Patients

If you are well and have a planned appointment at the hospital, please attend as normal unless we contact you. Our outpatient clinics are still currently going ahead, so unless you have been contacted by the hospital, either by text, phone or letter, please attend your hospital appointment.  

However, some appointments, where it is clinically appropriate, are being changed to telephone appointments, so that you do not have to travel to the hospital. If your appointment has been changed, we will send you a text to your mobile phone, so please keep checking. If you don’t have a mobile phone, you will be contacted by either telephone or letter. If you are not contacted, please attend as planned.

If your appointment is for a clinical procedure, such as an operation, endoscopy, or scan, these too are going ahead as planned. You will only be contacted if it has been cancelled.

Outpatients are allowed one person to attend their appointments with them, as long as they comply with the Trust’s rules around restrictions.

Your health, safety and wellbeing, that of our patients, communities and staff across the organisation remain our absolute priority.

Thank you for your continued support and understanding at this challenging time.

For guidance regarding mask wearing - please see the top of this page. 

This is guidance to keep you safe when attending your appointment

Coronavirus (COVID-19) has had a major impact on the NHS and all services within the NHS. As a result, you may have waited longer than normal for your appointment and we would like to apologise for this. We recommend that you now attend your next scheduled appointment that accompanies this leaflet and want to assure you that we will have a range of measures in place to help protect you from Coronavirus.

Please DO NOT attend an appointment if you or any member of your household are suffering from any of the symptoms associated with COVID-19, are self-isolating or are awaiting the results of a test.  For more information on symptoms/shielding/self-isolating please visit https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/symptoms/

If these apply to you, please contact us to discuss it so that we can reschedule your appointment for a different time.

Contact Details

If you need to cancel or change your appointment please telephone the department on the number provided in your appointment letter.

This is guidance to keep you safe during your home visit appointment

Coronavirus (COVID-19) has had a major impact on the NHS and all services within the NHS. As a result, you may have waited longer than normal for your appointment and we would like to apologise for this. We recommend that you now receive your scheduled appointment at home and want to assure you that we will have a range of measures in place to help protect you from Coronavirus.

Please call before your appointment if you or any member of your household are suffering from any of the symptoms associated with COVID-19, are self-isolating or are awaiting the results of a test. For more information on symptoms/shielding/self-isolating please visit https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/symptoms/

If these apply to you, please contact us to discuss it before a healthcare professional visits you.

If you are identified as clinically extremely vulnerable and have been shielding, please contact us for further advice before your appointment.

Preparing for your HOME VISIT APPOINTMENT

If possible:

• In line with ELHT Trust policy, please wear a face covering for your appointment.  For guidance on how to wear and make a face mask, visit www.gov.uk and search ‘Face covering’.
• Open a window to make sure the room  where your health professional will be meeting with you is well ventilated
• Please open the doors for your health professional when they arrive and leave.  It is important that they minimise touching surfaces in your home.
• Make a space so that your health professional can see you alone. Other members of the household should maintain social distancing.
• Prior to your appointment, your health professional will ring you to go through a few questions about your health on the day

During your appointment

We have a range of measures to minimise the risk of COVID-19:

• The health professional will adhere to social distancing measures during the visit, as appropriate for the assessment/intervention
• They will be wearing personal protective equipment such as face masks, gloves and an apron
• The appointment may be shorter than usual and may partly be carried out on the phone or via video consultation where possible
• The health professional will need you to dispose of the bagged personal protective equipment in the household waste.

Due to the COVID-19 response, our service may have a reduced number of appointments available. If you choose not to have your appointment, please contact us. It is helpful for us to know why so we can help with any concerns you might have.

Contact Details

If you need to cancel or change your appointment please telephone the department on the number provided in your appointment letter.

In light of the COVID-19 outbreak, the Trust has made some changes to maternity services.

Advice and guidance for expectant mothers and their loved ones is available here.

East Lancashire Medical Services (ELMS GP Out of Hours services) delivered on the Burnley General Teaching Hospital site

In the current unprecedented conditions, and as we do everything we can to address the impact of the COVID-19 virus, a decision has been made to TEMPORARILY suspend the GP Out of Hours service delivered from the Burnley General Teaching Hospital Urgent Care Centre with effect from 6:30pm on 1 April 2020, until further notice. 

This decision has been taken to safeguard both the public and NHS employees and support the current national policy of suppressing the spread of COVID-19 by moving to telephone and video triage and treatment thereby minimising face to face contacts. As a consequence of the COVID-19 response, over recent weeks the number of GP Out of Hours face to face GP appointments has reduced dramatically.

During the period of this temporary suspension, ELMS will redeploy their staff and clinical resources across Pennine Lancashire to where it is best placed to support patient needs. There are significant increases in GP Out of Hours resources due to COVID-19, but the service needs to be delivered in a different way, with an increase in telephone and video consultations and home visits undertaken by exception, where face to face assessment is absolutely necessary.

Patients referred to the service via NHS 111 will be offered the same level of access via initial remote advice, care and support with face to face consultations still available at Blackburn and via home visits, by exception, following clinical assessment.

We realise that this may cause some inconvenience, but we are sure that our staff, patients and community understand that we are in unprecedented times and we need to react to the needs of our population and ensure that appropriate action is taken to suppress the spread of COVID-19. 

Please note, this notice only affects the GP Out of Hours service at Burnley General Teaching Hospital on a temporary basis and a full service will be reinstated as soon as possible.

All other services at Burnley General Teaching Hospital, including the Urgent Care Centre, are not affected by these changes.

Expert physiotherapists have designed a set of six simple exercises that you can do from your own home to make sure that you are getting some exercise.

Find out more on:

https://www.csp.org.uk/public-patient/keeping-active-and-healthy/staying-healthy-you-age/staying-strong-you-age/strength