RIVERSIDE REFLECTIONS NOW BRIGG SURGERY IS AGAIN OPEN FOR FACE-TO-FACE CONSULTATIONS

Face-to-face appointments alongside telephone and video consultations are again being offered by Riverside Surgery in Brigg and Broughton - something that many local patients will be very pleased about.
The surgery in Brigg was undergoing a revamp and extension in the early stages of the national Coronavirus emergency. When the building work was completed, lockdown still applied.
Some people took to social media to suggest the Brigg surgery should then have reopened to offer face-to-face appointments, while some others accepted it remaining closed for the time being.
As one of those registered with Riverside, we were pleasantly surprised to receive a recent call from staff and duly attended at the Brigg surgery for a face-to-face appointment. We had been assigned to Riverside Surgery at Broughton over recent months.
Staff at both surgeries have been most helpful, but it was good to be back inside the Barnard Avenue facility once again - removing the travelling time to our neighbouring town and also the cost of these journeys.
Volunteer marshals were on duty at Brigg Riverside during our face-to-face visit to assist patients and help to ensure social distancing.
While waiting to be seen at Riverside, we reflected on visits made to previous practice premises since the early 1960s.
Doctor John Foxton used rooms at what's now the tall block of flats between Bridge Street's petrol station and the top of Mill Lane back then. He administered many childhood 'jabs' against polio and other diseases.
By the late 1960s/early 1970s, the practice had relocated to another tall building - The Cedars, on Bigby Road, near the Monument roundabout, which had once been a sizeable domestic residence (today occupied by a computer software company).
The new purpose-built Riverside Surgery, on Barnard Avenue, won Brigg Town Council's best building award in 1989, while the redevelopment received the same accolade for 2020.
The surgery has moved with the times and patients with smartphones now receive messages and updates about appointments through this technology. People on Riverside's list can also use the Messenger service available on Facebook to exchange information with staff.