Inside this issue:
Headlines:
Annual Reviews
Falls Prevention
Appointments System
Travel Health
Swadlincote Surgery News
Patient Participation Group
Swadlincote Surgery
www.swadlincote.gpsurgery.net
Newsletter – Summer 2013
Annual Reviews
Patients with long term medical conditions require annual checks to review their condition and medication. The annual checks are carried out by our nursing team.
Patients with the following conditions require an annual check:
· Diabetes
· Heart Disease (e.g. angina, previous heart attack, heart failure)
· Hypertension (High blood pressure)
· Peripheral vascular disease
· Stroke (including previous TIAs or mini strokes)
· COPD (including Emphysema)
· Asthma
· Chronic kidney impairment
· Hypothyroidism (under-active thyroid)
We now send letter to invite patients for these annual check-ups when they are due. The letters advise patients what appointment(s) they need to book. The letters are colour coded to make it easier for patients to book the correct appointments.
For some of the conditions the annual check-up involves attending 2 appointments: At the 1st appointment blood tests, height, weight, blood pressure etc. are measured. At the 2nd appointment a review of symptoms, test results and medication is carried out.
For COPD and asthma reviews only 1 appointment is needed which is likely to include breathing tests (spirometry or peak flow) and an assessment of inhaler technique.
Patients with other long term conditions such as epilepsy and dementia should attend for a review with their GP at least once a year.
Falls Prevention
A new integrated pathway for falls prevention and bone health has been developed locally. The purpose of this pathway is to bring together services across Southern Derbyshire which aims to reduce the impact of falls in older people.
Services available include:
· Prevention and treatment of osteoporosis
· Referral to specialist falls clinics for those at high risk
· Physiotherapists providing balance and strength exercises
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Our Appointments System and Home Visits
Online Service
We offer our patients the option of booking doctor appointments and ordering repeat prescriptions online. Patients who wish to make use of this service need to complete a registration form – these are available from reception or can be printed off from our website www.swadlincote.gpsurgery.net
Please note: It is not possible to book appointments with our nursing team online because nurses have varying appointment lengths to reflect the wide variety of different procedures and assessments they perform. For example a review of a patient would take 30 minutes, a smear would take 10 minutes and a blood test would take 5 minutes. Our receptionists will book patients into an appointment of the appropriate length and this would be impossible to achieve via an online system.
Same Day & Pre-Bookable Appointments
We offer a mix of both pre-bookable appointments (usually available to be booked 2-4 weeks in advance) and same day appointments (available to be booked from 8am onwards on the day of the appointment).
The pre-bookable appointments allow patients to plan their work/ childcare/ transport etc. in advance of their appointment and are suitable for non-urgent medical problems and planned reviews. Same day appointments allow people who are acutely unwell at the time to see a doctor or nurse practitioner without delay.
Acute Medical Problems and Minor Injuries
We have a nurse practitioner and a designated duty doctor every day who are available to see acutely unwell patients and who can also offer telephone assessment and advice. Once all our same day appointments are full, any patients who feel unwell and wish to be seen that day will be booked in to see or speak to the nurse practitioner or duty doctor.
Patients with minor injuries which occur during our opening hours should contact the surgery in the first instance rather than go to A&E as we can often assess and treat these at the surgery.
When contacting the surgery with an acute medical problem or injury it is essential that details of the problem are given to the receptionist – this information is passed onto the duty doctor or nurse practitioner and allows them to make sure that any urgent conditions are dealt with quickly and that patients are seen by the most appropriate doctor or nurse. Any information given to our receptionists is treated confidentially.
Telephone Appointments
All our doctors and our nurse practitioners offer telephone appointments which can be booked in advance. These are often most suitable for discussing test results, prescription queries and for advice about non-urgent medical problems. When booking these appointments it is vital that patients provide us with their up to date telephone contact details.
Home Visits
Our doctors are able to carry out a small number of home visits each day. These are relatively time-consuming and assessing and examining patients properly at home can be challenging. For this reason home visits are only suitable for those patients who are genuinely house-bound. Patients who are able to leave the house to attend hospital, dental and other appointments and engagements are expected to attend the surgery to be seen.
Travel Vaccinations & Malaria Prevention Medication
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If you are planning a holiday abroad and think that you may require travel vaccinations or malaria prevention medications please complete a travel health questionnaire – these are available from reception or can be printed from our website.
It is important that you do this as far in advance of the date of travel as possible to allow time for vaccinations to take place. The questionnaire asks for your planned dates of travel and destination details as well as questions about particular high-risk activities.
