This week we have a number of staff off due to covid – this is affecting all departments (GPs, Reception, Nursing, Admin and Cleaning). None of the staff caught it at work – so there is no risk to patients.

We are all working hard to minimise the impact of these shortages but please be patient.

It is an expected consequence of the relaxation of the covid rules, and we hope it will ease up soon. At the moment NHS isolation rules are not changed, and we need to ensure no spread within the teams to ensure we do not have unsafe staffing levels.

So, please be understanding and patient for the longer time it will take for us to answer calls, the longer waits for routine and urgent appointments and so on. Hopefully it will improve soon.