News

We are pleased to inform you that CCTV is now operational on our premises. The primary purpose of this system is to ensure the safety and security of both our staff and patients.

Benefits of CCTV:

• Enhanced Safety: Continuous monitoring helps deter potential incidents and ensures a safer environment for everyone.
• Incident Resolution: Recorded footage can assist in resolving any disputes or incidents quickly and accurately.
• Peace of Mind: Knowing that the premises are monitored can provide reassurance to both staff and patients.

Privacy Statement: 

We are committed to protecting your privacy. The CCTV system is operated in accordance with our CCTV policy and relevant privacy laws. Footage is securely stored and only accessed by authorized personnel for safety and security purposes.

For more information, please refer to our CCTV policy, which is available for you to read.

Influenza Programme and Covid-19 Autumn Booster 2025

Covid-19 Vaccination – Autumn 2025

There has been a significant change to the national Covid-19 vaccination programme this year. Covid vaccinations will ONLY be offered to adults aged 75 years and over, residents in care homes for older adults and those who are immunosuppressed. This represents a change from the Autumn 2024 programme (which also included adults aged 65-74 and those in a clinical at-risk group) to vaccination of those at highest risk of serious disease.

Eligibility (from October 2025):

· adults aged 75 years and over

· residents in a care home for older adults

· Individuals who are immunosuppressed

Note: This is a nationally agreed change (not a local decision) and is based on JCVI advice.

· Covid-19 vaccines will only be given alongside the flu vaccine to those eligible.

Flu Vaccination – Autumn 2025

From September 2025 (early start):

· Pregnant women

· Some immunocompromised patients (for example, receiving chemotherapy)

· Children aged 2 or 3 years on 31st August 2025

Primary school children (Reception to Year 6) and Secondary school children (Years 7-11) will be offered their vaccination as part of the School Immunisation Programme.

From October 2025:

· Patients aged 65 years and over

· Those aged 18 years to under 65 years in a clinical at-risk group

· Patients in long stay residential care homes

· Carers

· Close contacts of immunocompromised individuals

· Frontline health and social care staff (patient contact)

Why October? Flu vaccine protection wanes over time, so vaccinating closer to the peak season (December–January) gives better protection.

Booking Your Vaccination

· Eligible patients will receive a text invitation with a self-booking link.

· No mobile number? The practice will call you directly.

· If your mobile number has changed or is missing, please contact the practice to update it.

Protect yourself, your family and friends, and the NHS this winter.

We strongly encourage all eligible patients to take up their free flu and Covid vaccinations when offered.

 Help with NHS App at Lichfield library

Face to face support is being offered to people who need help to set up or navigate the NHS App or web account. This support is free.

Lichfield and Tamworth libraries – pop in on Tuesday or Thursday mornings for help.

All our libraries have free PCs to use and free wifi for people to use with their own devices. Library membership is required but this is also free and simple to set up at the library.

The libraries have staff and / or IT Buddy volunteers, who are trained to support with the NHS App or web account. They resolve most set-ups and queries through walk-ins; where the issue is more complex, they may ask people to make an appointment for another day to give more time to help the person.

23 June 2025: From today (23 June 2025), following approval by NICE, tirzepatide (Mounjaro®) will be available in the NHS for eligible patients who meet the strict, nationally-set, criteria. 

The current criteria is that patients are those with a BMI of 40 or higher, and with four or more of the qualifying comorbidities (hypertension, dyslipidaemia, obstructive sleep apnoea, cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes) will be eligible for assessment to identify their suitability for Mounjaro. Anyone not meeting these criteria will not be eligible for assessment in the first year of the drug being available. 

Please do not contact your GP; if you are eligible to be assessed you will be contacted over the coming months and invited to attend an appointment for assessment. Those with the greatest clinical need will be contacted first. 

