Whitecliff Group Surgery Staff Newsletter

www.whitecliffpractice.co.uk

Dr Evans, Dr Thomas, Dr Ford, Dr Nixon, Dr Berry, Dr Slater, Dr Sword, Dr Nankervis Whitecliff Surgery, Whitecliff Mill Street & Mrs. C. Tilley Child Okeford Surgery, Upper Street Blandford Forum, Dorset, DT11 7BH Child Okeford, Dorset, DT11 8EF

WHITECLIFF GROUP SURGERY NEWSLETTER - WINTER 2015 New Year – New Ways of Working

We wish all of our patients a very happy new year. The New Year often signals a time for change and general practice is changing too. I am sure that all of our patients have been aware of the national issues regarding the pressure on all our NHS and social care services. The GP Practices in Dorset recognise that with the current funding constraints and growing demand we have to plan proactively to enable the practices to continue to provide the best care possible with the resources available. Here are some of the projects that the Whitecliff Group Practice are working on to maintain the best possible service levels for our patients:

Clinical Services Review (Lead by Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group) The Review is a programme of work that will analyse the health and social care needs of the people of Dorset for the next 10 years or so, make recommendations as to how best to meet those needs, consult the public about the findings and then, subject to consultation, implement any changes to our health and social care services that are necessary to support people in Dorset. It will take around two years. For more information please see: www.dorsetsvision.nhs.uk.

New Services: We are constantly adapting our services to ensure that we reflect the changing needs of patients. The practice now employs a Home Care Assistant (Alicia Trowbridge) who works in the community. This is a very flexible role that is focusing on helping people to identify and manage health issues and to keep them well for longer. Alicia’s role is to visit people in their own home to offer basic health checks, offer advice and signpost people to services. Alicia will also be attending local events (e.g. coffee mornings, carers groups, etc.) to offer health checks opportunistically to attendees.

Working Closely with Other Organisations Within Blandford Forum and the surrounding villages there are lots of ‘not for profit’, voluntary organisations, clubs and interest groups that offer a wide range of health and wellbeing services, advice and leisure & social opportunities. The thing is that there are lots of them and not everyone knows about them and the fantastic work they do!

These voluntary and community services are playing an increasingly important role in supporting people alongside the traditional NHS and social care services. The Whitecliff Group Practice is committed to working positively with these organisations to help us keep people fit and well and to promote a vibrant and engaged community for people of all ages and diversity.

To promote this new way of working, Prama Care (a local ‘not for profit’ organisation) are loaning their Community Development Officer (Chloe Mutton) to work within the Whitecliff Group Practice team. Chloe’s role is to work with existing community groups, to help set up new community groups and to arrange regular community events for the people of Blandford and the surrounding villages. A time tables of local events will be available in the surgery from January 2015. You may also meet Chloe in the waiting room as she regularly meets with patients to get their ideas and feedback! Carol Tilley, Non-Clinical Partner & Practice Manager. www.whitecliffpractice.co.uk

Dr Evans, Dr Thomas, Dr Ford, Dr Nixon, Dr Berry, Dr Slater, Dr Sword, Dr Nankervis Whitecliff Surgery, Whitecliff Mill Street & Mrs. C. Tilley Child Okeford Surgery, Upper Street Blandford Forum, Dorset, DT11 7BH Child Okeford, Dorset, DT11 8EF Wasted Appointments If you ‘Do Not Attend’ your appointment you may have delayed or prevented someone else seeing their GP when it was convenient for them. If you cannot attend please let us know so we can release your appointment to someone else.

Find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/whitecliffpractice

Shingles Vaccines The incidence of Shingles is estimated to be around 790 to 880 cases per 100,000 people per year for those aged 70 to 79. The shingles vaccination is offered to all patients who are aged 70 as at 1 September 2014. The vaccine is also offered to patients who are aged 78 and 79. Please ask a member of the reception team for more information.

