Last updated: 18 July 2024

On 3 June 2024 there was a cyber (internet) attack on the NHS Hospitals in London. At present we cannot carry out routine blood, urine, stool or swab samples until further notice. We are now able to process urgent and critical tests. Tests are being prioritised in order of clinical urgency. Your clinician will tell you what priority your test is.

Urgent tests

We are able to do urgent tests as of 14 June. Your clinician will give you a form and you will need to bring this to St Thomas’ or King’s College Hospital, no appointment is needed. We cannot do these at the GP surgery. Urine, stool, and swab samples can be provided back to reception. The form has to have ‘urgent’ typed on it.

The NHS has defined ‘Urgent’ as requiring an investigation that is essential to inform short-term treatment which cannot be determined or safely administered without the investigation(s) eg 3-4 days. It is important to note that most requests for tests will not meet the above criteria.

If you have been told in the last couple of weeks that you need an urgent test and are still waiting for this, please contact us again to update us on your symptoms and we will reassess if you still need an urgent test. Use this form to submit your information online, or contact reception.

Important tests

We are able to do important tests as of 4 July. Your clinician will give you a form and you will need to bring this to St Thomas’ or King’s College Hospital, no appointment is needed. We cannot do these at the GP surgery. Urine, stool, and swab samples can be provided back to reception. The form has to have ‘urgent’ typed on it.

The NHS has defined ‘Important’ as requiring an investigation that is essential to inform short-term treatment which cannot be determined or safely administered without the investigation(s) eg 1 week. It is important to note that many requests for tests will not meet the above criteria.

If you have been told in the last couple of weeks that you need an ‘important’ test and are still waiting for this, please contact us again to update us on your symptoms and we will reassess if you still need an important test. Use this form to submit your information online, or contact reception.

Routine tests

These are not available yet. Please check this page in a few weeks for updates. Please note that routine tests are not ‘un-important’ – but rather ‘important’ is simply the word chosen by the NHS to help clarify the urgency.

Your clinician will advise you at your appointment what priority your test is. It is not possible to change this priority level. The hospital will not do blood tests and will discard samples that do not meet the above criteria. If your symptoms change, please fill in this form, or contact reception. This is a major incident which is outside of our control and we are following NHS guidance. Unfortunately we do not have a timeline for non-urgent tests to restart, but please keep checking this page for updates. Thank you for your patience.

Test results from beginning of June

We have now been advised that all results which were processed have been received by us. Therefore, if you are waiting for a result that we have not received, this has unfortunately not been processed. We are processing a list of all patients affected. If you are waiting for a test result, please complete a new appointment form or contact reception - please update us on your symptoms and we will advise you on when we can do your test.

Media reports of data leak

If you have any questions regarding media reports of implications of the cyber attack, please refer to these FAQs - (https://digital.nhs.uk/news/synnovis-cyber-incident/synnovis-cyber-incident---public-questions-and-answers).

After 30 April 2024 Nexus Health Group patients will not be able to use the Patient Access app or website to view their GP health information or order repeat prescriptions.

The NHS app offers the same functionality as Patient Access app, and it also incorporates our new online form. Patients who are not yet using the NHS app are encouraged to download it. On the NHS app you can:

- View your health information

- See your test results

- request repeat medication

- request appointments and admin support. 

If you do not wish to use the NHS app you will continue to be able to request your test results, request appointments and repeat prescriptions on the telephone or in your GP practice. The team will complete our online form for you, and you will be contacted the same day with a response. 

We are sorry for any inconvenience this will cause our patients. If you would like to attend a meeting where we can help you get started on the NHS app, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with your name, your registered GP Practice and email address. 

You can also visit your registered GP practice where the team can assist you. 

First published: 7 March 2024. Updated 14 March 2024. 

We’re changing the way you make an appointment, and request admin support.

From 22 March 2024 if you need an appointment, or if you have an admin request you will need to fill in our new online form. You will no longer be given an appointment over the telephone or when you visit the practice.

Patients will need to complete our new easy to use online form. The form asks just 3 questions about what you need. The form will then be looked at by the team and they will come back to you the same day with the next steps.

If you cannot fill in the form online, our team will fill it in and submit it for you.

Once the form has been submitted, you will be contacted with:

Appointments

• This new system will help us make the most of our appointments. You may be seen in the GP practice (face to face) or you may be offered a telephone appointment.
• We want you to see the right person at the right time, so your request will first be reviewed by one of our clinical team. You may be offered an appointment with one of our primary care team. We are a team of many different skills and qualifications and your appointment would be with someone who can best attend to your needs:
  • A GP (doctors)
  • A member of our nursing team
  • A Primary care paramedic
  • A Physicians Associate (PA)
  • An Advanced Nurse Practitioner (ANP)
  • A Healthcare Assistant (HCA)
• We want to give you more choice, so you may be offered a range of appointment slots, and you can book the time and date that works best for you.
• If an appointment is not the best result for you, we will let you know where you can go for your help. This may be managing your problem at home, speaking to one of our administrative team, or visiting a Pharmacist, or other community service.

