Visit our Latest News Page for recent information
21st November 2016
Tickets for the CREAMER Christmas raffle will be on sale at the surgery in the mornings from Monday 5th to Wednesday 14th December. The draw will take place on 15th. We welcome any donations of prizes. Please leave these at reception. Thank you for your support.
14th November 2016
There is a national problem with NHS email. This has affected our dispensary account (freshwell.dispensary@nhs.net). If possible, please choose another method to order repeat prescriptions such as clicking on the link on this website, faxing to 01371 811282, dropping off your repeat slip at the surgery. We apologise for any inconvenience or delay this may cause and will update you as soon as we have more information.
September 2016
Our newly refurbisheddispensary will be reopening on Monday 26th September! Opening times remain the same for the ordering and collection of medications: 8am to 1pm and 2pm to 6.30pm Monday to Friday and access is via our waiting room. We would like to thank everyone for their patience and understanding whilst the transformation took place.
September 2016
We are delighted to announce that following our inspection in May 2016 the CQC have rated the practice as OUTSTANDING. It is wonderful that the hard work and dedication of our staff has been formally recognised. The CQC inspectors were very impressed with the support that the CREAMER Fund gives to the practice and local community and the range of services we offered. Thank you to all the patients that provided feedback. To view the report please click on "see the report" under the CQC header towards the bottom of the home page.
May 2016
Have you received good care from our Nursing Team? If you have we would like to hear about it. Simply follow the link on our home page to the I Want Great Care website and leave an online review. If you cannot find the member of our team you are looking for simply type Freshwell into the search box and all the clinical staff will appear. Sadly we cannot extend this service to our HCAs at present, but you can always leave them a review under the Practice section.
May 2016
CQC are visiting! On Tuesday 24th May 2016 the Care Quality Commission are coming to inspect Freshwell Health Centre. If you have any comments about the practice, services we offer or the care you receive from us, please come into reception and fill out a comment card. The results of the inspection will be published on our website in due course.
April 16
Lost Property - A bracelet was handed into reception in December and has never been claimed. Please ask at reception if you think it might belong to you.
March 16
We have been asked by NHS England to remind our patients that A&E is for serious and life-threatening conditions only. If you need healthcare advice and it is not an emergency please consider talking to a pharmacist, phoning NHS111 or visiting the GP before going to A&E.
If you book an appointment and are unable to attend please let us know as, even at short notice, we can often use this time to see another patient. In February we lost 60 doctors appointments and 90 nursing appointments because patients did not attend. This increases waiting times and reduces choice for everyone. Please work with us to keep our service as efficient as possible.
December 2015
We are currently experiencing an error with online prescription services. If you order your medication through SystmOneline please be aware that the automatic message you recieive to inform you when your medicines will be ready is incorrect.
We would like to remind patients that you will need to allow 2 working daysfrom the time you order your precription until you can collect it. Please accept our applogies for any inconvenience this may have caused whilst SystmOne fix this fault.
September 2015
The Freshwell Health Centre is pleased to be accredited by The University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine for General Practice Medical Student Teaching. Students studying medicine will gain experience in a primary care setting. Please see Freshwell News for further information.
13th August 2015
Having heard this morning about the decision that Essex Highways has made to close Finchingfield bridge for 4 months from July 2016, we are already working with other local organisations and NHS England to ensure correct planning processes will be put in place to minimise any disruption to health care in this community. We will keep patients informed of any decisions that are made.
4th August 2015
We have been collecting Friends and Family data since January 2015. This is a national data collection scheme that asks patients using our services for feedback on whether they would recommend us to their firends and family. We are delighted that, of the 120 patients answering the question, 119 would be extremely likely to recommend us. Thank you. If you would like to have your say please pick up details from reception when you next visit.
12th June 2015
We are delighted to welcome Dr Harriet Barrett to our practice. She will be working for us on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
2nd June 2015
Our building works are due to start on Monday 8th June and will continue for several months. The plans are on display in the waiting room. Parking will be limited during this time - please only use the surgery car park if you really need to. There may be some other restrictions / changes to access during the works - please take note of any additional information displayed. If you have any concerns please speak to the management team. We apologise for any disruption.
23rd March 2015
The walk-in service on the Springfield Sainsbury’s site in Chelmsford will be closing on 31st March.The GP practice on site will remain open as usual.
