Frimley Green Medical Centre

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WEBSITE NEWS UPDATE – 11^th FEBRUARY 2010

Please visit our Flu page for up to date information on Seasonal Flu and Swine Flu.

EASTER OPENING TIMES
Thursday         1^st April                        Open 08:15 to 13:00 and 14:00 to 18:30
Friday             2^nd April                        Closed all day
Monday           5^th April                        Closed all day
Tuesday          6^th April                        Open 08:15 to 13:00 and 14:00 to 18:30

If you need to contact a Doctor Urgently outside of these hours, please telephone
01189 365649

SAME DAY APPOINTMENTS
We are now operating a Full Time Nurse Practitioner Service at the Medical Centre Please note : Any patient wishing to see a Doctor on a same day basis, will be telephoned by the Nurse Practitioner first of all to discuss the problem. With the growing demands of patients to see a Doctor on the same day, and a growing population, the Nurse Practitioner service is felt necessary to ensure patients are cared for in the most appropriate way. Our Nurse Practitioners are very experienced and can deal with a wide range of medical matters including issuing prescriptions as required. Indeed in many cases, we can save the patient a trip to the surgery. If after discussing the nature of the call, the Nurse Practitioner feels that a Doctors appointment is needed, then an appropriate appointment is offered. 

EXTENDED OPENING HOURS
We offer Extended Hours Surgeries on a Monday, Wednesday & Thursday evening from 18.30hrs until 20.00hrs each week, and one Saturday morning per month from 08.30hrs until 10.00hrs.

These additional appointments are intended  for patients who have difficulty attending the surgery during normal working hours.

 Please note : these surgeries are pre-bookable ONLY and the Surgery doors remain locked for security reasons. Access is via a intercom system at the side of the building. Any patient who needs to consult with a Doctor urgently after 18.30hrs or at the weekend will still need to access the Out of Hours Service by calling 01189 365649

PATIENT FORMS
We regularly receive forms from patients for completion such as passport applications, insurance reports, fitness declarations etc. These are not a service provided by the NHS and therefore the Doctors provide these as a private service—for which there is of course a fee.

These forms MUST be handed in at Reception and payment is required in advance due to previous problems encountered with payments. We do require up to 14 days to turn these around, as the Doctors do have to fit this extra work in around their NHS commitments. Please do not hand the forms to your Doctor at an appointment as this not only wastes valuable appointment time but may ultimately delay the completion of your request.

GP SURVEY
Since April 2009 the Department of Health has been running  a quarterly survey and is continuing the GP Patient Survey again this year to assess patients' experiences of their local NHS services. Survey specialist Ipsos MORI continue to run the survey on behalf of the Department and this year has developed a new questionnaire, covering more of the issues that concern patients.

The GP Patient Survey is part of the Government’s commitment to make the NHS more responsive to patients’ needs. The survey asks patients about a range of issues, such as how easy or difficult it is for patients to make an appointment at their surgery, satisfaction with opening hours, the quality of care received from their GP and practice nurses, amongst other things.

This survey is an opportunity for patients to have their say about how we as a practice are doing at providing these services to patients. We hope that patients selected to take part in the survey will use this opportunity to feed back their opinions on these important issues. The more responses we receive, the more accurate a picture we will get on how we are performing.

MISSED APPOINTMENTS
We pride ourselves on our access arrangements, but we need your help too in improving this further. Since January 1^st, 97.54% of patients have turned up for the appointments. If you can’t make it, please help us by phoning the cancellation line on 01252 835016 or emailing the surgery at ian.friend@nhs.net . By letting us know when you can’t keep an appointment, you will be helping to reduce waiting times and enable others to access medical care when they most need it.

HPV VACCINATIONS
The Department of Health has introduced these vaccinations (and the related catch up campaign) as part of the routine childhood immunisation programme to avoid increases incidences of cervical cancer in women. The objective of the programme is to provide 3 doses of the HPV vaccine to females before they reach an age when the risk of HPV infection increases and they are at subsequent risk of cervical cancer. The routine programme is a school based service for Year 8 girls (12-13 years). Plans to vaccinate Years 10 & 11 have been accelerated and this commenced in schools in September 2009. We are running the approved Catch up programme to vaccinate the following cohort of patients only.

1. Patients born between 01.09.1991 and 31.08.1993
2. Patients who missed out in last years programme who were born between 01.09.1990 and 31.08.1991
3. Year 8 girls who have not received their complete HPV course at school who were born between 01.09.1995 and 31.08.1996

We regret we are unable to offer the vaccination to anyone outside of this criteria 

SEASONAL FLU & SWINE FLU VACCINATIONS

Please visit our Flu page for up to date information on Seasonal Flu and Swine Flu.  

Training Information for patients                     

This practice has been accredited as being suitable for the training of those doctors intending to become general practitioners.

This means that the practice and doctors have had to achieve a number of standards which have been assessed by the GP Deanery for Kent , Surrey and Sussex , acting on behalf of the national organisation (the Postgraduate Medical Education Board)

These are some points for your information: -

1)     Those doctors training to become GPs are called GP registrars. They are employed by one of the doctors here, who will            be their trainer.
2)     The GP registrar is a fully qualified doctor who is likely to have a lot of experience of hospital medicine.
3)     Sometimes other doctors are also trained and supported in the practice.
4)     If you are seeing this doctor you can expect to receive the quality of service you would from your own GP. If you have any         concerns please mention this to a member of staff.
5)     In order for the GP registrars to successfully complete their training they need to be assessed on their consulting skills. 