 Prescription/medication requests

• Please submit your repeat prescription requests via the NHS App.
• Please allow a minimum of 2 working days for requests to be actioned.
• If you wish to request an item that is not on your repeat medication list, please request via the online form and select admin query.
• If you are unable to use the NHS App or complete the online form your self the team will review your prescription/medication request and email/call/text you with the next steps. This may be asking you to visit your pharmacy to collect a prescription, or you may be invited for a medication review.

 Administration requests

Requests like fit/sick notes, licence forms, DWP forms, referrals and test results will all be sent the right team within Nexus. That team will contact you the same day with a response to your query, or the information you need for next steps.

 Where is the new form?

From 22 March, you will find the form on the NHS app and our website.

• The form is faster than eConsult and easier to use because it only asks 3 questions.
• You can use the form for children, including those under the age of 1 years old.
• You can access the new form on a smart phone, tablet or computer.
• You can also submit a form on the NHS app.

I don’t have access to the internet / I cannot fill in the form.

We are here to help. If you are unable to access the online form we can complete it for you, just ask our team to assist you when they answer your call. You can also ask our reception teams at your GP practice to help you. All requests need to be made using the new form, but the team will be more than happy to fill it out for you.

Can I still telephone or visit my practice to ask for help?

You can still call us on the telephone, or visit us in person if you prefer. Our teams will not be able to give you an appointment on the call or at your visit but they will fill in the online form for you and the team will get back to you the same day with an appointment or advice/support.

Our clinical team

Your telephone or face to face appointment may be with:

• Our GP Partners or site based GPs. They lead our clinical and non-clinical multidisciplinary teams to delivery holistic care to our patients. 
• Our Physicians Associates. Physician associates are medically trained, generalist healthcare professionals, who work alongside doctors and provide medical care as an integral part of the multidisciplinary team. Physician associates are dependent practitioners working with a dedicated medical supervisor, but are able to work autonomously with appropriate support.
• Our Paramedics. Our team of Paramedics work across all Nexus sites and are highly trained in dealing with acute medical issues. They They run minor illness clinics in the surgery alongside our GPs plus also perform acute home visits for our housebound patients. 
• Our Nurses. We have a full nursing team across all our sites who have all done further training to become competent in skills needed for General Practice. Practice nurses can carry out cervical smears, immunisations, contraception reviews, wound care and chronic disease management such as asthma, COPD and Diabetes. Many Practice nurse appointments are available to book online and they also have telephone call appointments that can be booked for queries on nursing matters such as immunisations.  
• Our Health Care Assistants. Health care assistants work with the nursing team and are trained in adult immunisations, phlebotomy, wound care, ear syringing, NHS health checks, 24 hour BP monitoring and some annual reviews.
• Our Advanced Nurse Practitioners. Advanced Nurse Practitioners are experienced Nurses who have undergone several more years of advanced training in order to become Nurse Practitioners. Their role is to assess, diagnose and treat patients and they are also able to prescribe medication.
• Our Pharmacists. Pharmacists are responsible for the safe prescribing of complex and high risk medicines. They respond to central medicine alerts and conduct prescribing safety audits and adjust medication charts post hospital discharges.

Nexus Health Group have launched a programme for newly qualified GPs (who have completed their VTS within the last 3 years). The aim of this is to support their first step into primary care on completion of your CTC and to help develop future leaders and clinical influencers within primary care.

Many of our current GP partners spent time as trainee doctors at some of our sites and we recognise the importance of a supported transition from training to a salaried role within General Practice.

About us
Nexus Health Group was founded in 2016 with the coming together of a number of long established, like minded NHS GP practices. We are a well-recognised training organisation (for GP’s and allied health professionals) serving a diverse list of approximately 77,000 patients from nine practice sites all in North Southwark across a single practice list. Our GP sites are made up of established multidisciplinary teams of GPs, Advanced Nurse Practitioners (ANPs), Paramedics, Physicians Associates, Nurses, Pharmacists, Health Care Assistants (HCAs) and local administration teams. We are focused on the development of our workforce.

Our organisation is led by our GP partners, and Senior Management Team. Sites are supported by Clinical Governance Leads, and centralised back office functions providing Human Resources, Finance, Administration and IT support.

The programme
We have designed this programme specifically for newly qualified GPs within 3 years of completing their GP training to join one of our site based teams at Nexus on a salaried basis.

We are offering successful Salaried GP candidates a salary of £11,660 per session per annum, a pro rata weekly session for CPD, 6 weeks annual leave pro rata, and 1 week study leave pro rata. In addition to this the programme offers:

• The offer of a flexible working week
• A mentor from the Nexus GP partnership
• Quarterly peer support meetings
• Access to monthly Nexus wide educational meetings
• Access to training budget (by application)
• Access to monthly protected learning session with whole Nexus team
• Involvement and participation in Nexus wide transformation projects and other workstreams
• Shadowing in specialised clinics within the hospital setting or with community based specialist services