For more information about alternative local weight management services, visit the ICS website - https://staffsstokeics.org.uk/local-weight-management-services/

We are in the process of updating our Patient Participation Group. We are looking to see there are any patient of ours that would be interested in joing the PPG. We holding our first virtual Teams meeting scheduled for 24 September 2024 at 3pm and we invite any interested member to attend the meeting. Please email langtonppg@staffs.nhs.uk to express your interest.

If you have been referred by ourselfs please see the current waiting times until you will receive an appointment from the hospital. If you believe your referral has gone over the recommended waiting times please contact the hospital you was referred to and enquire with them. 

> 2WW Referral - 2-4 Weeks
> Urgent Referral - 3 - 5 Months
> Routine Referral - 6+ Months

GP practices in England are experiencing significant and growing strain with declining GP numbers, rising demand, struggles to recruit and retain staff and knock-on effects for patients.

The latest GP workforce data showed that the number of fully qualified GPs has dropped since September 2015. In July 2023, the NHS in England had the equivalent of 27,177 fully qualified full-time GPs, which is 2,187 fewer than in September 2015. The longer-term trend shows that the NHS is losing GPs at an alarming rate: over the past year (between July 2022 and July 2023) it lost the equivalent of 330 fully qualified full-time GPs and the equivalent of 358 full-time partners. This means that, on average, the NHS lost 28 fully qualified FTE GPs per month over the past year.

The number of GP practices in England has decreased by 102 over the past year – reflecting a long-term trend of closures as well as mergers primarily due to a lack of workforce. This coincides with a rise in patients. As of July 2023, there was another average of 9,834 patients registered per practice, and as a result, the average number of patients each full-time equivalent GP is responsible for continues to rise, and now stands at 2,305. This is an increase of 367 patients per GP, or 19%, since 2015, demonstrating the ever-mounting workload in general practice.

We are one of three practices working with Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care Board (ICB) to register patients from Burntwood Health and Wellbeing Centre (BHWC) which is due to close on 31^st March 2024.

Patients are being reminded to register with an alternative local practice as soon as possible to ensure that your care can continue with a GP of your choice.  Patients will no longer be registered at BHWC after 31^st March 2024.

From January 2024, patients will start to be allocated to one of three practices to ensure that they have access to services after the end of March 2024.  The three practices are:

• Darwin Medical Centre (branch name)
• Salters Meadow Medical Centre
• Langton Health Centre (Boneyhay branch site)

However, patients still have a choice to register at an alternative practice if they wish.

We would encourage you to register with a new practice as soon as possible.

To register with a new GP practice patients should contact the surgery or practice they want to register with. Alternatively, patients can find a nearby surgery using the NHS services directory at Find a GP - NHS (www.nhs.uk). This website gives further information about the practices, like opening hours and patient satisfaction survey results.

Further information including frequently asked questions can be found on the ICS website.

If you would like to register with Langton Medical Group please go to our New Patient Tab or you can click the following link to register with online: [Register with a GP surgery]

Private providers of on-line prescribing treatments for weight loss and hormonal conditions may request a review of a patient’s notes to check there are no contraindications to the prescribing.  This is non-NHS work and will not be undertaken by the Practice.  Patients can share their on-line records with their on-line private provider to obtain a full medical history.

We are receiving a significant number of enquiries about the availability of the Mounjaro weight-loss drug which has been approved by NHS England for eligible patients. NHS England has set the criteria for eligibility for the drug; this is a national policy which all NHS prescribers, such as GPs and pharmacists, are required to abide by. The criteria for weight management cannot be changed by prescribers.

Although NHS England has approved the drug, all GPs are waiting for information about how the drug will be provided to eligible patients, when, and for how long. We are also awaiting guidance about how the drug should be used by patients along with other services to support weight management, such as diet and exercise.

Current guidance is that anyone with a BMI of 40 or higher, and with four or more of the qualifying comorbidities (hypertension, dyslipidaemia, obstructive sleep apnoea, cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes) will be eligible for assessment to identify their suitability for Mounjaro. Anyone not meeting these criteria will not be eligible for assessment in the first year of the drug being available.-