Latest news

You may have heard on the news that from June 2025, GPs will be able to prescribe the weight loss medication Mounjaro (Tirzepatide). What the news may not have explained completely is that the prescribing rules for GPs around this medication are very stringent indeed, so much so that very few patients will qualify, at least in first few years.

The criteria are:

BMI over 40 or 37.5 for people from minority ethnic backgrounds
and at least 4 of the following:

Hypertension (high blood pressure)

Type 2 Diabetes

Dyslipidaemia  (Dyslipidaemia is a broad term describing a number of conditions, including hypercholesterolaemia, hyperlipidaemia and mixed dyslipidaemia, in which disturbances in fat metabolism lead to changes in the concentrations of lipids in the blood.)

Established cardiovascular disease (Cardiovascular disease - NHS)

Diagnosed sleep apnoea

Patients that do qualify will be required to be referred to and engage with behavioural support over a long period of time and will be monitored regularly at the practice for weight loss and general health and well-being, with specific weight loss targets in the first 6 months.  

Please could we ask you not to contact the practice regarding being prescribed this medication as it is extremely unlikely that you will qualify given the very strict rules that have been applied.  We will contact any patients that falls within the prescribing criteria. 

We are experiencing an increasing volume of enquiries relating to the private prescription of weight loss injections (such as Mounjaro, Wegovy).

If you are seeking these treatments privately, please be aware that the decision to prescribe rests with the prescriber and therefore our clinicians will not advise or give an opinion on your suitability for the treatment. It is up to the prescriber to be satisfied that the treatment is safe and appropriate. In order to do so they may require access to information from your medical record. In this instance, we would advise you to present your healthcare record from the NHS app or the EMIS Patient access app.

The Patient Access app now uses the same sign-on as the NHS app, but has the additional functionality that it can generate a PDF summary of your medical record which will include a list of your medical conditions and medication (the NHS app cannot yet do this). If this is unsuccessful you can request a “patient summary” by sending an email to bobicb-ox.cropredy.surgery@nhs.net. This will then be printed and can be collected from the surgery. This option will take longer than using the app.

We are aware that patients are often told by the hospital to 'get a letter from the GP' so that their appointment can be expedited. This is in fact unnecessary and creates an additional administrative burden on already stretched GP services.

As already indicated above, hospitals are contractually obliged to communicate directly with patients and respond directly and appropriately to their queries, including specifically questions about appointments. Failure to do so represents a breach of their contract.

Please be aware that simply waiting a longer time than you would wish does not make your request urgent. Unfortunately, in the current situation, everyone is waiting longer. We cannot write letters to expedite your appointment for this reason.

If, however, your condition is actively deteriorating, we advise you to speak to your specialist so that they can assess if you need to be seen sooner. We do find that an initial response might still be 'get a letter from your GP', however we are finding that we are merely reporting exactly what you have told us and it seems more sensible for patient and consultant to have a direct conversation. Should you continue to have difficulty in accessing your consultant, we advise that you contact the PALS department of the hospital for advice and assistance.

The UKHSA, the organisation in England responsible for public health and infectious diseases, has been monitoring the number of cases and the spread of Mpox since it was first detected in the UK.

It has advised that pre-exposure vaccination against Mpox should now be offered to those at greatest risk of infection to help control the recent outbreak of the virus.

The NHS is following UKHSA guidance on prioritising those at greatest risk of exposure and local services are contacting people who are a priority for vaccination. If you are eligible for a Mpox vaccine you will be contacted directly. You do not need to contact the NHS.

If you think you may have come into contact with someone who has monkeypox or who is feeling unwell or has symptoms that could be consistent with Mpox infection, limit contact with others and contact your local sexual health clinic or telephone NHS111. Please do not visit A&E or the GP.

Find out more at Mpox – NHS (www.nhs.uk)

We are proud to be ranked 61 out of 6307 surgeries in England in the recent 2024 GP Patient Survey for % who say overall experience of the surgery is good.

And a fantastic 100% positive rating for helpfulness of our reception and adminstration team. We are absolutely delighted and so very proud of our wonderful team who are always here for you.

Shared Care Prescribing with Private Providers

After careful consideration Cropredy Surgery has decided to align with other local practices as well as NHS and BMA guidance and as of 1^st September 2024 we will no longer agree to ANY shared care prescribing with private providers. Existing arrangements will be honoured for the foreseeable future but we retain the right to review this policy. This change will apply to both adults and children.

We are sorry to any patients who may be affected by this change in policy. It is required in order to protect our patients from missing out on necessary specialist input that is required when taking certain high risk medications. While highly skilled and experienced, our GPs are not trained in managing particular medications without the expertise of our secondary care colleagues.

We are aware that NHS waiting times at present are longer than would be ideal. We will still be happy to refer to the private sector for diagnosis. However, if any recommended treatment is ‘shared care’ on the Oxfordshire formulary, to which we must adhere, then we will no longer be in a position to prescribe and treatment must be sourced from your private specialist on an ongoing basis, or until care can be transferred to a secondary care NHS service. Should you wish your private specialist to refer you to NHS services they ARE able to do this and you do not need to return to your GP to request a referral. Such requests will be passed back to your specialist. Due to capacity and workload we are also unable to undertake any monitoring requests from private or ‘right to choose’ providers.

