Tuesday, July 24, 2012
News From the Doctors - Dr Sophie Barrow
A GP registrar is a qualified, registered doctor who undertakes additional training to be able to specialise in general practice. Dr Barrow, our GP registrar will complete her training with us shortly and be leaving to embark on her career as a GP. We wish her well and hope she will come back to visit us from time to time. We will soon be welcoming a new GP registrar, Dr Andrew Senior.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Talking to Receptionists about a Problem
You are not under any obligation to tell the receptionist what your problem is. However they are bound by the same rules of confidentiality as the doctors and nurses and from time to time they may ask you some questions in confidence. Knowing a little about the nature of your problem allows them to offer you the most suitable service available.
The Acute Same Day Service
Background
The Coleridge Medical Centre looks after the health and well being of almost 16,500 patients over a very wide and rural geographical area, known to have a high count of residents with long term and often complex health conditions.
Offering a consistent and high quality NHS service to that many people can be quite a challenge. Until recently patients with an urgent problem were seen at the end of GP's routine surgery. When you consider that up to ninety patients a day ask to be seen urgently there was often difficulty fitting these patients in to be seen. We also became concerned that waiting until the end of the day could delay treatment.
As a result of the ever increasing demand for same day appointments and a scramble at 08:30am to get an evening slot, we decided to adopt a new approach. The main benefit is that regardless of when you ring, you will always be able to talk to one of the On Call team; either a GP or a Nurse Practitioner. (If needed) they will always see you that day or at an agreed date in the future. This means faster access to care when it is needed most.
We call this new service the Acute Same Day Service.
So how does it work?
Every day a GP and up to two Nurse Practitioners answer all urgent requests for help. They will talk to you on the phone and, if needed, see you as soon as necessary.
If you are suddenly unwell we encourage you to use this service rather than wait to talk to your own GP who may be delayed calling you back.
So what do I do?
You call us on the usual number (01404 814447). A receptionist will answer your call and take a number we can reach you on. Please give her some brief details of your problem if you feel able to do so - this will help the On Call medical team enormously.
One of the team will then call you back. They will either help you over the phone and/or arrange for you to be seen.
You can call at any time. There is no longer any need to call first thing in the morning in order to be seen.
What is a nurse practitioner?
We have two highly skilled Nurse Practitioners, Christine Hellier and Phillipa Evans. Both Chris and Philly have many years nursing experience and degree qualifications to enable them to work as Nurse Practitioners who can independantly prescribe medication.
What do Nurse Practitioners do?
- See patients with a wide variety of problems
- Assess patients
- Examine patients
- Screen patients for early signs of illness as well as treat them
- Prescribe some medications
- Arrange necessary investigations
- Refer on to doctors or other services
- Arrange for a patient to be admitted to hospital
We recognise that this is a big change from the traditional GP service that many of you know and have valued over the years. We are very much committed to personal lists and will continue to provide routine appointments with your own doctor. However we are confident that our on the day team are highly skilled and experienced to be able to deal with urgent acute problems for you.
The Coleridge Medical Centre looks after the health and well being of almost 16,500 patients over a very wide and rural geographical area, known to have a high count of residents with long term and often complex health conditions.
Offering a consistent and high quality NHS service to that many people can be quite a challenge. Until recently patients with an urgent problem were seen at the end of GP's routine surgery. When you consider that up to ninety patients a day ask to be seen urgently there was often difficulty fitting these patients in to be seen. We also became concerned that waiting until the end of the day could delay treatment.
As a result of the ever increasing demand for same day appointments and a scramble at 08:30am to get an evening slot, we decided to adopt a new approach. The main benefit is that regardless of when you ring, you will always be able to talk to one of the On Call team; either a GP or a Nurse Practitioner. (If needed) they will always see you that day or at an agreed date in the future. This means faster access to care when it is needed most.
We call this new service the Acute Same Day Service.
So how does it work?
Every day a GP and up to two Nurse Practitioners answer all urgent requests for help. They will talk to you on the phone and, if needed, see you as soon as necessary.
If you are suddenly unwell we encourage you to use this service rather than wait to talk to your own GP who may be delayed calling you back.
So what do I do?
