THE BLACKDOWN PRACTICE
NEWSLETTER
september 2006
Our September Newsletter contains articles on:-
You may view each of these by clicking on the item listed above which will then
link you to our Newsletter.
Dr Leach
As many of you will know Dr Amanda Leach is going on six months
maternity leave from the end of September when she will be having her
fourth child. Her absence will be covered by Dr Nicola Smales who some
of you may already have met as she has done a locum session for us
recently.
Dr Smales will join the practice on 25th September and will work all day
each Monday, Wednesday afternoons and Thursday mornings. Dr Smales will
be responsible for the care of all of Dr Leach’s patients until Dr Leach
returns to work at the beginning of April.
DR
DONALD MCLINTOCK is going on sabbatical for six weeks from the
3rd November.
He will be taking part in an expedition in Patagonia being led by John
Blashford-Snell and, although he will be one of the medical officers, he
is also going to be studying glacial retreat and the impact it has on
local flowers and fauna.
We are pleased to be able to tell you that Dr Ian Barrie will be working
with us throughout November and will be working at both Dunkeswell and
Hemyock on Tuesdays, Wednesdays (all day Dunkeswell), Thursdays (all day
Hemyock) and Fridays.
Missed Appointments
Known within the practice as DNAs (did not attend) missed appointments
are a constant frustration to us, especially at busy times of the year
when the demand for appointments is at its highest.
Between 7th and 31st August this year 66 patients missed their
appointments at this practice. This equates to 91 appointments which
equals 15 wasted hours.
Whilst we accept that on occasion people may forget their appointment we
would be very grateful if you could telephone the practice in plenty of
time if you know either that you cannot attend or you no longer need to
attend so that your appointment slot can be offered to another patient.
PRACTICE CLOSURE
The practice will be closed on the afternoon of Wednesday 15th November
for training and educational sessions.
FLU CAMPAIGN 2006
We have received guidance from the Department of Health detailing which
patients should be invited to attend for a flu vaccination this year and
which groups should be given priority over others. We are obliged to
adhere to this guidance and, together with the fact that a shortage of
vaccine is already being anticipated, this means that only patients aged
65 years or over, those who are identified as being in one of the “at
risk” groups or fall into one of the government named priority areas
will be sent an invitation. We are sorry but it will not be possible to
give an appointment to patients just because they have been vaccinated
in the past as we will not have sufficient vaccine.
Following some problems last year we will be changing the format of this
year’s clinics. We plan to run two whole day sessions at Churchinford
and one whole day session at Dunkeswell which will last from 7.30 in the
morning to 7.00 in the evening. In addition we will be holding a
Saturday morning session at Hemyock. We hope that this will enable as
many people as possible to attend at a time that is convenient for them.
PLEASE NOTE
When a flu clinic is being run that particular surgery will
not be open for normal business i.e. you will not be able to see a
doctor or nurse or collect medication. Appointments with either a doctor
or a nurse will be available at one of the other surgeries on those
days.
REPEAT MEDICATION REQUESTS
Please can we remind you that if you post your repeat medication
requests you need to leave plenty of time. We have had several postal
delays recently where we have not even received the request at the time
the patient has come to collect their medication!
PICTURE DISPLAY AT HEMYOCK
We would like to thank Daniel Twyford for the two lovely displays of
photographs that are hanging in the waiting room at Hemyock. If anybody
else would be interested in displaying their artwork please do not
hesitate to contact us.
ACCESS, CHOICE, CHOOSE &
BOOK
These are the topical buzz words of the day and the government wants
everybody to be aware of them.
All patients should be able to get an appointment within 2 working days
with a GP or be able to book in advance. This is achieved in this
practice by opening up appointment sessions up to a month in advance so
that routine follow up appointments can be made, whilst also having
appointments available for patients who need to be seen more urgently.
Appointments may be allocated either by a receptionist, a triage nurse
or a GP but all appointments are freely available to all patients.
All patients should be offered a choice of hospital when they are
referred. If your doctor needs to refer you to a hospital you will be
offered a choice during your
consultation. This may be a verbal discussion, or your doctor may give
you a leaflet to help you make your choice or your doctor may use the
new Choose and Book system.
PATIENT SATISFACTION SURVEY
We will again this autumn be asking patients to complete a patient
satisfaction questionnaire which allows you to comment on the services
we provide to you. We greatly appreciate patients taking the time to
complete the questionnaire as it allows us to compare ourselves with
other practices around the country and to see where we should be working
hard to improve. Last year’s survey results can be seen in the waiting
room at each of our three surgeries.
The critical friends group is crucial to this process as together we can
identify priorities for the coming year. The current critical friends
group was dissolved after two years earlier this year and we will be
re-convening the group next month in order for it to be re-established
by the time the survey results for 2006 are available. We would like to
thank Brian Kieran, Ann Papworth, Helen Twyford and Marguerite Wall for
their invaluable help and commitment to the practice when members of the
critical friends group.
BITS & PIECES
If you need to contact the out of hours service please remember to say
that you are registered with The Blackdown Practice. Their system does
not recognise the names of Hemyock, Churchinford or Dunkeswell surgeries
and this has caused problems for them in the past when trying to
identify which practice our patients are registered with.
Please note that, although we have maintained a Saturday morning surgery
even though this is now officially designated as out of hours, we do not
open on any Saturday morning that is attached to a Bank holiday weekend.
As always, if you have any concerns regarding any aspect of care that
you have received in the practice please do not hesitate to contact me.
Wendy Eggleton, Practice Manager