Hoyland Medical

Hoyland Medical Together for a stronger, healthier community

20/07/2026

IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT PRIVATE SPECIALIST TREATMENT AND NHS GP PRESCRIBING

We know that many patients choose to access private healthcare for a range of reasons, including menopause care, ADHD, gender services, skin conditions and more.

If you are considering private treatment, it is important to understand that a recommendation from a private specialist does not automatically mean your GP can provide an NHS prescription or take over your ongoing care.

When a GP prescribes medication, they take full clinical responsibility for that treatment. This includes ensuring it remains appropriate, arranging any necessary monitoring (e.g. blood tests), managing side effects and reviewing treatment over time.

GP practices are not required under the NHS GP contract to prescribe medications recommended by private specialists or to undertake the monitoring associated with those treatments. Our surgery must ensure that any care we provide is safe, within our expertise, and supported by the resources available to NHS primary care.

For this reason, we have a consistent practice policy that we do not routinely take over prescribing or monitoring for treatments started by private providers. This applies to all privately initiated specialist treatments and is not specific to any one condition.

If you are planning to see a private specialist, we recommend asking them before starting treatment whether they will continue to provide your ongoing prescriptions, monitoring and follow-up, and what the likely ongoing costs will be.

Thank you for your understanding as we continue to provide safe, equitable and consistent care for all our patients.

08/07/2026

🇬🇧 We know us Brits love a good queue…

…but this is one queue you really don’t need to join!

Many patients are queueing at the reception desk just to check in for their appointment, even though our self check-in machine* is quick and easy to use.

The reception queue isn’t just for checking in. Our reception team are also:
📅 Booking appointments
📞 Answering enquiries
📝 Helping with forms and requests
💬 Providing advice and information
…and much more

That means even one person at the desk can potentially take several minutes, creating a long queue behind them.

On a few occasions, patients have sadly missed their appointment because they were still waiting in the reception queue to check in. We’d hate for that to happen to you.

If you’re here for an appointment, please use the self check-in machine. It only takes a few moments and helps keep everyone moving.
If you have a question or need help with anything else, our reception team will be happy to assist you at the desk as usual.

Thank you for helping us reduce waiting times and keep appointments running smoothly for everyone.

(*Hoyland only, not Cape Horn)

18/06/2026

📣 High Green branch - opening hours

From Thursday 2nd July, Cape Horn will be closed on Thursdays. Going forwards, Thursday morning appointments will be moved across to Hoyland.

As ever, it continues to prove difficult to adequately staff 2 separate sites throughout the week.

There will be no overall change to the number of appointments available, and no reduction in the number or range of services we provide.

*The last Thursday opening at Cape Horn will be next week (25th June).*

Thank you

📅 Missed appointments (DNA - Did Not Attend)Over the first 5 months of this year, our surgery has recorded more than 600...
10/06/2026

📅 Missed appointments (DNA - Did Not Attend)

Over the first 5 months of this year, our surgery has recorded more than 600 missed appointments - that’s **over 100 appointments every month**.

These missed appointments happen across all parts of the practice team, including GPs, nurses, pharmacists and phlebotomy services.

When an appointment is not attended, our clinicians don’t stop working - they use the time to carry out important behind-the-scenes tasks such as:
*signing prescriptions
*reviewing test results
*writing referral letters
*completing clinical administration

This work is essential to patient care and helps keep services moving. However, appointment slots are planned so clinicians are available and ready to see patients.
When an appointment isn’t used, it often means another patient who needed to be seen that day has missed that opportunity and their care may be delayed.

If you can no longer attend your appointment, please let us know as early as possible so we can offer the slot to someone else.

❗️REMEMBER : A MISSED APPOINTMENT IS A MISSED OPPORTUNITY FOR ANOTHER PATIENT❗️

You can read more about our Did Not Attend (DNA) policy on our website:
https://hoylandmedicalpractice.nhs.uk/practice-policies/

Thank you for helping us make the best use of appointments and support access for everyone in our community.

27/05/2026

We’ll skip the usual “drink water and wear sunscreen” post today ☀️😎

Instead… a quick warning about something many of us keep in the car: hand sanitiser.

Alcohol-based sanitiser is flammable, and cars can turn into ovens during hot weather. The risk is low, but bottles can leak, swell, or - very rarely - ignite if there’s a spark nearby.

A few simple tips:
• Keep sanitiser out of direct sunlight
• Store it in the glove box or shaded areas
• Don’t keep it next to chargers, batteries, or lighters
• Replace bottles that are leaking or swollen

Basically: treat it like any other alcohol product - useful, but not something that enjoys a heatwave either 🔥🚗

(And yes… still wear sunscreen.)

We were well and truly in the Easter spirit today with our staff Easter fuddle 🐣🌸 An amazing spread of food (seriously…...
02/04/2026

We were well and truly in the Easter spirit today with our staff Easter fuddle 🐣🌸
An amazing spread of food (seriously… we won’t need to eat this evening!) and some incredibly creative Easter egg designs – a lot of talent on display! 🎨🥚

A big thank you to all our colleagues who got involved, and a special shoutout to Shareen for organising this and helping spread some much-needed cheer after a tough few weeks. Moments like this make such a difference and were very much appreciated by the whole team 😊

Wishing everybody a happy and peaceful Easter.
Surgery reopens on Tuesday 7th April at 0800.