You call us on the usual number (01404 814447). A receptionist will answer your call and take a number we can reach you on. Please give her some brief details of your problem if you feel able to do so - this will help the On Call medical team enormously.
One of the team will then call you back. They will either help you over the phone and/or arrange for you to be seen.
You can call at any time. There is no longer any need to call first thing in the morning in order to be seen.
What is a nurse practitioner?
We have two highly skilled Nurse Practitioners, Christine Hellier and Phillipa Evans. Both Chris and Philly have many years nursing experience and degree qualifications to enable them to work as Nurse Practitioners who can independantly prescribe medication.
What do Nurse Practitioners do?
- See patients with a wide variety of problems
- Assess patients
- Examine patients
- Screen patients for early signs of illness as well as treat them
- Prescribe some medications
- Arrange necessary investigations
- Refer on to doctors or other services
- Arrange for a patient to be admitted to hospital
We recognise that this is a big change from the traditional GP service that many of you know and have valued over the years. We are very much committed to personal lists and will continue to provide routine appointments with your own doctor. However we are confident that our on the day team are highly skilled and experienced to be able to deal with urgent acute problems for you.
News from the Doctors - Dr Kate Gurney
Dr Gurney is delighted to have been offered a role as a 'Games Maker' volunteer for the Paralympics in late Ausgust. She will be working as a GP in the Sailing Village at Portland and Weymouth looking after the athletes and their 'Olympic Family' for the 2 week duration of the Paralympics competition. It will be a very exciting opportunity and she has already been on some training days to understand how the medical services will operate during the Games period. However she awaits her new Games Maker uniform with some trepidation!
News from the Doctors - Dr Jean Brown
A message from Dr Jean Brown, following her recent retirement.
"It has been a privilege to work at the Coleridge Medical Centre for 28 years and be part of the life of the community with all its joys and sorrows. Thanks to those people who have sent such kind messages, and best wishes to all."
"It has been a privilege to work at the Coleridge Medical Centre for 28 years and be part of the life of the community with all its joys and sorrows. Thanks to those people who have sent such kind messages, and best wishes to all."
Patient Participation Group
Overview
A patient participation group was established in this Practice in December 2011 and meets periodically to consider the range and quality of services provided by the Practice.
The group met for the first time last December. We started by considering and agreeing the format for the next patient survey, and the additional questions we wanted to include. We met again in February 2012 to review the survey results and agree an action plan. We plan to meet at least quarterly ongoing to review progress generally and consider other shared areas of interest.
Aims of the Group
To maintain a small patient group of eight to ten members, who will meet periodically to consider the range and quality of services provided by the Practice. The outcome of the meetings and shared views will be displayed in the surgery, on the website and in the Practice newsletter.
Agreed areas of priority
Patient group members will be invited to engage periodically with practice representatives, to discuss and agree practice priorities, as well as help identify areas of focus for practice surveys, using the following headings; Patients' priorities and issues, Practice priorities and issues, planned practice changes.
Group membership
Our aim is to keep the group relatively small (ideally 8-10 members but no more than 12 maximum). We try to select patients who represent specific groups of patients in terms of their experience of the care and service that is offered by the Practice and the clinical staff e.g. Children and young people, families, the working population, elderly patients, ethnic minorities, patients with a long term medical condition or physical or mental disability, Carers etc. Young people are ably represented by two students from the local secondary school.
Links to other groups
Ottery St Mary Hospital League of Friends, Ottery St Mary Locality Health Team, Primary Care Health Team, Practice Partnership, Local Links, Health Watch, Health & Well being Boards, Devon Carers Centre.
How to contact the group
Members can be contacted individually or collectively via the Practice. We can forward messages to group members on your behalf. General issues can be addressed directly to the Practice by telephone - 01404 814447 or email coleridgemedicalcentre.co.uk
Joining the Group
If you are interested in becoming a member of our Patient Group, we would be pleased to hear from you, as we maintain a waiting list of interested patients.
Please contact Sue Stokess, Practice Manager on 01404 814447 or speak to any of the GP's.
Relevant Documents
Documents relating to Patient Participation can be found on the Practice website by clicking on the following links:
- Patient group ground rules/terms of reference
- Patient survey results - IPQ in Practice Questionnaire
- Patient survey results - Practice questions
- Annual report and action plan
A patient participation group was established in this Practice in December 2011 and meets periodically to consider the range and quality of services provided by the Practice.
