Summer 2016
Welcome to the summer edition of our
Practice Newsletter.
Our Clinical Team are:-
Dr G Guthrie (Male GP Partner)
Dr S Miller (Female GP Partner)
Dr D Macleod (Male GP Partner)
Dr L McGuigan (Female GP Partner)
Dr S Beatty (Salaried GP)
Dr D Bhadrashetty (Salaried GP)
Louise Leggat Nurse Practitioner
Therese Mitchel Nurse Practitioner
Carol Stephen Nurse Practitioner
Surgery Times
Monday, Tuesday & Friday - 8.30am to 6.00pm.
Wednesday & Thursday - 7.00am
to 6.00pm
Thursday 1.00pm to 2.00pm (Closed for staff meeting)
Extended Hours
On a Wednesday and Thursday, the surgery is open from 7am for an extended hours surgery only. Please be aware that you cannot book appointments or request prescriptions at this time.
Access to Appointments
Torry Medical Practice provides an appointment Triage service, which is operated by our Clinical Team.
Patients with urgent problems will be seen the same day if required after discussion with the doctor or Nurse Practitioner.
Test Results
Test results are available by calling our reception staff on telephone number 0345 337 9977 from 11.30am to 3pm daily. For confidentiality reasons, we can only give test results to the patient.
Non Attendance of Appointments
Unfortunately, there continues to be an ongoing problem with patients failing to attend pre-booked appointments. This is simply unacceptable as it leads to large amounts of clinical time being wasted. Failure to attend booked appointments will result in the issuing of three warning letters. Future conduct which if not heeded, may result in removal from the practice list. Please call the Practice on 0345 337 9977, giving sufficient notice, to let us know if you cannot attend an appointment, so that someone else can use it.
Repeat Prescriptions
We no longer accept prescription requests at the reception desk. For repeat prescriptions, please
telephone our 24-hour answering machine on 230222 or post in the prescription tear-off slip. Please leave a clear message and allow 2 full working days for collection from the surgery and please collect after 4pm. The box at the front desk as you come into the building can also be used to drop off prescription requests.
Medical Charges
Kindly note that although most of our patients are entitled to free NHS treatment, there are cases in which charges are incurred e.g. Insurance reports, Sports medicals, Private certificates including letters to employer/ to whom it may concern.
This list is not exhaustive, but you will be advised if you will be charged and subsequently informed what the charges are.
Travel Health
We do not routinely offer travel vaccinations. Please contact GO Health services (subsidiary of NHS Grampian) they offer a travel clinic service.
Tel: 01224 553663 09.00 am–16.00 pm
www.gohealthservices.com
NHS Minor Ailment Service
Did you know that your community pharmacist can provide advice or treatment for a minor illness or ailment? If your pharmacist thinks you need medication they can provide this free of charge.
You can receive advice and free treatment for minor illnesses and ailments such as:
Acne, athlete’s foot, back ache, cold sores, constipation, cough, diarrhoea, ear ache, eczema and allergies, hay fever, headaches, head lice, indigestion, mouth ulcers, nasal congestion, period pain, sore throats, thrush, threadworms and warts and verrucae.
Contact your local community pharmacist to register.
Optician
Please contact your nearest optician for advice on eye problems.
Measles and Whopping Cough
These two illnesses still occur despite vaccination programmes and this year has seen a concerning rise in both.
· Please make every effort to have your children vaccinated as closely as possible to the advised timescale.
· Please DO NOT postpone vaccination if your child has a minor illness, only if they are more significantly ill.
· If you have not had your child vaccinated, please contact your Health Visitor or the surgery in order to arrange this.
· Please feel free to discuss vaccination with a doctor, practice nurse, health visitor or midwife.
Bowel Screening
In Scotland Bowel Screening began in July 2007 and includes all men and women between the ages of 50 -74 every two years. Regular Bowel Cancer Screening has been shown to reduce deaths from bowel cancer by 16%. By taking simple steps to improve your diet and taking regular exercise can help reduce your risk of bowel cancer. In support of this the practice will be sending you a letter on your 50th birthday and would encourage you to take the test.
Zero Tolerance Policy
We have observed an increased aggression towards our doctors and staff and would like to reiterate that we are here to provide healthcare of the highest quality and we request that service users do not act in a manner that humiliates, frightens or makes staff or other patient’s feel unsafe or vulnerable, such as -
· Shouting/ swearing/ making rude, sexist or racist remarks.
· Making threats or behaving in an intimidating way.
· Picking on an individual
· Any attempts or actual physical assault
· Any threat or use of a weapon
The practice will not hesitate to have a patient removed from the list immediately and the police will be called in the event that any of the listed examples occur.
Help Us To Help You
The following tips will help us to help all our patients:
· Only one appointment per person and if patients are 10 minutes late, the receptionist will ask the GP if he/she can still see you, but patients who are 15 minutes late will not necessarily be seen that day.
· Tell us if you need help with translation
· When booking an appointment with the Practice Nurse, we need to know what the appointment is for so that we book a long enough time, please do not be offended if asked.
· Like all other practices throughout the city, we take part in staff and doctor training – PLT (Protected Learning Time). This means that the surgery will be closed on the afternoons of (Still to be confirmed for this year)
· When you telephone the surgery during PLT your call will be handled by NHS24. Please remember, in a life threatening emergency, you should still dial 999 and ask for an ambulance.
At Torry Medical Practice we are always looking at ways to improve our appointment system and patient access. We have introduced a new Triage system which is operated by our Nurse Practitioners and duty doctor, who will discuss with the patient, the reason for their call; arrange an appointment if required or where necessary a review appointment with their usual GP.
Please remember, in a life threatening emergency, you should still dial 999 and ask for an ambulance.
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