Polden Medical Practice

Welcome to Polden Medical Practice

The Doctors and Staff at Polden Medical Practice in Edington and Woolavington are proud to offer the highest standard of Patient-Centred Healthcare.

We run many Clinics for the management of Chronic diseases such as Asthma and Diabetes and offer a wide variety of other medical services including Antenatal and Postnatal care, Minor surgery, Childhood Vaccinations. 

Feedback and suggestions are always welcomed by the Practice please call Helen Jackson, Practice Manager to have a confidential discussion about any concerns.

Our Vision: A Modern Country practice demonstrating excellence in Patient Centred Healthcare with a Personal and Caring approach.

Our Mission: To Be A Professional and Effective Team Supporting Each Other to put Patients at the Heart of All We Do.

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Retirement

Dr Alyson Dovell  retired from the practice on 15th July 2018.  We would like to thank her for her years of service to our patients and we send our warmest wishes to her for the future.

The provision of service will continue with the wider Primary Care Team in the interim period while we recruit Dr Dovell’ s successor. 

Dr Alyson Dovell wishes to thank all the patients for their kind wishes and gifts . "I have been truly privileged to have worked at at Polden Medical Practice and to have met and cared for such lovely patients".

"As I step into retirement and life’s next adventure I send you all my best wishes for good health and happiness".

Alyson Dovell.

Welcome to our new Registrars

We would like to welcome to the practice our two new Registrars  Rachel Bigwood and Gareth Baker.  They will strengthen the clinical team and we look forward to working with them.

Medicines for Self-Care

Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group has made certain  medicines of limited clinical value or for minor or self-limiting conditions NON FORMULARY. This means they should no longer be routinely prescribed in Somerset.

As a  practice we have been advised to no longer prescribe certain medicines that can easily be purchased at a Pharmacy or Chemist and  as a practice we have agreed to endorse this approach to prescribing medication.

Why? This decision has been taken because:

• In Somerset we are working to ensure patients feel more empowered and informed to manage their own health.

• All of these products are the same strength that the GP had been prescribing and are readily available along with advice from pharmacies, as well as some shops and supermarkets (which are often open until late)

• Some of them do not actually work very well, e.g. cough syrups

• In Somerset we spent almost £5million last year on these medicines. This money could be better spent on treating more serious conditions such as cancer, heart disease and mental health

You may seek healthcare advice from your community Pharmacy or practice, which may include a recommendation for you to self-care by purchasing your own medicines:

Please follow the links below to see the full Leaflet and which medicines you will be asked to purchase yourself at a Pharmacy, Chemist or shop

Medicines for Self-Care Leaflet

List of Medicines for Self-Care

Change in Opening Hours

From 1st February 2018, our Saturday opening hours changed and we moved all our Saturday clinics and dispensary collections to Woolavington.

We would like to assure you all that there are no plans to close Edington Surgery completely, now or in the future. All our usual Monday to Friday clinics and our daily operations are running as usual.

The main reason for making this decision was the introduction of the Improved Access to Primary Care appointments which started earlier this year, where we now provide appointments for the extended Bridgwater area on a Saturday morning.

There are notices in each branch on all our Edington medication collections, to advise our patients of the changes. If you usually collect your medication at Edington on a Saturday, please discuss this with one of our dispensary team.

Pharmacy Application Latest

Please click on this link to see the practice information leaflet

Pharmacy Application Latest

Prescription Line

For your information

The prescription line for ordering Medication opens between 10am and 1pm Monday until Friday.

Telephone Menu System

In December we  implemented a new telephone menu system and you have  five options to choose from, which will allow your calls to be diverted through to the appropriate member of our team. The telephone number is still 01278 722077

The options now available are as follows:

• Press 1 -  to book or cancel an appointment

• Press 2  - for our repeat prescription line.  This line is open (every day except weekends) between the hours of 10am to 1pm. Please Note: online ordering for repeat medication is available via your  'EMIS Patient Access Online' account.  If you don't have an account please contact the Practice reception to request one.

• Press 3 -  for test results and sick notes.  Please note this service is available between the hours of 2pm and 5pm

• Press 4 - for referrals and hospital appointments. Please note this service is available between the hours of 10am and 3pm

• Press 5 - or hold for all other enquiries

Next Scheduled Closures - 2018 (closures apply to both Surgeries):

• Thursday 16th August
• Tuesday 18th September
• Wednesday 17th October
• Thursday 15th November
• Tuesday 11th December

The Practice will be closed between  2pm to 5pm on the above dates.

For information on all upcoming closures please Click Here.

General News

Our news stories include:

• Liquid Nitrogen Service
• Named Accountable GP
• Meningitis Vaccination
• Would you like to be part of our Virtual Patient Participation Group?
  Read more...

Other Useful Information

• Prescription Ordering Advice

• Appointment Booking Guidelines