Download Spring 2015 - Haltwhistle Medical Group

HALTWHISTLE MEDICAL GROUP
SPRING 2015 NEWSLETTER
Staff News


GP Registrars – we said goodbye to Dr Mitchell Ralley in February 2015. Dr Ralley was very popular
with both staff and patients and we wish him well in his next training post. He will return to our
Practice in 2017. In October 2014 Dr Beth Hall-Thompson, gave birth to a beautiful baby boy,
Ayaan. Both are doing well and Dr Hall-Thompson returns to work in Practice in April.
Administration – we welcome to our admin team, Kirsty Sanderson. Kirsty has joined the team on
the modern apprenticeship scheme. She will be learning all areas of administration in the Practice
while also gaining a business and administration qualification through Northumberland College
The practice was inspected by the Care Quality Commission on 14th October 2014.
We have now received their report and rating, which is based on a combination of what they found at the
inspection, their monitoring of data about services and information from providers, patients, the public &
other organisations.
The overall rating for the practice was “good” and the ratings for the 5 areas covered by the inspection
were:
 Are services safe?
Good
 Are services effective?
Good
 Are services caring?
Good
 Are services responsive to people’s needs?
Good
 Are services well led?
Good
If you would like to read the full report you can access this via the practice website, the CQC website and
there is a paper copy in the waiting room.
Thank you to all the patients who completed feedback cards or talked to the CQC inspectors while they
were in the waiting room on inspection day.
Patients who did not attend appointments (DNA)
We are having increasing problems with patients not cancelling booked appointments that they cannot
attend. We have started to audit this & produce DNA reports. The figures given are all genuine
appointments that patients have booked then not attended.
We ask patients to please let us know if you cannot attend appointments, so that we can then offer these to
other patients who need to be seen.
Past 4 months DNA figures
Month
Doctor
Appts
Practice
Nurse Appts
November 14
December 14
January 15
February 15
59
59
72
49
48
85
48
51
District Nurse,
Midwife,
Childhood
Immunisation
Nurse
13
15
11
8
Monthly total of
DNA
120
159
131
108
If we presume that each missed appointment was a 10 minute appointment (some may have been longer
appointments) Over 4 months this equates to over 86 hours of wasted GP and Nurse time. Please help us to
help you and use our time and appointments more efficiently and effectively. IF YOU CAN’T KEEP IT CANCEL
EMIS Online patient access
EMIS access is the system that patients currently
use to order repeat medication and book GP
appointments. By the 31st March 2015 patients
registered with this system will also have access
to a summary view of their medical record which
will include medications, allergies and adverse
reactions. If you would like to register for this
system please speak to the receptionist or visit
the website.
Please note it is the patient’s responsibility to
keep passwords secure.
Healthwatch Northumberland is your independent
health and social care consumer champion. We
monitor health and social care services across
Northumberland, including hospitals, GPs, dentists,
opticians and care homes. If you have used health and
social care services in Northumberland in the last 12
months, we want to hear about your experiences. We
will then use this information to influence and inform
services across the county.
As well as taking your comments on health and social
care, we provide information and signposting and also
run a dedicated advocacy service called ICAN
(Independent Complaints Advocacy Northumberland)
to support you if you have an NHS complaint.
To contact us with any comments, compliments or
concerns, please call: 03332 408 468
Write to us: Healthwatch Northumberland, Adapt
(North East), Burn Lane, Hexham, Northumberland,
NE46 3HN
Or email: [email protected]
Or contact us via our website:
www.healthwatchnorthumberland.co.uk
Please see our website for details or contact us using
the information above
Flu Clinics 2014/15
We had well attended flu clinics over the winter
of 2014, If you have any comments about our flu
clinics or suggestions about how we could
improve these please let us know
Fundraising Events in Practice
Thank you to all our patients and staff who
supported us in our recent fund raising events
In September we held a Macmillan Coffee
morning and raffle in memory of our colleague
Denis Tallantyre and we raised the fantastic
amount of £1583.13.
During the month of December we had a
Christmas raffle for the Health Centre
Equipment Fund and we raised £404.50.
The Equipment Fund replies on donations as
and fundraising events and we use these funds
to purchases items of equipment/facilities to
improve the care we give to patients.
From 1 December 2014 it is a contractual
requirement that all GP practices must undertake the
NHS Friends and Family Test (FFT). This is a feedback
tool which gives people who use NHS services the
opportunity to provide feedback on their experience.
The FFT question asks if people would recommend
the services they have used to their friends & family
and offers a range of responses.
When combined with supplementary follow up
questions, this provides a mechanism to highlight
both good and poor patient experience. Practices can
use the feedback gathered through FFT to celebrate
success and to support staff to make improvements
You can take the friends and family test using a card
at the front desk or via the Practice website
Useful Contact Numbers
Our Patient Participation Group (PPG), have created
cards with useful contact numbers for patients to
use. Printed Cards are available from reception. We
have detailed the useful numbers below
Out of hours – NHS emergencies &
urgent care
Social Services inc out of hours
Haltwhistle Hospital
111
01670
536400
01434
320225
0344 881
8111
Northumbria Hospitals
(Hexham, North Tyneside,
Wansbeck)
Newcastle Hospitals (Freeman, RVI) 0191 233
Painting in the waiting room - We are very grateful to Joan Tallantyre who has donated a beautiful painting
6161
of the old Haltwhistle Hospital for us to display in the waiting room. Joan has donated this painting in
Police (non emergencies)
101
memory of her late husband Denis Tallantyre who worked at the Practice for many years.
Dental emergencies out of hours
111