Great Shelford health news

 

February 2019 update

Advanced Nurse Practitioner

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The Benefits of Merging GP practices

 

 

Following on from Dr Wright’s article last month about why GP practices are merging, I would like to take this opportunity to highlight some of the benefits that are starting to come through for our practice members (patients).

 

You may not have seen any benefits yet, in fact you may have only seen difficulties – particularly in obtaining routine appointments, which is perceived as being secondary to the merges. In fact, appointment waiting times is a national problem. Indeed, two surgeries in Cambridgeshire have stopped offering routine appointments to their patients altogether as their waiting times are longer than 6 weeks.  We know there is a problem, and we are continually looking for solutions.

 

In the meantime, some of the benefits we can already offer Granta practice members include:-

 

1.    Unlimited on-the-day access for all members. It may not be at your preferred site but if you need to be seen we will see you. Granta currently deals with approximately 19,000 practice members per month, compared to Addenbrookes Accident & Emergency department, who deal with roughly 12,000 per month.

2.    Improved opening hours and access to appointments. Various Granta sites offer appointments from 8am to 8pm Monday to Thursday, 6.30am to 7pm Fridays and every Saturday morning.

3.    Access to your medical records at any one of 5 sites, by any clinician you are booked in to see.

4.    Access to a physiotherapy service that is offered on the day and on site for new problems. We are one of only 40 surgeries in the country offering this service.

5.    The use of Emergency Care Practitioners (very advanced paramedics) for visits. This allows practice members to be seen quickly and if required, admission arranged, increasing chances of discharge on the same day, rather than waiting for the historical GP visit at lunch time, which almost guaranteed admission. The ECP’s have unlimited access to the duty medical team if required for advice and due to availability actually can give increased continuity.

6.    Diagnostic imaging - ulltrasound scans are done on site at Granta Sawston.

7.    Ear microsuction clinics are run on site at Granta Sawston.

8.    Increased internal specialist input. By increasing our size we have increased our internal expertise.  It is now possible to internally refer patients to another clinical member of staff who specialises in that area. They in turn may be able to see you in a much more timely manner, with your complete medical notes, and may reduce the possibility of having to attend a hospital appointment.

9.    Access to a Social Navigator. This is a member of the Granta team who specifically looks at support from the community and ways of managing isolation and engaging patients from a holistic point of view.

10. Involvement in group consultations - a national initiative, which looks at providing information in groups to increase access and exposure and help people take ownership of their illness.

11. Fewer recruitment problems. We are in a relatively unique position of not having a recruitment crisis. In fact we have a number of clinicians approaching us asking if they can work for us because of what we are doing and ideas for the future.

12. An active Patient Participation Group (PPG). We are starting to really develop this and work together for the best of the practice.

 

These are but a few. We of course acknowledge there is a long way to go but with the merges we have given ourselves every opportunity possible to succeed and be able to provide continuing outstanding care to our practice members long into the future.

 

Sandra East

Communications Manager, Granta Medical Practicess

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Why are GP Practices merging?

 

 

In April 2016 NHS England published the General Practice Forward View. In the introduction Simon Stevens, Chief Executive of NHS England states:

 

“There is arguably no more important job in modern Britain than that of the family doctor. GP’s are by far the largest branch of British medicine. A growing and ageing population, with complex multiple health conditions, means that personal and population-orientated primary care is central to any country’s health system. As a recent British Medical Journal headline put it – “if general practice fails, the whole NHS fails”.”

 

Unfortunately the NHS and in particular General Practice is under increasing pressure. There is currently a divergence in that there is an aging / elderly population with increasingly complex health needs requiring more time and continuity in a system with decreasing resources, social care and community support. General Practice is being asked to provide better access with improved opening times whilst having a recruitment and retention crisis.

 

Surgeries are collapsing and the unthinkable is happening, surgeries are closing as they are no longer sustainable.

 

There are therefore 2 options:

 

1)     Continue the status quo. Comfort is taken from a system that is understood. However, in doing this we must acknowledge that there is a significant risk that Primary Care will not continue in its current guise.

