News

Update - 17:00

06th May 2025 – Technical issues

 As of 8:30 this morning Alwoodley medical centre has been struggling to access the PATCHS system and the telephone system which has also affected the patients accessing this as well. 

Both PATCHS and the phones are intermittent, unfortunately all callbacks are no longer accessible which if you have requested a callback we apologise as we cannot action them due to this error.  

Once we have any further information regarding a fix to the issues, we are facing we shall update this page.

We thank you for your patience and understanding and being kind to the team when calling the surgery or visiting reception whilst we fix the access problems and deal with the patients we have already received and booked in appointments.  

If you need urgent assistance, please contact 111, 111online or you can speak to the local pharmacies as they can assist with many conditions. 

Vicky - Patient services manager.

Road Closures 1^st April – 29^th August 2025 – King Lane, Alwoodley

Road to be closed between 09:30am – 15:30pm

The works are intended to take place between Tuesday 1 April 2025 and Friday 29 August 2025, subject to variation due to adverse weather conditions. The closures will be in force between 09:30 and 15:30 hours on weekdays and between 07:00 and 18:00 hours at weekends.

Individual closures will only be in place as and when required during the overall works period. Local diversions will be in place and advanced road closure warning signs detailing the days and times of the closure/restrictions will be placed on the road.

Access to premises and for emergency vehicles will be maintained.

Covid Clinics at Alwoodley Medical Centre

All patients 75 years and over and eligible 18 – 74 year olds (who are immunosuppressed) can book to have the vaccine at one of our clinics with the nurses. 

Current clinic availability: Thursday 1st May 2025

Booking Your Covid Jab

• Via NHS APP by booking into a Covid Booster OVER 75 YRS.
• Patients without a registered mobile number will be sent a letter directing them to book via calling Alwoodley medical centre on 0113 393 0119.
• Request to book through Admin on PATCHS

Lately we've been receiving a high number of requests from patients' requesting weight-loo injections.

We are not permitted currently to prescribe or refer directly for weight loss injections. However, we can offer you a 12-week lifestyle course which when completed will allow us to refer you on to a service which may provide these on the NHS. Please let us know if you wish the lifestyle appointment.

Patients must demonstrate engagement with a structured weight loss plan before they can be accepted, and that's where we can help. We're happy to support patients through our 12-week lifestyle course.

Futher infomation and advise on weight management can be found: Weight Management - Alwoodley Medical Centre

Spring 2025 Covid Vaccinations - Appointments now available - Book online (Covid Over 75's)

This spring, Alwoodley Medical Centre are providing free Covid vaccinations for eligible patients at the surgery.

Please read the below information carefully.

We are offering Covid vaccines to:

• All patients who are 75 years and over
• Patients aged 18 – 74 years who are clinically “at risk”
• All patients living in an older peoples’ care home (irrespective of age).

For full details of this season’s Covid eligibility please see the Green book guidance.

(Under 18s – we will not be able to offer Covid vaccines to any eligible under 18 year olds. These patients will need to book to have their Covid vaccine via the National Booking System).

Care Home and Housebound Patients - the first priotiry 

The Surgery is currently prioriting and visiting all care home residents and housebound patients (75 and over or otherwise eligible) to administer Covid vaccination. We will contact our homes and all eligible housebound residents as soon as we know the dates we will be visiting.

Household contacts of the above are no longer eligible for a Spring vaccination.

Covid Clinics at Alwoodley Medical Centre

All patients 75 years and over and eligible 18 – 74 year olds (who are immunosuppressed) will be invited to Alwoodley Medical Centre to have their vaccine at one of our Covid vaccination clinics. 

Booking Your Covid Jab

• Via a text message (from the Surgery) – eligible patients who have registered their mobile number with us will receive a text message with a link allowing them to book directly into one of our clinics from the text.
• Via NHS APP by bookin into a Covid Booster OVER 75 YRS.
• Patients without a registered mobile number will be sent a letter directing them to book via calling Alwoodley medical centre on 0113 393 0119.
• Dress – patients need to make sure they wear appropriate clothing to allow your upper arm to be easily accessed.

