over (for flu) and 75 and over (COVID & Flu). Please call reception if you have not booked in but would like a vaccine, and are in one of the above groups.

07/10/2025

BABY HUB AT NEWENT DOCTORS

Due to unforeseen circumstances, Baby Hub has been cancelled for this week only for the 9th October 2025.

We apologise for any inconvenience.

Please contact the health visiting team, for any urgent enquires.
0300 4218192

Thank you

The Health Visiting Team

06/10/2025

IMPORTANT UPDATE ABOUT ONLINE APPOINTMENT BOOKING

We’ve recently made some changes to our online booking system to help improve waiting times and ensure you see the most appropriate healthcare professional for your needs.

Following a review of waiting times and appointment bookings, you can now book online appointments for:

• Musculoskeletal assessment (with a physiotherapist)
• Mental health nurse consultations
• Nurse appointments for smears (if you have received an invite)
• GP registrars

We found on reviewing that many appointments booked online led to the patient not seeing the best healthcare professional for their needs, leading to a second appointment being needed. There was also a higher rate of missed appointments for those booked online.

In all, approximately 40% of appointments were either missed or would have been better seeing a different member of the team.

These changes aim to reduce waiting times to see your registered GP and improve overall access to care.

We will continue to monitor these changes over the coming months and keep you updated.

Thank you for your understanding and support.

06/10/2025

Our Dispensary will be closing at 16:30 today due to short staff. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause our patients.

29/09/2025

We are short of staff in reception today, please be patient with our team as they are working hard to answer your calls and queries as soon as they can. Thank you for your patience.

17/09/2025

We are holding our final Pneumo/Shingles/RSV clinic before the COVID/Flu season on Monday 22nd September. We are not able to offer these vaccinations in the COVID/Flu clinics due to the time restraints of the clinic plan. If you would like one of these vaccinations and believe you are eligible, or have received a message from us to book, please use the link or call reception.
More clinics will be put on at a later date for Pneumococcal, Shingles and RSV vaccinations.

15/09/2025

The annual COVID & Flu Autumn Booster Season has arrived for 2025/2026, and with it has come an adjustment in the eligibility criteria for patients wishing to have their vaccinations. We have outlined below the criteria, as set out by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) that we are able to vaccinate in the practice:
COVID: Aged 75 and over, Aged 6 months and over who are immunosuppressed and residents in a care home for older adults.
Patients falling in to the 'At-Risk' group of previous years are not eligible for the COVID vaccine this year, nor are patients aged 65-74 who are not immunosuppressed.
For details on the eligibility, please visit the UK Health Security Agency website- https://ukhsa.blog.gov.uk/2025/06/26/whos-eligible-for-the-2025-covid-19-vaccine-or-autumn-booster/

Flu: Aged 65 and over, Pregnant women, Children aged 2 or 3 (on 31st August 2025), Aged 18-64 in 'At-Risk' group, Care Home residents, Carers of elderly or disabled person(s) or in receipt of Carer's allowance, those living with someone who is immunocompromised, frontline health and social care workers.
For details on the eligibility, please visit the UK Health Security Agency website- https://ukhsa.blog.gov.uk/2025/09/01/your-guide-to-whos-eligible-for-the-autumn-2025-flu-vaccine/

We will be hosting weekend clinics for the vaccinations at the practice. All eligible patients will received an invitation either by text, NHS App message or letter. Please use the specific COVID & Flu line when calling the practice to discuss the vaccinations, so as not to block the other lines in to reception. This line will be open Tuesday-Thursday, 11:00-13:00, from Tuesday 16th September for 2 weeks.
If you are unable to walk, please contact reception to book a space in our drive through clinic, running on the same days as the clinic inside.

Due to the changes in criteria, the clinics this year have been specifically crafted to maximise patient ease and efficiency for the practice, and therefore are tailored to a specific group at a time. Patients will only be able to book in to the specific times for their group.

As we approach autumn, it's nearly time for people with certain long-term health conditions to be booked in for their free flu jab. Individuals with these conditions are at risk of more severe outcomes if they catch flu. If you're