Friends and Family Test The “Friends and Family Test” has been introduced by NHS England across all NHS services including hospital and GP surgeries. From December 2014 our doctors and nurses have been periodically issuing feedback forms (these can also be obtained at any time from on top of the reception counter). All responses are anonymous. These will be collated and reported to NHS England and monthly feedback will also be put on the Practice’s website. The practice will also conduct a more detailed survey later in the year based feedback received. Please use emergency services appropriately Many people attend urgent services when it is unnecessary and they could be better treated elsewhere, which during the winter season can put extra demands on already pressured emergency departments.

If someone is seriously ill or injured, and their life is potentially at risk, 999 should be called immediately. An emergency is a critical or a life-threatening situation, such as: suspected heart attack, chest pain, unconsciousness, stroke like symptoms, heavy blood loss, suspected broken bones, deep wounds such as stab wounds, severe breathing difficulties and head injuries. Coughs colds, sore throats, vomiting and other minor ailments such as sprains, do not require a trip to A &E. Self-care could often be the first port of call in these instances. Help and advice for such illnesses can be sought from elsewhere. Pharmacists are experts in medicine and can offer expert help with common complaints and advise when symptoms are more serious that a GP visit maybe necessary. Alternatively the NHS 111 service is a free-to-call non-emergency medical helpline offering health advice and information service which people may wish to use as the first point of contact with NHS services. The 111 adviser will be able to: decide what medical help you need, tell you where you need to go to get this medical help, transfer your call to the service you need, or book an appointment for you, if possible. Simply dial 111 at any time day or night or visit NHS 111 at www.nhs.uk/111. News from the Patient Participation Group - Update from the Chair Following my call in the autumn newsletter for volunteers to fill the vacancies on the Patient Group committee, I’m pleased to report that 4 new members have joined us and we have 2 more potential new members who may join us in the New Year. It’s great to have such an enthusiastic group of people willing to work together with the Practice Manager and other members of her team to bring forward matters of interest to the users of Whitecliff and Child Okeford surgeries. We also signed up a good number of new members for our mailing list (sometimes referred to as the Virtual Patient Group) when we had a stand at the Blandford Health and Well-being event at The Crown hotel in mid-September. We were joined on the stand by members of the new Patient Group from Eagle House Surgery and we all enjoyed meeting patients and discussing issues face to face, some of which we discussed when the committee met at the end of October. Those of you with access to the internet can find a copy of all previous committee meeting minutes by following the link below. http://www.whitecliffpractice.co.uk/ppg.aspx and they are also available in the surgeries. A small number of committee members will soon be working with the Practice Manager to devise the next detailed Patient survey which we’ll be encouraging as many people as possible to complete. This is one of the main ways of assessing what’s important to people and we will work on the main issues along with the staff at the practice once the results are in. Networking with other patient groups: Every 6 months or so a networking event is held where members of patient groups across North Dorset get together to: • Report on their groups activities • Share ideas for encouraging patient participation • Receive updates on NHS and other health related projects going on in Dorset The last one was held in November and was well attended. As Chair of our patient group I also regularly meet with the Chairs of other groups from across North Dorset which is proving a valuable opportunity to pick up new ideas and to also have the opportunity of probing more into what’s going on with the NHS in the county. At the last meeting we met with Dr Rob Childs a GP from Sherborne who represents the North Dorset locality on the Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group. We find this a good opportunity to get across the issues which affect our fellow patients. The Wider NHS in Dorset Earlier in this newsletter the Practice referred you to the Clinical Services Review currently underway. The patient Group would like to encourage as many of you as possible to attend the communication events being organised around the county to inform the public about the re view. Look out for emails etc. which alert you to these opportunities. As ever if there are any issues you want to raise with me or have items you wish us to discuss at the next committee meeting to be held on 7 January please feel free to email me on [email protected] or write to me care of the Surgery. Ms Gwyn Bates Chair, Whitecliff Group Practice Patient Participation Group