Practice News

Why is your GP Practice under pressure?

Please see the attached information leaflets which explain why your practice is under pressure:

5 reasons why? and Why is your practice under pressure?

2026 Public Holidays

Thursday 1st January 2026 & Friday 2nd January 2026

Friday 3rd April 2026 & Monday 6th April 2026

Monday 4th May 2026 & Monday 25th May 2026

Monday 20th July 2026

Monday 28th September 2026

Friday 25th December 2026 & Monday 28th December 2026

Practice Newsletter

The GP Partners are pleased to announce the return of our practice newsletter, written by Dr Umarah Ali.  Please select the link below to view:

Winter 2024 Newsletter: - ENGLISH VERSION

Winter 2024 Newsletter - URDU VERSION

Autumn 2024 Newsletter - ENGLISH VERSION

Autumn 2024 Newsletter - URDU VERSION

Spring 2025 Newsletter - ENGLISH VERSION

Summer 2025 Newsletter - ENGLISH VERSION

Winter 2025 Newsletter - ENGLISH VERSION

Practice Changes

Date posted: July 2025

 New Staff

There have been a few changes to our staff over the last 12 months as below:

GP - Dr Roy has returned from a period of maternity leave

Administration - We have 3 new administration team members join the practice in the last 12 months.  

Nursing -  Following retirement of Alison Clark and Morag Smith, we have a new Practice Nurse Kathleen.

Appointment Booking

The practice is currently struggling with the demand for appointments with the GP of your choice given sickness absence and a huge increase in demand for both urgent and routine care.  We do believe that continuity is important but unfortunately it may not always be possible to consult with your usual GP.  We kindly ask that patients do not express their frustration with our Reception Team as they have no control over our GP rota or appointment capacity.  We are doing our very best to provide safe, urgent care for patients who are most in need which unfortunately means that we have less routine availability.  Verbal abuse towards our staff has unfortunately become a worrying issue which results in staff shortages, which in turn causes further delays in practice.  We regularly conduct audits of our telephone system and I have provided figures below of calls which are being received in practice on a monthly basis since December 2023 (this does not include prescription line requests).  These figures are purely answered calls:

• December 2023 - Nithsdale Road:11128  &  Merryvale Surgery: 5239
• January 2024 - Nithsdale Road:12540  &  Merryvale Surgery: 6424
• February 2024 - Nithsdale Road:11242  &  Merryvale Surgery: 6581
• March 2024 - Nithsdale Road:9853  &  Merryvale Surgery: 6138
• April 2024 - Nithsdale Road: 9459  &  Merryvale Surgery: 7091

 

Misinformation - Message to our patients

Date posted: 13/05/2022

Patients may be aware that there has been some recent misinformation about General Practice in some parts of the media and on social media. We would like to reassure our patients that we have been open throughout the pandemic.  Although recent government guidance has removed the use of mandatory face masks in public places, face masks are still a requirement in a health care setting.  The practice ask that all patients continue to wear a face mask when entering the practice as we are now actively seeing patients who are suffering from covid.  We are working to strict infection control guidelines when seeing our patients who have active symptoms but we must keep all patients safe from any risk of exposure.

We are doing our best to increase the number of "in practice" consultations.  You will initially be booked for a telephone consultation by a GP/Registrar or ANP.  Please be assured that if we require to review you following your telephone consultation, an appointment will be arranged later that day or at another time which is more suitable.  This service will continue for the foreseeable future. 

We understand that the past few years have been difficult and exhausting for everyone and are conscious that this has led to an increase in the number of patients becoming distressed and anxious. All our staff have been working extremely hard to provide the best service they can in challenging circumstances and we are very grateful for the patience and appreciation shown by most of our patients. As always, however, we will support staff on the occasions they are faced with rudeness, and abuse will not be tolerated.