St Catherine’s Surgery
Newsletter
Winter 2016/17
Updates
/St Catherine’s SurgeryNewsletter | Winter / 3
We would like to thank all our patients for their support and patience during the merger process.
We can only apologise for the continuing problems some patients have experienced when trying to contact the surgery. As you may be aware, the telephone system was upgraded in April 2016 and we had hoped this upgrade would eradicate all of the previous issues and whilst we have witnessed vast improvements we also appreciate there are still some concerns. We continue to hear that patients, and other service providers, are often on hold for some time and in some cases have reported being cut off and we continue to report these instances to Wirral Community NHS Trust in order that they can be investigated. We appreciate that this does little to alleviate patient frustration but we have been informed there is nothing more we can do. Within the surgery we have ensured that reception is fully staffed in order to deal with the volume of telephone calls and reduce the time patients are on hold; indeed we have recently taken on additional members of reception staff to help manage demand. From a patient’s perspective, it may feel like no one is available to answer their calls but this is not the case, it is just that staff are busy dealing with other patients. Hopefully this offers some assurance that we are aware of the issues and continue to work hard to resolve them; we are only too aware the damage this has done to the Practice reputation over the last few years.
Once you get through and speak to the reception team we can only apologise for any difficulty you may have experienced when trying to obtain an appointment. As we are sure you may be aware, the demand on our services has been growing for many years and regrettably the resources within General Practice have not kept pace with this demand. In order to manage this demand and ensure we continue to provide the best service we can we have to continually review how we balance demand and access in order to provide timely access based on clinical need. If we understand the nature of your problem the receptionists can then navigate you to the most appropriate clinician or service. For example, many problems can be dealt with over the telephone or it may be that a nurse appointment may be more appropriate or the walk-in centre may be best placed to assist; if you tell us what the problem is it is much easier for us to prioritise and deal with the most ill patients first.
We have a number of urgent on-the-day appointments that you can book into on any given day as well as advanced routine pre-bookable appointments which are released daily. When these appointments have all been allocated, any excess acute demand is managed by the on-call GPs. Notwithstanding the standard daily GP surgeries, the on-call GPs are also managing an average of 60 additional patients each day that would otherwise have been turned away. Like most practices, we continue to struggle to balance the ratio of appointments for patients needing urgent acute attention and those requiring routine chronic review.
The current challenge faced by the NHS and General Practice is illustrated below:
a.General Practice provides 90% of NHS contacts with only 9% of the budget.
b.Consultations in general practice increased by 75% between 1995 and 2009.
c.There has been an increased clinical workload in general practice of over 40% since 2008 with evidence of:
i.Increasing disease prevalence and diagnosis
ii.More patients dying at home
iii.Patients living longer with disease
As you can see, there are a number of other factors that impact on our ability to manage both patient expectations and the current level of demand. This is affecting every practice both locally and nationally, as highlighted in the press, with many struggling to cope and is not helped by the present government looking to make General Practice a scapegoat for all that is currently wrong with the NHS. Given the current climate, we need to use the full range of the NHS services in order to manage demand and provide care for patients including local resources such as pharmacies and walk-in centres. I would wish to reassure you that we continue to strive to provide the best care possible within the resources available and can only apologise if we have ever let you down.
Wirral CCG does not recommend the prescribing of medicines and treatments for minor, short-term conditions where self-care is the most appropriate route and where medicines and treatments are available to buy over the counter. Wirral CCG also does not recommend prescribing where there is insufficient evidence of clinical benefit or cost-effectiveness.
Why this decision has been made?
· In Wirral we spent approximately £2m per year on these medicines. This money could be better spent on treating more serious conditions such as heart disease and diabetes.
· Many of these products are readily available, along with advice, from local pharmacies. Some are also available from local shops and supermarkets.
· Everyone in Wirral has the same expectation of what will be provided from their GP practice
The medicines that patients are expected to buy and won’t be prescribed include:
· Pain killers and topical pain relief for minor aches and pains
· Oral antihistamines, nasal sprays and eye drops to treat allergies such as hayfever.
· Antibacterial Eye Drops to treat simple conjunctivitis
· Dental products such as mouthwashes, gargles and teething gel
· Cough, cold and sore throat remedies
· Health supplements e.g. Glucosamine
· Vitamins that are not part of an ongoing clinical need eg renal patients
· Ear wax removers
· Indigestion remedies and antacids for occasional use
· Creams for bruising, tattoos, and scars
· Haemorrhoid treatments
· Oral rehydration sachets
· Headlice treatments
· Emollient, moisturisers and bath additives for simple dry skin conditions
· Shampoos for simple dry scalp conditions such as dandruff
· Cosmetic moisturisers such as Bio-Oil
· Sunscreens
· Wart and verrucae treatments
· Antifungal treatments e.g. for athletes foot and thrush
· Homeopathic remedies
Further information
For more information on self-care please contact the NHS choices websitehttp://www.nhs.uk/Pages/HomePage.aspx
St Catherine’s SurgeryNewsletter | Winter / 3
St Catherine’s SurgeryNewsletter | Winter / 3
I joined our Patient Participation Group soon after our Practice moved from the old St. Catherine’s Hospital to a purpose built new surgery in Greenway Road. At the same time 2 Doctors who had previously practised in South Road joined the Practice.