The group met for the first time last December. We started by considering and agreeing the format for the next patient survey, and the additional questions we wanted to include. We met again in February 2012 to review the survey results and agree an action plan. We plan to meet at least quarterly ongoing to review progress generally and consider other shared areas of interest.
Aims of the Group
To maintain a small patient group of eight to ten members, who will meet periodically to consider the range and quality of services provided by the Practice. The outcome of the meetings and shared views will be displayed in the surgery, on the website and in the Practice newsletter.
Agreed areas of priority
Patient group members will be invited to engage periodically with practice representatives, to discuss and agree practice priorities, as well as help identify areas of focus for practice surveys, using the following headings; Patients' priorities and issues, Practice priorities and issues, planned practice changes.
Group membership
Our aim is to keep the group relatively small (ideally 8-10 members but no more than 12 maximum). We try to select patients who represent specific groups of patients in terms of their experience of the care and service that is offered by the Practice and the clinical staff e.g. Children and young people, families, the working population, elderly patients, ethnic minorities, patients with a long term medical condition or physical or mental disability, Carers etc. Young people are ably represented by two students from the local secondary school.
Links to other groups
Ottery St Mary Hospital League of Friends, Ottery St Mary Locality Health Team, Primary Care Health Team, Practice Partnership, Local Links, Health Watch, Health & Well being Boards, Devon Carers Centre.
How to contact the group
Members can be contacted individually or collectively via the Practice. We can forward messages to group members on your behalf. General issues can be addressed directly to the Practice by telephone - 01404 814447 or email coleridgemedicalcentre.co.uk
Joining the Group
If you are interested in becoming a member of our Patient Group, we would be pleased to hear from you, as we maintain a waiting list of interested patients.
Please contact Sue Stokess, Practice Manager on 01404 814447 or speak to any of the GP's.
Relevant Documents
Documents relating to Patient Participation can be found on the Practice website by clicking on the following links:
- Patient group ground rules/terms of reference
- Patient survey results - IPQ in Practice Questionnaire
- Patient survey results - Practice questions
- Annual report and action plan
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
EPS Electronic prescription service is now available in this Practice
What does this mean for me?
Your Doctor now has the ability to apply an electronic signature to a prescription instead of a handwritten signature, making it the legal entity against which medication can be dispensed. This will then be sent electronically to your chosen pharmacy or dispenser. You will need to nominate the place where you wish to collect your medication, which could be a pharmacy near to where you live, work or shop. Patients can go straight to the pharmacy of their choice to pick up their medication, without having to visit the practice or send in an SAE.
How do I nominate my choice of pharmacy?
By making a request to your pharmacy or the Receptionist or GP at the surgery. Patients can request for their nomination to be set, changed or removed at any time
What will we achieve from this?
Greater efficiency, safer working
Is this service right for you?
Yes if you have a stable condition and you:
• Don’t want to go to your GP Practice every time to collect your repeat prescription.
• Collect your medicines from the same place most of the time.
• Use a prescription collection service now.
Ask any pharmacy or dispensing appliance contractor that offers EPS or your GP Practice to add your nomination for you.
Your Doctor now has the ability to apply an electronic signature to a prescription instead of a handwritten signature, making it the legal entity against which medication can be dispensed. This will then be sent electronically to your chosen pharmacy or dispenser. You will need to nominate the place where you wish to collect your medication, which could be a pharmacy near to where you live, work or shop. Patients can go straight to the pharmacy of their choice to pick up their medication, without having to visit the practice or send in an SAE.
How do I nominate my choice of pharmacy?
By making a request to your pharmacy or the Receptionist or GP at the surgery. Patients can request for their nomination to be set, changed or removed at any time
What will we achieve from this?
Greater efficiency, safer working
Is this service right for you?
Yes if you have a stable condition and you:
• Don’t want to go to your GP Practice every time to collect your repeat prescription.
• Collect your medicines from the same place most of the time.
• Use a prescription collection service now.
Ask any pharmacy or dispensing appliance contractor that offers EPS or your GP Practice to add your nomination for you.
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