 

2)     Innovate and look at system wide change. This is difficult but provides a service that looks after the patient as a whole and is not fragmented and disjointed by the need to use different providers in the community.

 

With the mergers of Sawston, Linton, Barley and Shelford, Granta Medical Practices are addressing this struggle with a view to becoming a Primary Care Home. This provides stability as a practice, increased internal skills, and an increased ability to adapt to change. This then becomes more attractive to the multi-disciplinary teams as a place to work, removing the recruitment crisis. It will bring together a range of health and social care professionals to work together to provide enhanced personalised and preventative care for their local community. Focusing on local population needs, the aim is to provide care closer to patient’s homes, before hospital admission may become necessary.

 

With an increased size and thus sustainability come different working patterns. This provides increased access but then impacts on perceived continuity. You cannot have one with the other. However, behind the scenes increasing systems are put in place whereby GP’s are constantly communicating with each other about patient concerns, progress, improvement or deterioration and patient care plans and notes are routinely reviewed. There is still a single named GP for every patient who has overarching knowledge and understanding of their patients but they may lead a team that provides ongoing care, rather than run the team.

 

It is a fine line between offering unlimited on the day access and regular routine appointments and we must acknowledge that at times the balance can go either way, but it is with an understanding and open mind that we move things forward, learning from what we have achieved in the past to improve and redesign for the better in the future. We are in a time of significant change and all of the staff at Granta are looking to provide outstanding care for their patients. However, we can only do this with the support of our patients. We must adapt to patient’s needs, always be open to suggestions, but maintain our desire to move the practice forward to what we believe it can become.

 

 

On Behalf of Granta Medical Practices

 

Dr Tim Wright

Chief Operations Officer

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Friday 21st December	OPEN 8am-6pm
Saturday 22nd December	Closed
Sunday 23rd December	Closed
Monday 24th December	OPEN 8am-6pm
Tuesday 25th December	Closed
Wednesday 26th December	Closed
Thursday 27th December	OPEN 8am-6pm
Friday 28th December	OPEN 8am-6pm
Saturday 29th December	Closed
Sunday 30th December	Closed
Monday 31st December	OPEN 8am-6pm
Tuesday 1st January 2019	Closed
Wednesday 2nd January	OPEN 8am-6pm

 

Please go to www.grantamedicalpractices.co.uk for opening times for our pharmacies, dispensaries and for details about our extended hours.

Alternative Services

When your local surgery is closed, there are GP’s on call at the Urgent Care Centre based at Addenbrookes. If you need to be seen by a doctor or nurse, or need advice while your surgery is closed, please call 111. This service operates between 6pm and 8am on weekdays and 24 hours at weekends and on Bank Holidays. It is free to call from mobile ‘phones and landlines. Your condition will be assessed over the ‘phone and if they think you need to be seen by a health professional, they will refer you to the out-of-hours GP service.

Home Help

You can treat many minor winter illnesses such as colds and coughs, sore throats, and upset stomachs easily at home. Make sure you are stocked up with winter health essentials such as pain relief (paracetamol), cough and sore throat remedies, a first aid kit, upset stomach treatment, rehydration treatment, and heartburn / indigestion treatment. Having these winter essentials at hand will not only save you time and help you to feel better quicker, but help save the NHS much needed resources.

Your local pharmacist can also offer you advice and guidance on the best treatment for you – and no appointment is needed. Pharmacists are available on every high street and in supermarkets with many open evenings and weekends.

Repeat Prescriptions

Please ensure you have enough medication to cover the holiday period. Ordering what you need in good time is the most stress-free approach for all, allowing 2 CLEAR working days from making your request to collecting the prescriptions.

 

Sandra East

Granta Communications Officer

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Yellow "sharps" bins disposal

 

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Shelford Medical Practice has changed its website following the merger with the Granta Medical Practice earlier this year.

The website is now shared with Granta.

Existing passwords will still work on the new site.

Here is a link to their new website.

Here is a statement about the changes.

