Blackwater Medical Centre are hosting an open afternoon to allow our patients to see what happens behind the scenes with staff from dispensary, administration, reception and nursing teams.  Members of our Patient and Participation Group (PPG) will also be available if any of our patients are interested in joining.
 
As well as the surgery being open, we will also be in Maldon District Council Offices foyer with representation from Homestart, Action for Family Carers, Essex Knitters and Stitchers, the Alzheimers Society and many more organisations to provide information and guidance about their services.
 
Although the surgery is open, we will not be seeing patients clinically that afternoon, as this is an awareness and community event only.  
 
We look forward to seeing you there………

Mental Health Campaign

FREE service supporting people living with dementia, their carers, family and friends. Providing support, advice, signposting, fun activities and refreshments.

Plantation Hall, Heybridge CM9 4AL
Wednesday 1st October 2025, 1.00pm - 3.00pm

Working together for Essex - Dementia Friends, Kinder Essex, Essex Wellbeing Service, RCCE, Essex County Council

Blackwater Medical Centre are hosting a dementia support clinic on Friday 10th October 2025
Appointments currently available at 10am, 11am and 12pm at the Heybridge Surgery

Please contact Reception in the first instance

For Autumn 2025, COVID-19 vaccination will be offered to:

• Adults aged 75 years and over
• Residents in care homes for older adults
• Individuals who are immunosuppressed.  We are only vaccinating adults aged over 18
• Patients can also book their appointment online

This represents a change from the Autumn 2024 programme, which also included adults aged 65 to 74 and all those aged 6 months and over in a clinical risk group.

The vaccine should usually be offered no earlier than around 6 months after the last vaccine dose.

We are currently holding clinics for eligible groups on Saturday 4^th and Saturday 11th October.   Please book for these clinics after 2pm Monday - Friday

Need Housing Advice?  Call 0800 048 7967

Mounjaro

From 1st July 2025, you can now book your routine X-ray online!

If your clinician referrers you for a routine X-ray, you should bе contacted within two working days. 

Depending on the type of examination, you may receive a text message, inviting you to make an appointment using our booking portal called Swiftqueue.

Please follow the instructions to login / register an account. This will allow you to choose an appointment time that is most convenient for you, without the need of contacting the hospital directly.

If you have not heard from us after two working days, please contact the Hospital's Radiology Appointments team directly - contact details can be found on the Mid and South Essex Hospitals' website:
www.mse.nhs.uk/radiology-services

On 23rd June 2025, it was announced that people living with obesity will be able to begin accessing tirzepatide (Mounjaro®) for weight loss purposes in primary care settings. However, the national roll out does not mean all people will be able to get a prescription for tirzepatide (Mounjaro®) on this day.

Weight management services are locally commissioned at an Integrated Care Board (ICB) level. In mid and south Essex, access to tirzepatide will initially be through specialist weight management services only. Access to tirzepatide (Mounjaro®) through primary care is not expected to start in mid and south Essex until later in 2025.

NHS Mid and South Essex ICB has provided information on tirzepatide on its website - Visit the website for more information.

Due to the demand for our dementia support clinics, we are hosting another clinic on Friday 10th October 2025. If you would like more information, please leave your details at reception and someone will contact you.

Alternatively, email us at blackwater.medicalcentre@nhs.net

A safe space for people to learn new skills, expand on existing ones, and attend FREE courses developed to support mental health recovery.

Bite Size Skills

So far this year (January - March 2025) there were 16,974 appointments

484 appointments were booked, not attended and not cancelled.  

Please ensure that if you cannot keep your appointment, you let us know as soon as possible so that another patient can have it.   This is a complete waste of time and resource, and we ask our patients to please be considerate to others.   There is now an option on the phone system to cancel appointments to make it easier.

From 31st March 2025, the ICB will no longer be funding e-consult as they are trying to streamline their digital service. The chosen provider will be Accurx. Some patients may have already seen this with blood pressure monitoring.

The NHS app is still available if patients should prefer to continue using this route.

How does Accurx work?

1. A patient’s request comes in through a structured form submitted online, over the phone or by visiting the practice.
2. All requests enter a shared inbox that’s fully integrated with your clinical system.
3. The surgery team action the requests, triaging and signposting patients based on clinical need.

getUBetter is working in partnership with the NHS to provide digital support for all muscle and joint problems. See the attached information to find out how to download the app for all common musculoskeletal (MSK) injuries and conditions such as back, neck or knee pain, as well as pelvic floor health.

GetUBetter information

Evening and weekend appointments are available at this GP practice or at an NHS service nearby.