Please be aware that at present no referrals are being accepted by Adult ADHD services within Oxfordshire and referrals made under the ‘right to choose’ scheme will be for diagnosis only, in accordance with LMC guidance. For complaints relating specifically to this matter please contact: bobicb-ox-plannedcare@nhs.net or your local MP as this is a commissioning issue and not something that we have any control over.

Prescription of sedatives for patients attending hospital, dental appointments, imaging investigations or other procedures

Sometimes we are asked to prescribe 'a low dose sedative' for patients attending hospital or dental appointments, for imaging investigations or other procedures. These are the reasons we do not prescribe this medication:

Small doses of benzodiazepines such at 2mg diazepam are probably sub-therapeutic for most adults for any effective sedation. Conversely anxiolytics can have an idiosyncratic response in patients, and even very small doses can cause increased agitation in some subsets of patients.
A patient may take a sedative 'an hour' before their assumed procedure, to then attend the hospital to find their procedure has been delayed, therefore the timing of the anxiolytic being sub optimal.

GPs are not regularly involved, skilled, trained or appraised in sedation skills. All hospital consultants, both those requesting imaging and those providing it, have access to the same prescribing abilities as GPs. If a patient needs a certain medication to enable an investigation to go ahead, they are just as well positioned to provide a prescription, either through the hospital pharmacy or a hospital FP10.

Sedated patients should be regularly monitored, and I have been made aware of a case where a GP-provided sedative was given, the patient not monitored, and subsequently had a respiratory arrest in an MRI machine.

The Royal College of Radiologists‘ own guidelines on sedation for imaging makes no mention of GP involvement or provision of low dose anxiolytics and stresses the importance of experienced well trained staff involved and the monitoring of sedated patients: This is the web link to find out more

We maintain that we are not being 'obstructive’ but adhering to our duty of care to provide safe, consistent, and appropriate care for our patients.

We would be grateful if you could discuss with the relevant specialist who has requested this, to prescribe as they see fit.

On these dates we will be closed & DOORS LOCKED between these specified times below due to countywide training.

Note: All calls will be directed to NHS111

13:00 hours until close on 17th June 2025 

13:00 hours until close on 24th September 2025

Healthwatch Oxfordshire is surveying patients and carers about their experiences with hospital discharge. If you would like to participate, please followo the links below.

https://healthwatchoxfordshire.co.uk/news/leaving-hospital/  (covering information)
https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/leavinghospital/  (direct link to the survey)

If you would like a paper copy of this survey to complete, would like it in another format or language, or would prefer to speak to someone about this, please contact Healthwatch on 01865 520520 or at hello@healthwatchoxfordshire.co.uk

Thunderstorm Asthma occurs when high winds draw pollen particles into the higher atmosphere. When the pollen granules contact with water, they break down into smaller particles that when inhaled, can get deeper down into the smaller airways in the lungs and trigger asthma symptoms. Some airborne allergens involved in thunderstorm asthma are grass and tree pollens and mould spores. More than five million people in the UK have asthma and changes in weather, pollen, air pollution and thunderstorms are all triggers for the condition.

Data from UKHSA shows that thunderstorms coincide with an unseasonal spike in people ending up in hospital with their asthma. During the thunderstorms we experienced in June last year, those who were particularly affected were in the 15 to 44-year-old age bracket. This led to the busiest day the Oxford A&E department had ever experienced. People living with both asthma and hay fever should be advised to take any antihistamines and steroid nasal
sprays as needed to help control their pollen allergy, but it is essential for people with asthma to take their preventer inhalers as prescribed in the days preceding storms.

During stormy weather and thunderstorms, the following advice is based on recommendations made by Allergy UK-
• If possible, stay indoors before, during and after a storm, with windows closed.
• If outdoors, wear a mask to reduce pollen exposure.
• Avoid known triggers which may make symptoms worse.
• Have up-to-date Asthma Action Plan that can be referred to help identify when asthma is deteriorating.
• Stay vigilant to weather forecast alerts for high pollen and sign up for thunderstorm alerts.
• Check local council air quality pages for pollution hot spots and action being taken to try and improve air quality.
• Keep a reliever inhaler with you so it’s ready to use.

Thunderstorms can trigger asthma attacks. If you have asthma use your preventer inhaler regularly in the days before a forecast thunderstorm and keep your reliever inhaler with you before and during the storm.

A Medical Examiner is an independent senior doctor. Their role is to review the medical records of your loved one and occasionally have a discussion with the GP to agree the cause of death for the Medical Certificate (MCCD). Once the Medical Examiner Service has received the referral from the GP,you will be contacted by the Medical Examiner Officer (MEO). They will offer their condolences and give you the opportunity to ask any questions, raise any concerns you may have about the care your loved one received and/or highlight excellence. During the conversation, they will share with you the proposed cause of death that the GP and Medical Examiner have agreed or, if a Coroner’s referral is required, they will advise you what will happen next.

If they are able to issue the Medical Certificate they will advise you:
• When the certificate has been completed
• How Registration Services will contact you tobook your appointment to collect the death certificate/s

View a guide for families experiencing bereavement

Useful contact details:

Medical Examiner Office
Tel: 01865 221 939
Opening hours: Monday to Friday 9am-5pm
(excluding weekends and bank holidays)

OUH Switchboard
Tel: 0300 304 7777

Oxford Coroner’s Office
Tel: 01865 815 020

Oxford Registration Services
Tel: 01865 519 800

OUH PALS
Tel: 01865 221 473