Care Home and Housebound Patients

The Surgery will ensure that all care home residents and housebound patients (75 and over or otherwise eligible) are offered the Covid vaccination. It is likely that we will provide vaccines to care home residents and housebound patients from mid-April to mid-May. We will contact our homes and all eligible housebound residents as soon as we know the dates we will be visiting.

Household contacts of the above are no longer eligible for a Spring vaccination.

• COVID-19

The prescription email address has been changed, see the new email and how to request medication through email:

 Email the medication team: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. please include your name, address, date of birth, name of the medication, the strength, and the dose. 

From Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

We would like to update you on issues affecting blood tests at GP practices in Leeds and part of Bradford.

The Pathology Service at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has recently implemented a new Laboratory Information Management System.

This is a shared system across West Yorkshire which will provide a single, seamless solution for processing pathology testing for patients having blood tests. This will allow patient test results to be viewed by clinicians across the region, regardless of where a test was obtained, and ultimately deliver a better experience for patients.

This has been a large, complex transition. Leeds hospitals receive around 10 000 blood samples every day, and the majority of these samples have been processed as usual. However, during the transition they experienced some technical issues, which impacted some patients from Leeds and Bradford who had blood samples taken at their GP practices and community centres. The result of this was that some blood tests results were delayed or were not processed, and some were sent in a format which meant that GP practices could not file them into their systems. There are a large number of technical and clinical staff in the trust and in community teams who are actively working on addressing these issues as a priority. The main technical issues are now fully resolved, and the majority of outstanding blood results have been sent to practices.

The Trust sincerely apologises to any patients and GP practice staff affected by this disruption.

The preferred way for patients to know that their test results are available is by online services; checking on the NHS App or SystmOnline/Airmid. You can see all your test results and your recent medical notes in the NHS App.

If you would like to raise a concern or provide feedback you are able to do so via the Patients Advice and Liaison Team at the Trust: https://www.leedsth.nhs.uk/patients/support/feedback-complaints/

Thank you.

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Pathology result issues across Leeds

The laboratory at Leeds Teaching Hospitals trust (LTHT), which processes & reports on all the bloods tests taken across Leeds, had a system upgrade in early December 2024.

Due to problems with this upgrade:

1. Some blood test results have been delayed in being sent back to the practice

2. Some blood test results were sent to us in an incorrect format: so will take us longer to review back in the practice

3. Some blood samples have been lost or have been discarded due to delays in processing which means they will have to be repeated

4. There may be staggered delays within a set of tests, meaning reports may not be representative. for example, a result may be marked as ‘normal’, and this communicated to the patient, but further test elements are yet to arrive (and may be ‘abnormal’).

This has been a problem across Leeds with every GP practice having to do a lot of extra work, checking and so on. Alwoodley Medical Centre staff are facing a significant extra workload caused by this issue which is entirely outside our control. Please be assured that we are working through the extra work steadily and we will be in touch with patients as and when necessary.

Our preferred way for patients to know that their test results are back / and are normal, is by checking on the NHS App. You can see all your test results and your recent medical notes in the NHS App. It is downloadable from app stores.

If you had a blood test taken here at the practice more than 4 weeks ago and there are no results showing on the NHS App, please let us know via the Patch’s contact box (choose the ‘admin’ option). If you are not able to access the NHS App, then please do give us a call to check.

If you had a blood test taken here at the practice more than 4 weeks ago, and you cannot see ALL the results from it on the NHS App please let us know.

 West Yorkshire ICB, Leeds Local Medical Committee (which represents GPs) and Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust are working together to resolve the issues. However, Leeds General Practice feels this system upgrade has been poorly handled, resulting in a lot of extra work for practices at our busiest time of year. We will continue to post updates as we get them.

Should you wish to convey your feelings to LTHT, you can contact the Patient Advice Liaison Service- https://www.leedsth.nhs.uk/patients/support/feedback-complaints/

Thank you for your ongoing support,

Alwoodley Medical Centre