If the surgery is closed you can arrange to see a local out of hours GP by calling NHS 111.You can also visit your local pharmacy. Your pharmacist will be able to offer advice on prescription medications, as well as a range of common problems, including colds, women’s health, skin conditions, allergies and aches and pains.To find your nearest pharmacy visit www.nhs.uk.
Please remember, A&E is for serious and life-threatening illness, injury and accidents only.
20th March 2015
We were sad to say goodbye to Mary Joy, one of our Practice Nurses, this week. She has worked at the surgery for many years and her expertise and caring nature will be missed by staff and patients alike. We wish her a long and happy retirement.
31st January 2015
If you would like to view the plans for the changes to our building please see the display in our waiting room or click here to visit the Braintree Planning website.
31st Janaury 2015
If you would like to see a summary of the actions we have taken since the last patient survey in 2014 please click here.
8th January 2015.
We have set up a new way for patients to provide feedback to us about the care they receive at Freshwell Health Centre. This is via the iwantgreatcare website. If you would like to provide some feedback please click on the link and follow the instructions. It only takes a few minutes. Patient feedback is useful in allow us to develop our services and staff. Thank you.
29th December 2014
In January the Government scheme to allow patients to register at a practice outside of their home area will commence. This is a scheme that practices can choose to opt into. In order to avoid additional workload which may compromise the care we provide for our in-area patients, we have decided not to sign up to this scheme. For more information on the Government scheme go to http://bma.org.uk/working-for-change/patient-information/how-the-nhs-works/patient-choice
November 2014
Our new on-line services SystmOnline are now up and running where you can order your repeat medication and book a routine appointment with a doctor
17th November 2014
Due to the change of our Computer Clinical System, The "EMIS / Patient Access" on-line service is no longer in use.
19th September 2014
We are changing our clinical computer system at the end of October 2014. Please help us to avoid delays for patients needing repeat medication. If you are likely to need a repeat prescription before the end of October please order by Tuesday 21st October and if possible allow a full week before collecting your medication.
The dispensary will be open as normal for collections and urgent prescriptions.
2nd June 2014
Tour de France will be coming to Essex on 7th July 2014. The road outside the surgery will be closed from 7.30am until 4.00pm with no vehicle access but the surgery will remain open. For more information about healthcare on the day please read our information sheet Patient_information.rtf.
1st March 2014
From 1st March 2014, Freshwell Health Centre will be changing the ways in which repeat medication can be ordered. We will cease to take repeat prescription orders over the telephone and will be introducing a new Automatic Repeat Presecription Service in addition to our current methods of Online, Post, Email, Repeat Slip and Fax service. Please click here for instructions
18th February 2014
We have now received 250 completed questionnaires and are analysing the results. Thank you to all the patients who completed one. If further copies are received, these will be reviewed by the partners but will not be included in the analysis for 2013-14.
4th February 2014
We are currently distributing our Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire. If you would like to complete a copy please click here. Instructions for returning completed questionnaires are on the back page.
Important Change to Ordering Repeat Medication from 1st March 2014. Please click here for instructions.
March 2012
Our latest patient questionnaire results are now available. Please click on the "survey results 2011 to 2012" link on the right hand side of this page. Many thanks to our patient reference group for their kind assistance with this project
For a full report of our patient reference group activity during 2011 - 2012 please click on the "Survey Report" link.
September 2010: A new way of ordering repeat prescriptions
We are keen to encourage our patients on repeat prescritions to order them via the internet or email where possible. In addition to the existing "EMIS ACCESS" method of re-ordering, you can now order prescriptions directly via our dispensary. Their email address is freshwell.dispensary@nhs.net . Please ensure you provide your name and the items that you wish to order.
The advantage of this new method is that you do not have to register for a password at the surgery (or request a new password if you have mislaid your previous one). But if you already have a password for EMIS ACCESS, then it would be probably best to continue using EMIS ACCESS.
Credit / Debit Cards
Following patient feedback we have now installed a facility for patients to pay for prescriptions, medicals, travel vaccinations etc by credit or debit card. This is in addition to the current payment methods of cash or cheque. The cards we accept are Visa, MasterCard, Maestro and Solo. There is no minimum spend and we will not charge you a fee for this service.
If you wish to pay by card please go to the dispensary hatch as usual. This facility is not currently available for patients collecting prescriptions at branch surgeries.