Monday 18 July 2017. Philip Hammond MP made a second visit to north west Surrey last week (Friday 14 July 2017) following the fire that devastated Weybridge Community Hospital in the early hours of Wednesday 12 July 2017. He met nurses, GPs and admin staff whose clinics and offices had been destroyed in the blaze to hear first hand how they managed to so quickly relocate clinical services from Weybridge to Walton Community Hospital to ensure local people could still access NHS health services.
He toured the hospital and health centre on Rodney Road to meet the teams, who between them relocated clinicians and administrative staff plus van loads of equipment, such as treatment couches and desks for the GP practice rooms, to set up the displaced services within 48 hours of the fire.
Philip Hammond MP says: “I was delighted to have the opportunity to visit the new temporary GP facilities and other community services in Walton Community Hospital this morning. It is remarkable that just two days after this terrible fire both GP practices, the phlebotomy service, x-ray, specialist nursing and school nursing services are ready to open their doors again. The fact that there has been hardly any break in services after such a devastating incident is a huge tribute to the commitment and hard work of staff from across the NHS to get things back up and running. The people of Weybridge owe them a huge debt.”
Weybridge resident Trevor Olney says: “I had a blood test appointment for Friday morning that I fully expected to be cancelled. Yet at 8.30am on Thursday morning, just over 24 hours since the fire, I was called by the service to confirm that my appointment would still be going ahead. I took the train from Weybridge to Walton and then walked the 15 minutes to the hospital, which is something I’m trying to do much more since I had a stroke last year. I can’t praise the NHS enough.”
Photo below: Trevor (left) with Stephen Cass (centre, CEO of CSH Surrey) and Philip Hammond MP (right).
Stephen Cass, CEO of CSH Surrey, which provides the blood testing (phlebotomy) service, says: “It has been a remarkable team effort for teams to start providing clinical services again within two days of such a major incident. Many of our nurses, therapists and administrators had worked at Weybridge Hospital for many years and for some, it has been like losing their homes. I was on site every day last week on the day of the fire and afterwards, meeting staff, the public and contractors, and have heard their stories first hand. I pay tribute to our staff and all those involved in the response – NHS partners, the borough council, county council, police, fire and voluntary sector – who have worked so hard together to do the right thing for patients and local people.”
Karen Thorburn, Deputy Accountable Officer at North West Surrey CCG, adds: “The health and care system partners in North West Surrey have been outstanding in their efforts to continue service provision for the population in Weybridge. Our team in the CCG has supported the wider system but in particular the GP practices to set up in Walton within a very short timeframe - coordinating estates, facilities, IT and infrastructure. The achievements of the staff are even more incredible given that the CCG was directly affected by the fire. There has been an incredible amount of hard work that continues to ensure services are provided. I am enormously proud of the CCG team and NWS system partnerships that have enabled the swift response to the fire.”
Photo below: Philip Hammond MP with Stephen Cass, CEO CSH Surrey (on left), Victoria Griffiths, Chief Operating Officer (left of Stephen Cass), Karen Thorburn, Deputy Accountable Officer at North West Surrey CCG (right of Philip Hammond) and Dr de Souza of Rowan Street Practice (right of Karen Thorburn).
The GP practices serve more than 24,000 people, while the school nursing service, which has moved clinics to rooms in Walton Health Centre, serves a population of 12,000 children and provides more than 4000 appointments a year. The specialist nursing services, which include respiratory, heart failure and continence services, see people in clinics and homes across the Weybridge and Walton boroughs.
Other staff who worked at Weybridge Hospital, including district nurses, walk-in centre staff, health visitors and children’s occupational therapists, physiotherapists and speech and language therapists, have been relocated to other NHS facilities in the area.
The remains of Weybridge Hospital were knocked down on Friday 14 July to render the building safe as the walls were weakened following the fire. The site has been secured by NHS Property Services who are now commissioning an expert salvage team to remove and sort through the debris to establish if any items are recoverable.
Updated service information following the Weybridge Hospital Fire (accurate as of 3.30pm on 18 July 2017) on behalf of Church Street and Rowan Tree Practices, CSH Surrey, Ashford and St Peter’s Hospitals and Virgin Care
A Helpline has been set up to help patients affected by the fire at Weybridge Community Hospital for information on the services that have been relocated 0203 297 7252.