This is done by the appointed assessors viewing a video of the registrar’s consultations. You may be asked for your permission to have your consultation recorded in this way. If you agree, you will need to give your written permission and there is a consent form available at the desk, which you will be offered.  If the doctor appears to be recording your consultation and you have not signed a consent form, then you should indicate this to him or her immediately. The recording will be used for educational purposes only. Further information about this process and the confidentiality of it, can be obtained from the reception staff.

Repeat Prescriptions

For those requiring regular medication, our repeat prescriptions system is designed to be convenient and safe. It allows you to obtain treatments for up to one year before needing to be reviewed by the Doctor.

The Doctor will give you the repeat prescription form to re-order treatments. We need your request two working days before you plan to collect the prescription. Please note that, for safety reasons, we are unable to accept requests for treatment over the phone. If the required medicine is not on your re-order form, a form to complete is available at the reception desk. Written requests by post, email and fax are also accepted. Our Dispensers, Jill Ward & Linda Hadden, are able to deal with many general medication enquiries.

Test Results

Please phone the surgery after 2 pm for test results. When a test is taken, the Doctor or Nurse usually indicates how long it will take for the result to come back. In general terms :

Please note - the results are seen by the Doctor and available to you within 24 hours of receipt by the surgery. These are the times that it takes for the test to be performed and then the result to be sent to the surgery by the hospital.

Medical Certificates

You are not required to see the Doctor for a certificate for periods of illness lasting less than seven working days or one week. For periods between four and seven days, the form required is Form SC2 which can be collected from Reception. NHS certificates will not be given out for illness periods under one week. If your employer insists on documentation, there is a standard letter that you can collect from Reception. The Doctor is able to issue a Private Certificate. There is currently a fee of £13.00 for Private Certificates.

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Complaints

We are all aware that things do sometimes go wrong or that you may be dissatisfied in other ways with your care. If you have comments or questions about any aspect if your care or treatment at FGMC, then we are happy to discuss these with you. In the first instance, we suggest that you contact our Practice Manager Ian Friend, by phone or in writing. We have a written complaints policy and there are copies of this available at the reception desk.

Advice for Young People

We are well aware how difficult it can be for younger patients to get discreet, confidential advice, particularly if the problem concerns sex advice or contraception. Respecting your right to confidential help is as important to us as it is to you. Your problems are never discussed with others. People under 16 years will always be given totally confidential advice.

Emergency contraception works best if taken within 24 hours of sex. It can be given up to 3 days later and other methods can be used up to several days after sex. Even when we are short of appointments, please make it clear to the receptionist if you need to discuss emergency contraception and we will always see you the same day.

Please do not be afraid to ask - if you cannot come to see us, the doctors and nurses can give initial advice over the phone. All young people can also get advice from the local Family Planning Clinics (01483 576208) or the Genito-Urinary Medicine Clinic at Frimley Park Hospital (01276 604604)

Meningitis
Are you aged under 24?        Have you missed out on meningitis vaccination?
Please contact the surgery to arrange this vital vaccination

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Practice Charter

Our Commitment To You

We aim to provide you with a helpful, efficient and professional service. We will seek to meet your health needs as they arise to the best of our ability. We aim to provide routine access to a GP within 2 working days and work hard to ensure that you have same day access to an appointment if this is appropriate. You can expect to be treated with respect and courtesy. Your rights to confidentiality will be respected at all times. You are entitled to access to your medical records as laid out in the Data Protection Act. You can expect to be offered explanations and information about your health, illnesses and treatments.

Your Responsibilities To Us

We expect you to treat the Doctor's and Staff with the same respect and courtesy that we show to you. You have a responsibility to attend appointments that you have made or to notify the practice if you are unable to attend. You have a responsibility only to request a home visit from the GP if you are unable to attend the surgery for medical reasons. You have a responsibility to use the service out of hours in case of emergencies only. Misuse of the services we provide will ultimately be to the detriment of all in our community. You should notify us promptly of any changes in your personal details, especially of a change in telephone number.

Normal practice opening hours with effect from 1st January 2009 are:

Sat / Sun       Closed

With effect from January 1st 2009, the Doctors will be offering Extended Hours Surgeries on a Monday, Wednesday & Thursday evening from 18.30hrs until 20.00hrs each week, and one Saturday morning per month from 08.30hrs until 10.00hrs. Please note : these surgeries will be pre-bookable ONLY. Any patient who needs to consult with a Doctor after 18.30hrs or at the weekend will still need to access the Out of Hours Service (see below).

Out of Hours Service

From 18.30 to 08.30 during the week and throughout the weekend, the Doctors provide an emergency service through Frimley Primary Care Service who are based at Frimley Park Hospital. If you do become ill during these times, such that you cannot wait until the surgery re-opens, you can phone the service on 0118 936 5649 or alternatively you can the Medical Centre on 01252 835016 and listen to the message. 

A call handler will ask you for some brief details about yourself and the nature of your problem. One of the doctors or nurses will then phone you back and discuss your problem. You may be given advice on how to manage your problem or if you need to be seen you may be invited to attend the Primary Care Centre based at Frimley Park Hospital. If there is a medical reason why you cannot attend the centre, you may be visited at home.

Please note that all calls are recorded for patient safety. The telephones in the Primary Care Centre are all withheld numbers and if your telephone does not accept such calls, we may have difficulties in contacting you. Please be prepared to offer an alternative number if this is the case. Please be patient, the line may be engaged during busy periods.

If you require health information and advice, you cam also phone NHSDirect on 0845 4647 or visit their website www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk

You can also ask your local pharmacist for help and advice on common ailments and problems.

www.frimleypcs.org.uk