Wickhambrook Surgery Newsletter

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WICKHAMBROOK SURGERY

NEWSLETTER –SEPTEMBER 2018

NEW ARRIVALS

We are very pleased to have recently welcomed Dr Joanna McKerrell to our team. Dr McKerrell, who has a special interest in women’s health, will be working on Thursdays and Fridays.

 

We are also happy to welcome Mrs Sarah Robinson who has joined us to support the nursing team. You will be able to make an appointment with Sarah for ear syringing, blood pressure checks, NHS Health Checks, wound care and smoking cessation amongst others.

DR BALPREET BERING

We are sorry that Dr Bering will not be returning to the practice following her maternity leave. Dr Bering and her family hope to emigrate and we wish them all a very happy future.

We are pleased to say that Dr Mark Jones will continue to work at the practice for the time being.

NHS 70th BIRTHDAY

We hope that patients have enjoyed the small exhibition we have displayed that provides some memories of the practice and local healthcare provision over the past 70 years. We are very grateful to our Patient Group for putting this display together.

We also hope that those who attended the surgery on 4th July enjoyed our small tea party to celebrate the NHS birthday. It was lovely to hear patients’ memories of the surgery including the time when home visits were made by bike!

FLU CLINICS

This year there will be a slight change to the way in which our flu clinics are organised as there are three different flu vaccines:

  • One for those aged 65 and over

  • One for those aged 18 to 64 in the ‘At Risk’ groups

  • One for those aged 17 and under in the ‘At Risk’ groups and all children born between 1st September 2014 and 31st August 2016. Please note this vaccine will be given at school for all children from Reception to Year 5.

Clinics will be held on 3rd and 10th October from 9am to 5:30pm. These clinics are for those aged 65 and over only. Please do not attend if you are under 65 as the vaccine for the over 65 group is not licensed for use in those under 65. This is a walk-in clinic and no appointment is necessary.

A clinic will be held on 17th October from 2pm to 5:30pm for those aged 18 to 65 in the ‘At Risk’ groups and on 24th October between 2pm and 5:30pm for those aged 17 and under in the ‘At Risk’ groups and all children born between 1st September 2014 and 31st August 2016. Please phone for an appointment for these clinics.

The ‘At Risk’ groups include patients with:

  • COPD or asthma

  • Diabetes

  • Heart Disease

  • Kidney or Liver Disease

  • Neurological Illnesses

  • Immunosuppression

  • Morbid obesity

  • Patients who are pregnant

  • Carers

For further information please ask at Reception.

 

GP PATIENT SURVEY (Ipsos MORI)

We welcome comments from our patients on the services we provide and were very pleased to see the results of the recent Patient Survey in which the overall experience of the practice was rated as ‘good’ by over 93% of the patients who responded. We were also pleased to note that we were rated higher than the national average in all areas with the ‘helpfulness of reception staff’ and ‘ease of use of the practice website’ scoring respectively second highest and highest in West Suffolk. We would like to thank our Patient Group for their help in maintaining and updating this website.

PATIENT TRANSPORT

We appreciate that some patients, who do not have their own transport, can experience difficulties in getting to the surgery or to hospital appointments. A new bookable community bus service called RIDE, servicing Haverhill and villages close to the A143 including Wickhambrook, has recently been launched by The Voluntary Network – Suffolk County Council’s Connecting Communities operator. This service, which has been started as a six- month pilot, allows patients to pre-book their journey and is available between 7am and 7pm. To book a journey with RIDE you can go on-line at www.bookyourride.co.uk or call 01638 664304.

PATIENT ACCESS

Are you aware that you can book appointments and order medication on-line? Please ask at Reception if you would like to register for Patient Access.

 

WHO CAN SEE MY HEALTH RECORD?

Unless you have chosen to ‘opt out,’ all health professionals currently have access to information from your record regarding allergies and medication. In order that you can be treated safely and well it is helpful for health professionals outside the surgery, such as hospital clinicians, district nurses and paramedics, to have access to more detailed information. Only by letting your GP surgery know that it is ok with you will your notes be available to be seen by other health professionals. There are two different degrees of sharing that you can agree to:

  1. Summary Record with Additional Information: this allows other health professionals to see information on your illnesses, health problems, vaccinations, operations and how you would like to be treated as well as your allergies and medication.

  2. Full Electronic Record: this makes your full GP health record available to other health professionals who are caring for you if their computer system supports this. You would still be asked for permission to view the record unless you were unable to give consent, for example if you were unconscious and it was deemed medically necessary to access your record. If there are particular parts of the record you would like to remain private, this can be marked by the surgery.

Please ask at Reception for a form for you to sign if you would like to allow access to your records in one of the ways specified above.