A SOUTH East Cornwall health practice has issued a statement to patients detailing the extraordinary pressures it is currently facing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Tamar Valley Health GP practice, which has surgeries in Callington and Gunnislake, has asked for the public to be patient as its staff face these increased demands, and outlines steps patients can take to help. In his message, Mark Stone Pharmacist Partner, TVH Partners, and TVH Managers, says: “Right now the pressures on the NHS are undeniably huge and relentless, as I am sure you will have seen the concerning headlines in the media, and this is unfortunately true for Tamar Valley Health GP practice. Every week we are battling staff shortages because of COVID self-isolation and illness, some weeks we have lost nearly 100 hours of clinician time.

“On the other hand we are seeing a gigantic increase in demand for appointments because of the backlog of work caused by the COVID pandemic.

“Our staff arebeing fantastic, they are making a massive effort ensuring we can provide you with the healthcare you need. They have been working enormous amounts of additional hours to support our patients every day, and extra to provide a local, convenient COVID and influenza vaccination centre at the Callington Town Hall. We take every day over 500 telephone calls, provide daily over 250 GP appointments, many of those face to face, over 400 clinician appointments, we dispense over 1,000 prescription medicines, and deal with 100s of patient questions.

“We are very proud of our winter vaccination programme — so far we have done over 6,700 vaccinations of COVID and influenza this season with another 7,000 to be done.

“I write this plea to you our patients because we are genuinely heading into one of the toughest winters for the NHS that we have seen in over a generation. We are seeing the pressures of pent-up demand for appointments, COVID backlog of delayed work, and the unavoidable staff shortages.

“This means that we will need to ask you our patients to support the practice and our staff, so we can meet the healthcare needs of all our patients where possible over this winter season”

It was recently reported that, due to a shortage of pharmacists affecting the Lloyds chemist branch in Callington, and creating pressures on shop staff, the town’s Mayor and Portreeve, Cllr Mike Tagg, town councillors and the Callington Town Forum had stepped in to help by issuing online information and a plea for the public to show courtesy and patience, and also arranging for a member of staff to deal exclusively with answering phone calls so others could concentrate on their dispensing duties uninterrupted.