Participation Group Newsletter

Sandhurst and Owlsmoor Patient

June 2017

From 1st Jan 17 – 31st March 17 we had 735 missed appointments at the surgeries without explanation. Please remember to cancel appointments if you cannot attend. Failure to do so often means that other patients cannot get an appointment as soon as they would like. Thank you.

Health Event

Thank you to all who attended our event on the 26th April on lower back pain and other MSK ailments. Apologies to those of you that either had to stand for the event or could not get in, due to the large numbers attending. Dr Martin Kittel, Dr John Thing, Kathy Watson and Lyndsey Barron (Physiotherapists) all gave very informative and interactive presentations, followed by a question and answer session on the above. Ideas for next years’ event can be sent to the email address at the end of this newsletter.

The Practice

The Practice have asked us to draw to your attention various services that are available to patients.

They are actively encouraging patients to take up all offers of screening but in particular, bowel & breast screening invitations. Early identification of these cancers through the screening processes dramatically improves survival chances. The bowel screening kit comes through the post and is very easy to use at home and return via post. Breast screening and cervical screening are sent out by letter from the health authority, inviting women to make appointments. The improved uptake of cancer screening is one of our enhanced services this year throughout East Berkshire

Extended Hours, OOH & 111

In April Barbara Denning and Vera Routledge from the Sandhurst & Owlsmoor Patients Participation Group, Richard Matthews and David Vousden from the SRA, met Fiona Slevin-Brown, Director of Strategy and Operations at the B&ACCG and Mark Sanders, Project Manager at Bracknell Healthwatch to discuss the above.

The meeting was open, frank and constructive. It would appear that no decisions have yet been made about the above and these are tied in with the development of 111 across the country. This was welcome information and was accompanied by an apology for the lack of previous communication and public involvement.

I think we all left the meeting better informed and for our part offered both the Patient Participation Group and the SRA as lines of communication to ensure our local community is kept informed and has the opportunity to be consulted

LOOK OUT FOR OUR SURVEY IN A COUPLE OF MONTHS TO VOICE YOUR OPINION ON THE ONLINE SERVICE FOR MAKING APPOINTMENTS, RENEWING PRESCRIPTIONS AND VIEWING YOUR HEALTH RECORDS.

Please feel free to contact us through the e-mail or postal address below.

Correspondence to the Sandhurst and Owlsmoor Patient Participation Group should be emailed to or addressed to Barbara Denning, Chair, Patient Participation Group and sent to the Sandhurst Group Practice, 72 Yorktown Road, Sandhurst, GU47 9AU

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Dr Simon Brown - Senior Partner Barbara Denning - Chair, Patient Participation Group