SONNING COMMON HEALTH CENTRE in her current GP Registrar role until the end of July and she will...
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SONNING COMMON HEALTH CENTRE NEWSLETTER Spring 2018, Issue 102 Telephone 0118 972 2188, www.sonningcommonhealthcentre.co.uk PAGE ONE Welcome to our Spring Newsletter We have a shingles clinic on Wednesday 28 th March in the evening - contact Reception to make an appointment if you are eligible. It is medically recommended to not have a shingles vaccine if you have had shingles in the last year. Patients aged over 80 are not eligible. View this link for information on vaccine eligibility: www.sonningcommonhealthcentre.co.uk/website/K84020/files/ Shingles_Eligibility_poster_Sept17-Apr18.pdf. Ask our Reception team for further information. Dr Ralph Drury EASTER OPENING TIMES We will be closed on Good Friday (30th March), Saturday 31st March, Sunday 1st April and Easter Monday (2nd April). We will be open as normal on Tuesday 3rd April. Please ensure you have adequate repeat medication for the bank holiday period. If you need medical advice whilst the surgery is closed please contact the out of hours service on NHS 111. STAFF NEWS Doctors We are very pleased to announce that Dr Nick Smith is going to become a GP partner at the health centre in April. Dr Smith joined us as a salaried GP in April 2017, having also worked at SCHC as a GP trainee in 2012 and 2013. Dr Smith will continue to work three days a week. Dr Ellen Kruidenier is going to be leaving us in mid April to take a career break. Dr Ellen has been a much valued member of the practice team for the last 15 years and we thank her for her dedicated service and wish her all the very best for the future. We are delighted to announce that Dr Kim On will take over from Dr Ellen as a salaried GP from August 2018. Dr On joined us in August 2017 as a GP Registrar and will be a great addition to our clinical team. Dr On will continue in her current GP Registrar role until the end of July and she will manage Dr Ellen’s patients from August. We will have a locum doctor working from May to July to look after Dr Ellen’s patients until Dr On starts her new role. Patients who currently see Dr Ellen as their usual doctor will be able to see the locum doctor from May until July and then Dr On from August. Please be reassured that patients are in fact registered with the practice and can see any doctor should they need to so there is no requirement for Dr Ellen’s patients to take any action. Dr Tess Harris has worked at SCHC for 17 years on Mondays as the rest of her working week has been spent combining research and teaching at St George’s University of London. From May, Dr Harris will be working on alternate Wednesdays at SCHC as she has recently been made a Professor of Primary Care Research at St George’s and also deputy director of the Population Health Research Institute there. Dr Harris’ Professorship means that she needs to reduce her hours at the health centre to accommodate her increased workload at the university. We wish Dr Harris all the best with her Professorship role and she will continue to care for patients at the health centre on Mondays until the end of April and on alternate Wednesdays from May. Support staff Jane Hemphill, a valued member of our reception team, will be retiring in mid April. Jane has been at the surgery for an amazing 24 years and will be truly missed by staff and patients. We wish Jane a very happy retirement! PPG NEWS Our Patient Participation Group (PPG) is a group of patient volunteers who help to run events at the surgery and are a link between the practice and patients. PPG information is displayed on a noticeboard in the foyer, near the waiting room door. Dates for your diary • An evening talk ‘A day in the life of a GP’ on Wednesday 6 th June at Sonning Common Village Hall with Dr Ralph Drury as the speaker . • An Open Day about Dementia - Friday 13th July, 10am to 4pm at Sonning Common Village Hall. Further information will be available from late spring.
Transcript of SONNING COMMON HEALTH CENTRE in her current GP Registrar role until the end of July and she will...
SONNING COMMON HEALTH CENTRE
NEWSLETTER Spring 2018, Issue 102
Telephone 0118 972 2188, www.sonningcommonhealthcentre.co.uk PAGE ONE
Welcome to our Spring Newsletter
We have a shingles clinic on Wednesday 28th March in the evening - contact Reception to make an appointment if you are eligible. It is medically recommended to not have a shingles vaccine if you
have had shingles in the last year. Patients aged over 80 are not eligible. View this link for information on vaccine eligibility: www.sonningcommonhealthcentre.co.uk/website/K84020/files/Shingles_Eligibility_poster_Sept17-Apr18.pdf. Ask our Reception team for further information. Dr Ralph Drury
EASTER OPENING TIMES We will be closed on Good Friday (30th March), Saturday 31st March, Sunday 1st April and Easter Monday
(2nd April). We will be open as normal on Tuesday 3rd April. Please ensure you have adequate repeat medication for the bank holiday period. If you need medical advice whilst the surgery is closed please contact the out of hours service on NHS 111.
STAFF NEWS
Doctors We are very pleased to announce that Dr Nick Smith is going to become a GP partner at the health centre in April. Dr Smith joined us as a salaried GP in April 2017, having also worked at SCHC as a GP trainee in 2012 and 2013. Dr Smith will continue to work three days a week.
Dr Ellen Kruidenier is going to be leaving us in mid April to take a career break. Dr Ellen has been a much valued member of the practice team for the last 15 years and we thank her for her dedicated service and wish her all the very best for the future.
We are delighted to announce that Dr Kim On will take over from Dr Ellen as a salaried GP from August 2018. Dr On joined us in August 2017 as a GP Registrar and will be a great addition to our clinical team. Dr On will continue in her current GP Registrar role until the end of July and she will manage Dr Ellen’s patients from August.