 

Since the merge on 1^st July 2018 we have been trying to get our website redirected to the Granta Medical Practices website.  Unfortunately, on Friday 26 October 2018 our hosting company made the decision to take down the Shelford website without informing us first.  Now, when our patients go to the Shelford website they see a standard default message, which apparently cannot be amended.

 

We are currently working to resolve this problem, with a view to setting up an appropriate redirection of Shelford Medical Practice’s website to the Granta Medical Practices website.

 

We would like to apologise for any inconvenience this sudden closure may have caused our patients. Please be assured that we are aware of this problem and are working towards a prompt satisfactory solution.

 

Sandra East
Communications Officer
Granta Medical Practices

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Adult Flu Clinics

 

The 2018 flu clinic dates are as follows:-

 

Date	Surgery	Vaccine Type	Time
Saturday 29th September	Linton Health Centre T. 01223 892555	18-64yrs only*	0800:1300
Saturday 29th September	Shelford Health Centre T. 01223 843661	18-64yrs only*	0730-1300
Saturday 6th October	Sawston Health Centre T. 01223 727555	18-64yrs* Over 65yrs	0730-1330
Saturday 6th October	Barley Health Centre T. 01763 848244	18-64yrs* Over 65yrs	0800-1400
Saturday 27th October	Linton Health Centre T. 01223 892555	18-64yrs* Over 65yrs	0800-1300
Saturday 27th October	Shelford Health Centre T. 01223 843661	18-64yrs* Over 65yrs	0730-1300
Saturday 3rd November	Sawston Health Centre T. 01223 727555	18-64yrs* Over 65yrs	0730-1330
Saturday 3rd November	Barley Health Centre T. 01763 848244	18-64yrs* Over 65yrs	0800-1400

 

Childrens Flu Clinics

 

These will be announced once the Department of Health have confirmed their delivery schedules.

 

Patients eligible for flu vaccinations are:-

 

·         All healthy children aged 2 to 4 years of age as of 1^st September 2018. Please note that children aged 5 to 9 years (but not 10 years or older on 31^st August 2018) should be vaccinated in school. Please speak to your local practice nurse if you have any queries about this.

·         Clinically eligible patients, aged 6 months to 17 years of age and 18 to 64 years of age*

·         Pregnant women

·         Those aged 65 years and over

·         Those in long-stay residential care homes

·         Carers

 

If you are a patient registered with Granta Medical Practices you have the flexibility of choosing where you would like to go for your vaccination. When you ring to book your appointment, please state your age so that you can be booked into the appropriate clinic.

 

Did you know … having your flu jab at your doctors’ surgery is the quickest and most convenient way as there are no forms to fill out – the doctors and nurses have your medical history at their finger-tips.

 

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact one of our surgeries.

 

Sandra East, Granta Communications

Tel: 01223 843661, sandra.east@nhs.net

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 Shelford Medical Practice opening hours 

 

Shelford Medical Practice’s computer system is scheduled to be merged with Granta Medical Practices computer system on Tuesday 4^thSeptember 2018.  Once merged, Shelford patients will be able to take full advantage of all the benefits that Granta patients are offered, including a wider choice of appointments, a choice of venues, and access to various community-based services.

 

We hope to keep disruption to our Shelford patients to a minimum, and opening times will be as follows:-

 

Monday 3rd September	8am to 6pm	Practice open as usual
Tuesday 4th September	8am to 1pm 1pm to 6pm	Practice open as usual No appointments available
Wednesday 5th September	8am to 12 noon 12 noon to 6pm	No appointments available Practice open for emergency appointments
Thursday 6th September	8am to 6pm	Practice open as usual

 

There are currently no routine pre-bookable appointments for Shelford doctors or nurses after the 5^thSeptember. However, as from Thursday 6^thSeptember onwards there will be lots of new appointments available so please call then to arrange your future routine appointments.

 

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me.  