19/03/2026

We would like to sincerely thank our patients and the wider community for the overwhelming support shown following the recent physical assault on a member of our team.

We have received a huge number of kind messages from well-wishers, and we truly appreciate every single one. Your support has meant a great deal to us all.

We are pleased to share that our colleague is now back at work and seeing patients.

As a practice, we are actively reviewing how we can further improve staff safety in response to rare incidents like this. However, this will never come at the cost of inappropriate or irresponsible prescribing.

‘First do no harm’ remains the guiding principle of our work. Ensuring we act in the best interests of our patients will always be our priority. We understand that at times this may lead to disagreement or frustration, but we kindly ask that concerns are raised in a respectful and constructive manner. Violence or abuse is never acceptable.

Thank you again for your continued support.

11/03/2026

A member of our team was physically attacked during a consultation today. They are currently in hospital.
And for what reason? For trying to prescribe safely and responsibly.

It is bitterly ironic that only a few weeks ago we posted about safe painkiller prescribing and our commitment to playing our part in reducing the harm and crime associated with dangerous drugs in our community. Today, one of our own became a victim of that very problem.

Healthcare workers come to work every day simply trying to do their best for the communities they serve. No doctor, nurse, receptionist or member of staff should ever have to fear being abused or assaulted for doing their job.

We are incredibly grateful to the colleagues who intervened and helped defuse the situation before it escalated even further.

Many people reading this will think, “I would never attack someone who is trying to help me.” But situations like this do not start with physical violence. They grow from a culture where respect for GP surgery staff is increasingly lacking. Our reception team faces verbal abuse almost every single day simply for trying to help patients navigate a system that is under enormous pressure.

We understand people’s frustration about not being able to get a GP appointment when they want one. We are patients too. But this is not a situation of our making. Our staff are working relentlessly - often 'behind the scenes', unpaid in the evenings and weekends catching up on clinical administration, signing prescriptions and reviewing test results. The reality is that we cannot physically do any more than we already are.

For many years, successive governments have asked Primary Care to do more and more with less and less resource allocation. Please do not direct your anger at the people who are doing their absolute best to keep your local health service running.

Today our whole team is shaken and upset. Our thoughts are with our much-loved colleague, and we wish them a full and speedy recovery.

If you value your GP surgery and the people who work here, please show them the respect and kindness they deserve. A kind word goes much further than people realise 💙

🔕 Misleading reporting from the BBCNo, GPs are not on commission and WILL NOT be receiving thousands of pounds in “bonus...
24/02/2026

🔕 Misleading reporting from the BBC

No, GPs are not on commission and WILL NOT be receiving thousands of pounds in “bonuses” to prescribe weight-loss injections for patients!

The extremely tight eligibility criteria set by NHS England for Mounjaro injections remain in place. *The vast majority of patients will not qualify*. For those that do, we will refer those patients to the weight management clinic if they wish - but whether that clinic prescribes Mounjaro or not has nothing to do with the GP surgery, and we do not stand to receive any payments if it is prescribed.

This misleading article is referring to a total funding of £3000 that a practice may receive over the course of a full year, if that practice takes on Mounjaro prescribing work on behalf of weight loss clinics.
Note: NHS England subcontracted its weight loss services to private providers who charged significant sums but failed to deliver. They are now asking GP surgeries to pick up the workload instead.

Managing Mounjaro safely requires extensive pre-treatment checks and ongoing follow-up appointments. With limited staff and resources, we must prioritise care for patients who are unwell.

Hoyland Medical Practice will not be diverting our resources/appointments to offering weight-loss injections, and we will instead leave this up to the weight loss clinics that are commissioned to do it.

Thank you

09/02/2026

💊 Early Requests for Pain Medication

We are receiving increasing numbers of early prescription requests for medications such as morphine, codeine, co-codamol, pregabalin, and gabapentin.

Substance misuse and medication diversion are significant issues locally, affecting both individual health and community safety. As a Practice, we have a responsibility to protect our patients and our wider community.

⸻

❌ From now on, we will not issue early prescriptions for painkillers

Common reasons such as medication being lost, spilled, stolen, taken incorrectly, or needed early for holidays cannot be accepted under this policy.

⸻

✔️ The only exception:

Early prescriptions may be provided only for travel abroad, and this must be supported with proof of a flight/ferry ticket booked in the patient’s name.
UK holidays are not included, as prescriptions can be sent electronically to a pharmacy within the UK.

⸻

We understand this policy may be unpopular with some, but it is necessary to help reduce addiction and the unsafe sharing or selling of prescription painkillers.

All early requests will be automatically declined with a link to this post and our updated website policy. For requests that meet the exception criteria, please speak to a member of staff on the phone rather than submit a request online.

Note: this policy applies to PAINKILLER medication only.

Thank you for your understanding.
– The Practice Team

Address

The Hoyland Centre, High Croft, Hoyland
Barnsley
S749AF

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 7pm
Tuesday 8am - 6pm
Wednesday 8am - 6pm
Thursday 8am - 6pm
Friday 8am - 6pm

Telephone

+441226355800

Website

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