PATIENT SURVEY – ACCESSIBILITY
If you could choose alternative hours to make appointments, which of the following would you prefer?
Before 8.00am
After 6.30pm
On a Saturday
In the last 6 months, if you needed an urgent appointment with a doctor or nurse (something that could not wait and was not routine) did you get one?
Yes
No
If you could improve one thing about appointments, what would that be?
More book on the day appointments
More book in advance appointments
More online appointments available for booking
How would you rate the care that you receive at the surgery?
Excellent
Very good
Good
Fair
Poor
How helpful were the receptionists towards you when trying to book an appointment?
Very helpful
Fairly helpful
Not very helpful
Not at all helpful
Your age ______Male or Female ______
Thank you for taking the time to complete this questionnaire. Please hand in to reception.
December 2017
Welcome to this quarter’s newsletter.
Did you know?
We have welcomed a new receptionist to our practice. Her name is Gina and she started with us in September. She is doing very well in her training and we would ask that you bear with her if she needs to take slightly longer when dealing with your queries while she learns the many, many processes necessary to undertake the demanding role.
Online Services
13% of our patients are now signed up for online services. Did you know that we offer a range of services you can access online? You can book and cancel a number of appointments, request medication, view your summary care record and complete a request for access to your detailed coded record which includes vaccination details. Please note that in line with national guidance, proxy access toa child's records can be issued toparents orguardians for childrenunder 11 only. Once a child reachestheir 11th birthdayproxy access will be suspended until the childattains the age of 16 when they can apply for their own login details.
To start using online services you will need to attend at the surgery with photographic ID and complete and sign a registration form. We can then issue you with a unique username and password. Once issued you should wait a few hours before you go to our website and use the links to take you to the secure site. Should you tick that you wish for access to your detailed coded record, this will take longer to grant as a health records manager, GP or other healthcare professional will decide whether your request can be approved. They can sometimes refuse to disclose information if, for example, the information you have asked for contains information that relates to another person. It will take up to 21 days for this part of online services to be available to you. NHS England is hoping that practices will have at least 20% of their patients signed up for this service by April of next year.
Monday 25th December / ClosedTuesday 26th December / Closed
Weds 27th December / Usual hours
Thurs 28th December / Usual hours
Friday 29th December / Usual hours
Monday 1st January 2018 / Closed
Cancer Screening
Were you aware that uptake for cancer screening offered in Southampton is poorer than in some other regions? We would urge that you take up any invite you receive to check for things such as the start of cervical, bowel or breast cancer. These simple tests have been proved to save thousands of lives per year and the sooner these services discover a problem with your sample or mammogram, the far easier they are to treat. In our next newsletter we are going to have a campaign on cervical cancer screening. We would like to understand the reasons why some women are not attending (whether it be embarrassment, the procedure itself, ease of appointment times etc.). If you are one of the women who put it off altogether we would love to hear from you. If you have received an invite but have not yet attended then please either make an appointment with the nurse (for a smear test), ring the Breast Screening Service on 023 8081204959 or contact the Bowel Screening Service on 023 80825070 where dedicated staff can assist you in rebooking.
Accessible Information Standards
We want to get better at communicating with our patients. We want to make sure you can read and understand the information we send you. If you find it hard to read our letters or if you need someone to support you at appointments, please let us know.
Christmas/New Year Opening Hours
Over the festive season our opening hours will be as follows:
Southampton Hubs
Our surgery is part of a federation of GP practices in Southampton collectively known as Southampton Primary Care Limited and by being members of this federation we can offer patients appointments from 8.00am-9.00pm 7 days per week at alternative venues. If you need to see a GP but, for example, find getting here a problem due to your working hours/caring needs or we do not have a suitable appointment to offer, ask at reception and we can ring the central hub to arrange alternative times for you to be seen. This will involve being seen at either Shirley Health Partnership, St. Mary’s Surgery, Aldermoor Surgery, Portswood Solent Surgery or Woolston Lodge Surgery. The GPs there have access to the necessary clinical systems to call up your records (with your consent) to enable them to treat you and they also offer a range of nursing appointments during these hours. Please ask at reception if you feel this would benefit you.
Other available services
Please do bear in mind that it is not just the GP surgery or the Hubs who can help you. There are other options available to you before automatically ringing in for an appointment, such as NHS Choices website for invaluable self-help guides, the ‘Pharmacy First’ service whereby a qualified pharmacist can prescribe medications for certain ailments and the Minor Injuries Unit at Level B, Royal South Hants Hospital where they can help you with things such as stitches, removal of splinters, minor burns, minor head injuries, fractures etc. – for opening times and more details appointments at GP surgeries are getting harder to access and so understanding other services available to the public will hopefully free up appointments here for more serious problems meaning access could improve.