We will have a locum doctor working from May to July to look after Dr Ellen’s patients until Dr On starts her new role. Patients who currently see Dr Ellen as their usual doctor will be able to see the locum doctor from May until July and then Dr On from August.
Please be reassured that patients are in fact registered with the practice and can see any doctor should they need to so there is no requirement for Dr Ellen’s patients to take any action.
Dr Tess Harris has worked at SCHC for 17 years on Mondays as the rest of her working week has been spent combining research and teaching at St George’s University of London. From May, Dr Harris will be working on alternate Wednesdays at SCHC as she has recently been made a Professor of Primary Care Research at St George’s and also deputy director of the Population Health Research Institute there.
Dr Harris’ Professorship means that she needs to reduce her hours at the health centre to accommodate her increased workload at the university. We wish Dr Harris all the best with her Professorship role and she will continue to care for patients at the health centre on Mondays until the end of April and on alternate Wednesdays from May.
Support staff Jane Hemphill, a valued member of our reception team, will be retiring in mid April. Jane has been at the surgery for an amazing 24 years and will be truly missed by staff and patients. We wish Jane a very happy retirement!
PPG NEWS Our Patient Participation Group (PPG) is a group of patient volunteers who help to run events at the surgery and are a link between the practice and patients. PPG information is displayed on a noticeboard in the foyer, near the waiting room door.
Dates for your diary • An evening talk ‘A day in the life of a GP’ on Wednesday
6th June at Sonning Common Village Hall with Dr Ralph Drury as the speaker .
• An Open Day about Dementia - Friday 13th July, 10am to 4pm at Sonning Common Village Hall. Further information will be available from late spring.
Telephone 0118 972 2188, www.sonningcommonhealthcentre.co.uk PAGE TWO
HAVE YOU SEEN THE TOPIC TABLE IN OUR FOYER? Since autumn 2017 we have had a topic table at SCHC. This started with the Flu Campaign, followed by a display by FISH and AGE UK (keeping warm) and Advance Care Planning and End of Life support. Each topic will normally last for four to six weeks.
We currently have a smoking display with a week-long display also supported with stands at the Dentist and Day Lewis village pharmacy. We will cover hayfever, health initiatives and dementia in future months.
The importance of dementia will be supported with our ‘Matters of Memory’ day at the village hall on 13th July, from 10am to 4pm. Other topics planned are Pregnancy and the first five years of life and Men’s Health. We hope you find our displays informative.
Sue Litchfield, PPG Member
Patient Information
CLINICAL Test results Can we please remind patients that they need to call SCHC or the relevant hospital for test results. We cannot contact patients individually with test result information.
Blood tests Please book blood tests for the same slot with our HCAs, if you need more than one blood test. Our blood test slots are very booked up and there is a lot of pressure on appointments. Please call or email the surgery if you are unable to make an appointment and your slot can be given to another patient. We do really need your help with this. Quite a few surgeries are not offering blood tests now and patients have to go to their local hospital instead. If you are unable to keep your blood test appointment, please call or email [email protected] to inform us.
Ear syringing We will be stopping ear syringing at the end of March for all patients except those who the ear nose and throat department at the hospital have requested it for, or pre referral to the Audiology (hearing clinic).
In 2017 the practice syringed 302 patients’ ears which booked out 604 nurse appointments. We feel this time would be better spent on health promotion, minor illness treatment, blood taking and other activities that would benefit a wider range of patients. Patients can contact the following clinics to arrange ear syringing privately:
⇒ The Hearing Clinic, 25 Hart Street, Henley-on-Thames, RG9 2AR, 01491 577555
⇒ The Berkshire Independent Hospital, Coley Park, Swallows Croft, Wensley Rd, Reading RG1 6UZ, 0118 902 8000
⇒ The Oxford Hearing Centre, 157 Eynsham Rd, Oxford OX2 9NE, 01865 861861
Travel The global shortage of vaccines remains. We have limited supplies of:
♦ Tetanus ♦ Combined Hep A and Typhoid
Please contact us in good time if you need vaccinations for travel. If we do not have the required vaccines in stock patients will need to contact the MASTA Travel Clinic in Reading and arrange to have vaccines at the clinic privately: https://www.masta-travel-health.com/travelcl inic/mastareading
GENERAL Mobile phones It is very distracting for our clinicians if patients' mobile phones ring during consultations. Please turn off your mobile phone before seeing our doctors, nurses and healthcare assistants. We would appreciate your co-operation with this request.
Your Contact Details Please give us your mobile phone number and email address if we do not have it or if it has changed. This information helps us to communicate with patients about future appointments. There is a yellow slip that you can complete at our Reception desk.
WORKLOAD OF OUR CLINICAL STAFF GPs' workload has increased by 15% in the
last five years. Please help all of our clinical staff by:
♦ Arriving on time for your appointment. ♦ Remembering that your appointment is for ten
minutes if you are seeing a doctor in a normal clinic - please help your GP to keep your appointment to time.
♦ Call or email us in advance if you cannot make your appointment - your appointment can then be given to another patient. Please call 0118 972 2188 or email [email protected]
SCHC NEWSLETTER ONLINE Did you know that you can receive a copy of our newsletter online, sent to your email address? To do this, you need to subscribe via our website. Click on www.sonningcommonhealthcentre.co.uk and scroll down to the bottom of the homepage and click on the button “subscribe to the email edition of our newsletter” and we will take care of the rest!
Prescriptions We cannot take prescription requests over the phone. Please complete a repeat
script and post it into the white prescrip�ons box in
the foyer or email [email protected].