You should hand the completed questionnaire in to a receptionist and it will be passed on to a member of the nursing team. You will then be advised to phone back in 1 week to find out which vaccines and/or malaria prevention you require and arrange the appropriate appointments.
Please note that provision of travel health vaccines and malaria prevention medication is not part of NHS services and therefore fees are payable for these services.
See the NHS Fit for Travel Website for further travel health advice: www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk
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Swadlincote Surgery News
Training Practice
We are a GP training practice as part of the Derby Vocational Training Scheme. Dr Patton and Dr Hendriksen are both accredited GP trainers and we usually have up to two GP Registrars working with us at the surgery. You may therefore be offered an appointment with a GP registrar. GP registrars are fully qualified doctors who are in the process of undertaking specialist training in general practice.
Dr Joblu Khan and Dr Ninoshi Palihawadana have been working with us at the surgery since August 2012 and will be leaving us at the end of July. They will both have completed their GP training and we wish them success with their future careers.
Dr James Betteridge and Dr Nasim Akhtar will be joining us in August. Dr Betteridge spent 4 months working with us in 2011 and this time will be here for 12 months to complete the final part of his GP training. Dr Akhtar will be with us for 4 months until December.
Staff Changes
We are pleased to have recently welcomed new staff member Susan Thrupp who has joined our reception team.
Wednesday Afternoon Closures
The surgery closes on Wednesday afternoons approximately once a month at 1.30pm to allow us to carry out staff training and educational events. These afternoon closures are vital to ensure the smooth running of the surgery and to allow our doctors and nurses to keep up to date with essential training. The training afternoons occur on the same days as for other local surgeries. This provides an opportunity to work together with primary care staff from throughout the local area to plan and review local health services. Patients who require medical assistance when the surgery is closed should call 111.
Patient Survey Results
Thank you to all the patients that completed our recent surveys. Results are available to view on our website. The feedback we received will be taken into account when planning future services. Thank you to the PPG for their valuable assistance with carrying out the surveys.
Patient Participation Group
The Patient Participation Group provides an important link between patients, doctors and staff at the Swadlincote Surgery. The purpose of the Patient Participation Group is to:
· Give Patients a Voice.
· Help, listen and care about Patient's concerns.
· Improve services for everyone's benefit.
· Promote Health and well-being.
· Assist patients in getting the best from the service.
Please help improve services at the surgery for everyone's benefit by giving us your suggestions or comments. You can contact us by...
· Posting a completed comment card in the box in reception.
· Emailing us at
· Leaving a message at Swadlincote Surgery reception with your contact details so we can get in touch
· Finding us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/SwadSurgeryPPG (please click “Like” to link to our page)
Please check our notice board for the latest summary of the feedback we have received and what we have done with it.
Patient Participation Annual General Meeting
The group held its second Annual General Meeting on 23rd June. Eleven patients attended along with one doctor from the practice. There were twelve nominations for the twelve places on the Patient Participation Group and these nominations were voted in with the unanimous support of those present.
Virtual Patient Participation Group
This is a group for patients who would like to give occasional comments and feedback without attending Patient Participation Group meetings. The group helps to ensure we are taking the views of a broad selection of patients into account.
As a member of the Virtual Patient Participation Group we will send you emails or letters asking you for your opinion on a range of topics. You decide how often and when you would like to answer.
Your contributions will help improve services for everyone’s benefit. Your own particular perspective is important; we want to hear from you!
The virtual group helps your GPs to provide an accessible and responsive service and you will be amongst the first to hear about news and updates.
For further information please pick up a leaflet from the area next to the Patient Participation Group notice board or contact Surgery Reception.
Over the last twelve months responses to patient feedback have included:
ü Patient feedback about the appointments system was raised with doctors and changes were introduced as a result.
ü A bin has been fitted for cigarette ends to help keep the entrance to the surgery more tidy.
ü Yellow lines have been painted on the double height kerbstones in the car park to try and reduce the number of patient vehicles being damaged during parking.
ü Toilets in the surgery have been redecorated.
ü The number of disabled car parking spaces was reviewed.
ü Notices in the reception area were tidied.
ü Routines for tidying and maintaining the car park area were reviewed
ü Signage about use of the disabled parking bays was posted inside the surgery.
ü Signage to the disabled toilets was improved.
ü Signage to the doctors’ rooms was improved.
The Patient Participation Group has also helped improve services at the Swadlincote Surgery by:-
ü The PPG contributed to discussions to help with development of the Nurse Practitioner role.
ü A bid for council funding to purchase an electronic information board and a surgery pod for routine health monitoring was prepared and submitted (decision pending).
ü An article concerning choosing the right service was written for the practice newsletter
ü PPG members assisted with a simulated surgery for registrars completing their GP training
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