THE TUTBURY PRACTICE

Dr HOWARD SKINNER

Dr MIKE SALWEY

Dr LUCY AMBROSE

Dr ENAS DARWISH

AUTUMN NEWSLETTER August-October 2016

REGISTRAR NEWSWe say goodbye to Dr Dylan Kay who has been with the practice for the last year as our GP registrar. Dr Kay has become a very well liked member of the practice team and with our patients. We have shared family events with Dylan, the birth of his second child Henry and the good news that he secured a partnership at a surgery in Allestree. We wish him well in his future career as a fully flegged GP partner.

We welcome Dr Davinia Taunk to the team in August, Davinia joins us for 12 months as our registrar and has been working at Bridge Surgery in Burton as their registrar for the last 12 months. Dr Taunk will be working all day Monday and Wednesday and Thursday morning, we wish her well in her placement.

NHS FAMILY & FRIENDS SURVEYHave your say to improve your healthcareOver the past 7 months 47 Patients have completed the friends and family test which asks, ‘how likely are you to recommend our service to family and friends if they need similar care or treatment. The majority of patients responded as extremely likely or likely to recommend the surgery to friends and family.The questionnaire asks what we could change to improve the service and the most common suggestion was the appointment system. This is continuously reviewed and the surgery staff work hard to satisfy patient demand for immediate medical attention and balance with the need for planned appointments. However out of the forms completed, over half had no comment to help us improve the service provided.Thank you to all the patients taking the time to complete the form. It is greatly appreciated.

ACCESSIBLE INFORMATION STANDARDSThe Accessible Information Standards (AIS) are a new NHS England information standard which must be implemented by all organisations that provide NHS or adult social care.

As a practice we now have to comply with the new accessible information standards.

Please let a member of the reception team know whether you require correspondence from the practice in Large Print, Braille or via Audio means.

You may be asked about your preferred method of communication ie: home telephone, work telephone, mobile number etc. When calling into the practice please let the reception team know so that your records can be updated and future correspondence and calls can be dealt with in the correct manner.

SEASONAL FLUFlu is a common infectious viral illness spread by coughs and sneezes. It can be very unpleasant, but you'll usually begin to feel better within about a week.

A flu vaccine is available for free on the NHS for:

anyone over the age of 65  pregnant women children and adults with an underlying health

condition (particularly long-term heart or lung disease)

children and adults with weakened immune systems

An annual flu vaccine nasal spray is also now offered to healthy children aged two, three and four years old, and to children in school years one and two.

The best time to have the vaccine is in the autumn, between September to early November. If you think you might need it, please contact the surgery. You should have the flu vaccination every year so you stay protected, as the viruses that cause flu change every year.

PRIVATE SERVICES FROM YOUR DOCTORAs you are aware, most of the services we provide as a General Practice are free of charge under the NHS. However, the NHS does not cover certain services which are deemed to be private; we do therefore make a ‘private’ charge to all our patients including children requesting such services, our fees are in line with those recommended by the British Medical Association.

These services are for items such as completing a travel cancellation form, fitness to travel certificates, Ofsted medical reports or general ‘to whom it may concern’ letters. Our fees for these services are available on the notice board in the waiting area of Reception or on our website.

On average, we receive around forty requests per month for private work. This work has to be carried out in the Doctors own time in addition to their NHS clinical work which must take priority. Sometimes it may seem as though all that is required is a simple signature, however, in order to sign your document the Doctor will have to review your medical notes which can take time. We do therefore ask for a minimum turnaround time of two weeks for such requests. Please ensure that you bring your requests in as early as possible in order to avoid disappointment.

PRIVATE REFERRALSIf you require a private referral, please allow one week from consultation with your Doctor before booking your appointment at the hospital. This then allows us time to produce your letter in a fair and timely manner. Once your letter is ready we will either post this direct to the hospital or telephone you to collect it to take with you to your appointment. Please tell your Doctor of your preference during your consultation.

STOPTOBEREach year thousands quit smoking for 28 days with Stoptober starting on 1st October.

By signing up they access a range of free support including packs, emails, texts and an app - all providing information, advice and daily tips to help them through the month.Everyone quits together, supported by employers, communities, charities and other partners, as well encouraging each other and by making it to 28 days smoke free, you are five times more likely to quit for good.If you’re thinking about quitting smoking now or want more information about support when you're ready to quit, there is plenty of advice and expert help available on the Smokefree website.

STUDENTSThe doctors and staff would like to thank you all for your help with student training. As you are all probably aware we are a training practice and undertake considerable work with training the next generation of doctors. Your help and support with this is both much appreciated and invaluable.

We know from the students themselves that they find your help essential in their studies and allowing them to meet you is greatly appreciated, however we do understand if you have something of a sensitive issue and you would rather not meet with, or have a student present, when you see a doctor.

PATIENT FORUM.

PATIENT LIBRARARY. ARTICLE BY BJW OF THE PATIENT FORUM Have you noticed the collection of books near the automated checking-in machine? Did you know that they are there for you to borrow? If you’d like to borrow any of these books just take it to reception and sign a card to show that the book is currently in your possession. Return it when you’ve finished reading it so that others can also benefit from the information it gives. Some years ago the Patient Forum bought a collection of the series of very useful books “How to cope with . . . .” These are the basis of the collection housed in the book case, but it also includes other useful titles. Sometimes it’s useful to be able to read a book about your situation, to learn how other people continue to enjoy life in similar circumstances. Unfortunately, even the most caring doctor may not have time to cover “daily living” issues, and with the best will in the world, may not know about the everyday difficulties you might encounter. Often we don’t take in all the information they can give us during an appointment, because we may be shocked by the diagnosis we are receiving. Our “Patients Library” could be a good place to start to supplement the information the doctor has given us. We’d like to encourage more people to use these books – they don’t help anybody sitting in their book case! Perhaps you prefer to find information on the internet these days. There are many useful websites that give you information about living with various medical conditions, and those operated by local or national charities are particularly helpful. But there are also many websites where the information is suspect to say the least, and you should be very careful which information you rely on. In my early professional life, I worked as a librarian, and eventually as a hospital librarian. More recently I was Information Services Manager for a local charity supporting people experiencing sight loss, so I like to think that I am well qualified to comment on these issues.

PATIENT SURVEYDuring August and September, we will be conducting the Patient Survey both within the Surgery and online. We hope you will assist by completing the tick box questionnaire.

CONTACT DETAILSFor further details, please contact the Forum Secretary, John Bridges on Tel 07590379892 or Email john.bridges@orangehome.co.uk