GP services
Church Street Practice
The practice has been relocated to Burwood Ward at Walton Hospital, Rodney Road, Walton on Thames KT12 3LD. Free but limited parking on site.
For booked appointments, the practice will be calling/texting patients to confirm whether appointments are able to go ahead as planned; for those less urgent appointments, practices will rebook appointments at a later date, and will be operating a triage system to determine patients with the most need.
The current service provision is limited, including wound care, but the practice is hoping to provide normal services from early next week.
Patient are still able to call the practice using the usual telephone numbers of 01932 826 025; 01932 826 023 (which are being diverted to a single temporary telephone line which is 07825 088 989). Please can we ask for your patience if you do need to call the practice as calls make take a while to be answered. The practice is only able to run a skeleton service for the next few days, however, we would ask patients to only call if your need is urgent.
Patients can order repeat prescriptions online from their website www.churchstreetpractice.nhs.uk
Currently, the practice is unable to provide their extended access clinics. The service will be resumed as soon as possible. We apologise for the inconvenience. Opening hours are Monday-Friday 8.30am – 6:30pm. No Saturday clinics are being offered at this time.
Travel immunisations have been cancelled, if you need any vaccinations urgently, please go to Church Pharmacy on Queens Road (01932 842 632), Global Health Travel Clinic in West Byfleet Health Centre (01932 943 002), or Prime Health on Brooklands Road (01932 504 999).
Baby immunisations are being arranged as a priority.
Medical records: unfortunately a few paper records of newly registered patients were destroyed in the fire. The majority of our records are stored off site, please be reassured that more than the last 10 years of records are stored electronically, therefore we still have access to these.
If you are waiting for a private referral letter, or reports for insurance etc, you will need to contact us again to re-request this. Please be reassured that all NHS referrals are processed electronically so these should be unaffected. If you are expecting an appointment and you have not heard after 4 weeks please get back in touch.
The practice is updating their website with the latest available information relevant to their practice.
Rowan Tree Practice
The practice has been relocated to Walton Community Hospital, Rodney Road, Walton on Thames, KT12 3LD. Free but limited parking is available on site.
Patients can call 01932 826051 or 01932 826049 . Alternative numbers are also available: 07749 943 273; 07749 943 787; 07907 293 510.
At this time the practice is asking that patients do not come to the surgery unless explicitly invited by your doctor.
Appointments - Due to the fire the practice appointment book has been destroyed, therefore if you have an appointment booked up until the 3rd August please assume it has been canceled.
If you are unwell or need urgent attention the practice is running a telephone consultation service so please call the practice on their usual number.
Please do not use the online ordering for prescriptions via our website as this is not functioning.
Current Services Being Offered: Doctor triage telephone service.
Medical Records: Please be assured that your computerised medical records have been restored and are available to the doctors.
Currently, the practice is unable to provide their extended access clinics. The service will be resumed as soon as possible. We apologise for the inconvenience. Opening hours are Monday-Friday 8.30am – 6:30pm. No Saturday clinics are being offered at this time.
The practice is updating their website with the latest available information relevant to their practice. www.rowantreepractice.org.uk
Please try to use alternative services wherever possible; you can get help and advice from NHS 111, your local pharmacist or if you need to see a healthcare professional you can use the Walk-in Centres at Woking or Ashford Hospitals. We would urge people to think carefully about attending A&E unless you have a real emergency as services are likely to be particularly difficult during this time.
Prescriptions
For patients who have been provided an electronic prescription from LloydsPharmacy , 22 Church Street, Weybridge, these prescriptions have been made available to be dispensed at any local pharmacy in Weybridge of your choice. Patients will need either their NHS number or their date of birth and address details for prescriptions to be downloaded.
In some instances, for example for partially collected items, or if you have requested a paper prescription, a new prescription may be necessary. Only contact your GP practice, Church Street or Rowan Tree Practice if you require an urgent prescription for medication.
Over the weekend, if you need an urgent prescription you can contact NHS 111.
To order your paper repeat prescription, you can take your repeat order slip to any local pharmacy in Weybridge. Usual timescales will apply and the prescription will take 48-72 hours to be produced.