There were about 12 members in the group and we met approximately every three months. We elected a Chairman and Secretary and meetings were held in the presence of the Practice Manager, Barbara Lewis.
We discussed our role as patients within the group, generally praising the service but also raising any areas of concern, not only from ourselves, but also from information we had gleaned from our neighbours and friends who attended the Practice. Issues were recorded in the Minutes and investigated by the Practice Manager who reported back at the following meeting.
After a short while it was decided to move to the new St. Catherine’s Health Centre. I was a member of The New St. Catherine’s Hospital Development Group and was able to report back progress to our PPG. Eventually, we moved in, as did Victoria Park somewhat later.
Both surgeries benefitted from the increase in facilities that St. Catherine’s Health Centre was able to provide and eventually it was decided to merge Greenway Surgery with Victoria Park Health Centre.
A Merger Group was established consisting of GPs, Nurses, Reception Staff, Technical Staff and Patient Representatives from each Practice under the leadership of Paul Warren, formerly Greenway Practice Manager and now St. Catherine’s Surgery Business Manager. I was pleased to represent the patients of Greenway Surgery. We met once a month. Our aim, by lengthy discussion and excellent planning was to make the merger as smooth as possible for all patients. Both Patient Representatives were consulted at each stage and we felt that our opinions really did matter and would be acted upon. In October and November 2015, members from both PPGs met with the patients from both practices and carried out a survey to enquire if patients had any concerns about the merger and also to address their feelings. This was successfully completed. Results were tabulated and acted upon by the staff of both surgeries.
The much needed and long awaited grand merger took place in June 2016. We sincerely hope that we have pleased everybody, staff and patients alike but in order to ensure that this is so the PPG will be carrying out another survey in the autumn.
Here’s to a happy, healthy and successful future for us all.
Patient Online is an NHS England programme designed to support GP practices to offer and promote online services to patients, including access to coded information in records, appointment booking and ordering of repeat prescriptions.
Patients have been telling us that they are ready and want to take more control of their own health and wellbeing. Digital technology has the power to change the relationship between patients and their GP practice, just as it has changed our relationships in other walks of life, such as managing our finances or shopping. It can make services more convenient, personal and efficient.
The NHS’s ambition is to embrace technology as part of its drive to offer modern, convenient and responsive services to patients, their families and carers. GP practices are leading the way.
Today, the majority of GP practices already offer online services, including appointment booking, ordering of repeat prescription, and access to summary information in records. GP practices will increasingly expand online services over the next year.
Online services will be offered in addition to the traditional telephone and face-to-face means of interacting with a GP practice.
If you are interested in registering for Patient Online please ask at reception. You will require a photo ID for Identification and Data Protection purposes.
The NHS Health Check is a free check-up of your overall health. It can tell you whether you're at higher risk of developing certain health problems, such as:
· heart disease
· diabetes
· kidney disease
· stroke
If you're over 65, you will also be told thesigns and symptoms of dementiato look out for.
If you're aged 40-74 and you haven't an existing condition e.g. a stroke, or you don't already have heart disease, diabetes or kidney disease, you should have an NHS Health Check every five years.Please check with reception if you are eligible.
Any follow-up tests or appointments are also free of charge.
How will the NHS Health Check help me?
As well as measuring your risk of developing these health problems, an NHS Health Check gives youadvice on how to prevent them.
The risk level varies from person to person, but everyone is at risk of developing heart disease, stroke,type 2 diabetes, kidney disease and some types of dementia.
Your NHS Health Check can detect potential health problems before they do real damage.
What happens at the NHS Health Check?
An NHS Health Check takes about 20 minutes.
The health professional – often a nurse or healthcare assistant – will ask you some simple questions about your lifestyle and family history, measure your height and weight, and take your blood pressure and do a blood test – often using a small finger prick test.
Based on this, they will be able to give you an idea of your chances of getting heart disease, stroke, kidney disease and diabetes.
If you're over 65, you will also be told the signs and symptoms of dementia to look out for.
You will then receive personalised advice to lower your risk. This could include talking about:
· how toimprove your dietand the amount ofphysical activityyou do
· taking medicines to lower yourblood pressureorcholesterol
· how tolose weightorstop smoking
If you prefer, you can ask to see a man or a woman, but the questions aren't embarrassing and you won't have to take your clothes off during the check.
It is very important to the service that we provide that we have your most up-to-date contact details on our system. This will help improve the quality of the healthcare that you receive and ensure that we are able to contact you regarding appointments or annual healthcare reviews or text message appointment reminder service.
To help us keep your contact details up-to-date you should tell us if you change your:
· Address
· Home telephone number or mobile telephone number
· Name
· Email address
You can inform us of any such changes in writing and handing the letter to the receptionist on the front desk.
We are pleased to welcome Siobhan to the nursing team having replaced Christine Varley who left the surgery in September.
We would like to remind patients that we continue to offer a phlebotomy service for our patients and it is held on the 2nd floor of the Surgery along with all other nursing appointments.
If you would still like a flu vaccination, please speak with reception to see if you are eligible and to book an appointment.