 

Sandra East

Granta Communications

Tel: Shelford - 01223 843661 / Sawston - 01223 727555 

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Newsletter August 2018

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Shelford Medical Practice newsletter June 2018

The national flu immunisation programme 2018/19

 

This year sees significant changes as to how we will be vaccinating our patients, the main one being that there are now 2 different vaccines for adults:-

 

1.    The adjuvanted trivalent vaccine (aTIV) for all patients over 65 years of age

 

2.    The quadrivalent vaccine (QIV) for patients 18 years old and over and for patients under 65 years of age eligible for NHS vaccinations

 

Eligible children will continue to receive the nasal spray live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV).

 

The following patients are eligible for flu vaccination:-

 

·         All children aged 2 to 9 years of age (but not 10 years or older) on 31 August 2018

·         Patients with clinical need, aged 6 months to under 65 years of age

·         Pregnant women

·         Those aged 65 years and over

·         Those in long-stay residential care homes

·         Carers

 

In addition, flu vaccines are recommended for frontline health and social care workers.

 

The other significant change of note is the way in which we will receive our supply of vaccines – there will be 3 separate deliveries between the months of September and November.

 

All of the above means that this year booking your flu appointment won’t be quite as straight forward for us as in previous years. We will have to separate adults by age, vaccination type, and by when deliveries are due so please bear with us as we manage this huge task which could involve up to 15,000 patients!

 

In the next issue we hope to publish our flu clinic dates. Additionally, text messages will be sent, there will be local posters, and the dates will be published on our websites.

 

As always, if you have any questions concerns please do not hesitate to contact me at Shelford Medical Practice or your local Granta surgery.

 

 

Sandra East

Communications Manager

Shelford Medical Practice / Granta Medical Practices

 

 

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Shelford Medical Practice Newsletter, May 2018

 

Travel Health & Vaccinations

It’s that time of year again when we are starting to plan our summer holidays.  Please remember though that some destinations require more than just suntan lotion and a swim suit!

There are many places you can get great travel advice from and we suggest you start by checking the recommendations for your travel destination on the Fit For Travel website http://www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk

At Shelford Medical Practice we can provide you with the following NHS vaccines: 

• diphtheria, polio and tetanus booster 
• hepatitis A 
• typhoid

If you require any of the NHS vaccinations listed above please book an appointment at least 4 to 6 weeks prior to travel. You also need to complete a travel form – this can be found on our website or you can obtain a copy from our reception.  Your completed form needs to be returned prior to your appointment to enable the practice nurse to prepare appropriately for your consultation.

For any complex or high risk travel, or if you require vaccines not available on the NHS, you will need to book a travel advice consultation with one of the local travel clinics. These clinics provide the full range of private immunisations and comprehensive advice.  Details of local travel clinics can be found on our website and include Granta Medical Practices, Boots, and The Travel Clinic.

Previous Vaccination history

Our administration team can provide you with an up to date record of your previous vaccination history but please allow 3 working days for us to process your request. Alternatively, you can register for online access to your records.

Regular Medication 

If you are on regular medication, please ensure your annual review is up to date, and that you have requested adequate supplies prior to travel.

We regret that we cannot issue more than 3 months of medication in advance, and if your travel is for longer than this, you will have to access further medication while you are away.

Your doctor or the practice nurses are happy to review with you any complex health or medication needs prior to travel to ensure you are as prepared as possible. We cannot do this in emergency appointments, so please book early for travel vaccinations.

If you have recently registered with us, it can take up to 10 weeks for your notes to arrive here from your previous practice, so you will need to bring with you details of any vaccinations you may previously have had. This is so you are not given any vaccinations you do not need.

Don’t leave it too late!

Most vaccinations need to be administered at least 4 weeks before departure and for some risky areas you will need to have injections 3 months before you travel. Please remember to book in plenty of time, ideally 4 to 6 weeks before departure.

As always, we welcome any patient feedback so please feel free to contact us with comments, queries or questions – our aim is to provide the best possible service we can to all of our patients.

 

Sandra East, Communications Manager

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Shelford Medical Practice Newsletter, April 2018

 

 

Surgery Remedial Work

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