Please try to use alternative services wherever possible; you can get help and advice from NHS 111, your local pharmacist or if you need to see a healthcare professional you can use the Walk-in services at Woking or Ashford Hospitals. We would urge people to think carefully about attending A&E unless you have a real emergency as services are likely to be particularly difficult during this time.
Other NHS community health services
Walk-in Centre
The Walk-in Centre is not available at Weybridge. People needing advice or treatment for minor injuries or illnesses can visit either Woking or Ashford Walk in Centres. Both are open 8am to 8pm, seven days a week.
- Ashford Walk-in Centre, Ashford Hospital, London Road, Ashford TW15 3FE. Tel: 01784 884 000. Pay and display parking on site, 2 hours free parking in the nearby Tesco car park (customers only)
- Woking Walk-in Centre, Woking Community Hospital, Heathside Road, Woking GU22 7HS. Tel: 01483 846 209. Pay and display parking available on site.
X-ray via GP referral
People with GP referrals for an x-ray need to go to Walton Community Hospital, Rodney Rd, Walton-on-Thames KT12 3LB. The GP surgeries are also based at Walton Community Hospital. Tel: 01483 846 316. Free but limited parking available on site.
NB. People who go to the Woking and Ashford Walk in Centres for advice/treatment and who require x-rays will be able to have them on site after they have been seen by a nurse.
Physiotherapy (run by Ashford & St Peters Hospitals)
All appointments which were planned for Weybridge are taking place in other locations and patients will have been contacted directly. Tel: 01932 826 037 and 01932 726 733.
Surrey Community Dental Services (run by Virgin Care)
Following the fire at Weybridge Community Hospital, our service will not be operating from these premises for the foreseeable future. Please call 01483 721 546 for more information.
Children’s community health services (run by CSH Surrey)
Health Visiting: all clinics that were run at Weybridge Hospital are now being held at the Weybridge Children’s Centre Weybridge Children's Centre, Churchfield Pavilion, Churchfield Road, Weybridge, Surrey, KT13 8DB. Appointments slots will be offered. Contact the team on: 01932 826 500. Pay and display parking available locally.
Paediatric Speech and Language Therapy: the Friday clinic appointments have been moved to Weybridge Children’s Centre, Churchfield Pavilion, Churchfield Road, Weybridge, Surrey, KT13 8DB. Pay and display parking is available locally. The Thursday sessions will now be run at people’s homes or in children’s nurseries. Contact the team on: 01932 826 500.
Paediatric physio and occupational therapy services: no clinics or services were run from Weybridge Hospital, so no change or impact on children and families.
School nursing enuresis (night time bedwetting) service: the team is operating out of Walton Health Centre, Rodney Rd, Walton-on-Thames KT12 3LB. Contact the team on: 01784 883 695.
For more information, visit www.childrenshealthsurrey.nhs.uk or email ask.cfhs@nhs.net
Adult community health services (run by CSH Surrey)
Blood tests (phlebotomy): these clinics have now moved to Walton Community Hospital where the GPs are based. The address is: Rodney Rd, Walton-on-Thames KT12 3LB. Free but limited parking on site. Tel: 07738 263 092.
Wound care, ECG and injection clinics: these clinics have now moved to Walton Community Hospital where the GPs are based. The address is: Rodney Rd, Walton-on-Thames KT12 3LB. Free but limited parking on site. Tel: 07738 263 092.
Respiratory service: these services are now based on Victoria Ward, Woking Community Hospital, Heathside Road, Woking GU22 7HS. Free but limited parking on site. Tel: 01483 782 863.
Continence service: these services are now based on Victoria Ward, Woking Community Hospital, Heathside Road, Woking GU22 7HS. Pay and Display parking on site. Tel: 01483 782 890.
Heart failure service: these services are now based at Victoria Ward, Woking Community Hospital, Heathside Road, Woking GU22 7HS. Pay and Display parking on site. Tel: 01483 782 879.
For more information, visit www.cshsurrey.co.uk or email ask.csh@nhs.net
PUBLIC TRANSPORT INFORMATION
Bus service
Local bus number 459 provides a service from outside Weybridge Library to Walton Hospital approximately every hour.
Trains
Trains run regularly from Weybridge to Walton on Thames. Visit https://www.thetrainline.com/train-times/weybridge-to-walton-on-thames