News

You might have seen online or on the news that GPs can now give out a medicine called tirzepatide (Mounjaro) on the NHS to help people lose weight. While this is true in some parts of the country, it’s not yet available in South Yorkshire. 

That’s because the people in charge are still making plans for how the service will work. This includes making sure additional support for physical activity, diet and nutrition is ready too. 

We know this might be disappointing, but we ask for your patience while everything is being sorted out.

 It’s also important to know that not everyone will be able to get tirzepatide, even if they want it. The NHS has very strict rules about who can have it, and some people might not meet those rules—even though the medicine is approved. 

In the meantime, we’re here to help. Please keep talking to us about the other ways we can support your weight loss journey. And we’ll let you know as soon as there are any updates. 

Thank you for understanding.

Ecclesfield Group Practice  (July 2025)

Ecclesfield Group Practice has taken the decision to no longer prescribe sedatives for fear of flying. This policy decision has been made by the GP partners and will be adhered to by all prescribers working in the practice. The reasons for this can be found below:

• Diazepam is a sedative, which means it makes you sleepy, more relaxed and can significantly delay your reaction times. If there is an emergency during the flight it may impair your ability to concentrate, follow instructions and react to the situation.

• Sedative drugs can make you fall asleep, however when you do sleep it is an unnatural (non-REM) sleep. This means you won’t move around as much as during natural sleep. There is concern this can cause you to be at increased risk of developing a blood clot (DVT) in the leg or even the lung which can be dangerous. This risk is greater if your flight is greater than four hours.

• Whilst most people find sedative medications like diazepam have a relaxing effect, a small number of people can actually feel more agitated or even aggressive after taking it. Diazepam can also cause disinhibition and lead you to behave in a way that you would not normally.

• Prescribing guidelines doctors follow (known as the BNF), don’t recommend using benzodiazepines like diazepam in phobias. We would be acting against these guidelines if we prescribe.

• Diazepam and similar drugs are illegal in a number of countries. They may be confiscated or you may find yourself in trouble with the police if you are carrying any on arrival.

• Diazepam stays in your system for quite a while. If your job requires you to submit to random drug testing you may fail this having taken diazepam.

We appreciate that fear of flying is very real and very frightening. A lower risk approach is to tackle this properly and hopefully permanently, with a Fear of Flying course run by the airlines and we have listed a number of these below as well as some online information .

Easy Jet             http://www.fearlessflyer.easyjet.com

British Airways    http://www.flyingwithconfidence.com

Virgin Atlantic.   https://flywith.virginatlantic.com/gb/en/wellbeing-and-health/flying-without-fear.html

https://patient.info/news-and-features/how-to-manage-flight-anxiety

Update Date: 18th June 2025

Data Opt Out Information

You may be aware of a new NHS Digital initiative https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/data-collections-and-data-sets/data-collections/general-practice-data-for-planning-and-research  to extract information from GP records for research and other purposes. Patients might want to opt out of this data collection and there are 2 different requirements to opt out:

1. Type 1 data opt out - Opt out of sharing your health records - NHS

•  This is to protect GP data held on your system. Patients need to complete a form and leave it at reception. 

2. Type 2 data opt out - No time limit

This is to protect non-GP data held on your system, e.g. hospital or clinic treatment.        

• Patients can do this for themselves by visiting the Make your choice webpage.  Choose if data from your health records is shared for research and planning - NHS
• For children under 13 the form available here should be used. NHS Digital dissent form   
• For dependant adults the form available here should be used. Make_and_manage_a_choice_for_someone_else_PDF_182kb.pdf 

GP Patient Survey link

Please use the link below to access our information.  

You will need to search for us using the following information: 

ECCLESFIELD GROUP PRACT - S35 9XQ

We are making an impact! 

Our UNESCO-award winning Green Impact programme runs in universities, students' unions, healthcare, research institutes, and cultural heritage sites. No matter where it runs, Green Impact aims to engage staff with sustainability, develop widespread understanding of sustainability, and support positive action within teams and departments.

In 2022, the Green Impact model was used by 428 organisations including NHS Trusts, universities, GP surgeries, heritage sites, local councils, and research institutes in the UK, Europe and Australasia. More than 1,100 teams formed across these organisations, reaching nearly 100,000 people, and these teams completed more than 28,000 positive sustainability actions and projects. 4,382 members of staff were actively involved in a Green Impact team and 880 students were trained as volunteers, supporting both staff and students to learn about, and lead on, sustainability within their organisations.

Ecclesfield Group Practice have been part of this project and achieved the Green Impact Bronze Award 

(April 2023)

Local GP practices have teamed up to improve the way we provide weekend and evening appointment for our patients.  

This new service will begin on Saturday 1^st October it and will mean that most people will be able to book weekend and evening appointments closer to where they live. For our patients we will be providing appointments will be provided at Burncross Surgery and Fairlawns Medical Centre. 

Remote and face-to-face appointments can be made with a variety of GP practice staff including Doctors, Advance Care Practitioners, Nurses, Nurse Associates, Health Care Assistants, Physiotherapists and, Pharmacists. 

Initially appointments can be booked through you practice, but we will soon be adding the option for patients to book direct online and through NHS 111.  

There is a car park at the surgery with spaces available for a limited number of patients. Please use this when you are visiting the surgery.  If the car park is full and you need to park on the street, please try to ensure you are not blocking the local residents access to their homes.  

Many thanks

Ecclesfield Group Practice 

(May 2022)