Patient Reference Group (Prg) Baddow Village Surgery

PATIENT REFERENCE GROUP (PRG) – BADDOW VILLAGE SURGERY

Newsletter – Edition 6, February 2014

This newsletter is edited on behalf of Baddow Village Surgery PRG. It is not the mouthpiece of the Baddow Village Surgery which is run by the Practice partners. Whilst the two groups work in close co-operation and on a mutual agenda of improvement of patient services, any views expressed are those of the editor and should not be interpreted as those of the Practice.

Introduction

Welcome to issue 6. This includes some updates on the 111 service, the use of patient records plus some seasonal advice on your medicine cabinet and pharmacies. We also welcome the return of the pen portraits of members of the PRG and the Practice staff.

Lastly, a plea for you to take the time to complete the Practice Survey – it really helps.

Ken Edwards, Editor

Chairman’s thoughts

This is the PRG’s third year and we are looking to be involved with even more projects which hopefully will help patients. We will have a look at what we can organise, like an evening with a speaker on subjects that will help the patient.

Maureen Hindle

Practice News

- 2014 Practice survey. The annual survey of patients is now taking place and can be completed in paper or electronic form. We would encourage you to do so as it provides a snapshot of what you think and feel regarding the Practice’s standards. The results are discussed within the Practice and the PRG and an action plan developed to improve any areas of shortcomings. As one example; where a surgery is running significantly late there are now signs to inform waiting patients.

- There is new flooring in the surgery – non slip and excellent for infection control - We have a new Dispensary Manager, - Caroline Thomas who started on 27th January - Patient donations have funded a dermascope to help GPs closely examine moles and lesions. - Polite reminder – please request any travel vaccinations at least 8 WEEKS before travel.

How well stocked is your medicine cabinet?

A range of common illnesses and injuries can be self treated at home. So how well stocked is your medicine cabinet with essentials such as:  paracetamol  anti-diarrhoeal medicine  re-hydration mixture Page 1  indigestion remedy  plasters and a thermometer.

NHS 111 – live at last!

The ‘it’s on, it’s off’ saga is finally over and the 111 service is now live in our area.

Just to remind you what it is all about - NHS 111 number is an easy to remember number to make it easier for the public to access urgent healthcare services. NHS 111 is free to call and is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year to respond to people’s healthcare needs when:

- you need medical help fast, but it’s not a 999 emergency;

- you don’t know who to call for medical help or you don't have a GP to call;

- you think you need to go to A&E or another NHS urgent care service; or

- you require health information or reassurance about what to do next.

Both national and local evidence is that the service is working and proving successful with around 95% of calls answered in less than a minute. The service locally is being provided by Integrated Care 24, a not for profit social enterprise organisation, with a track record of delivering NHS 111 in South Essex and Great Yarmouth & Waveney. The organisation was previously called South East Health.

Better information means better care.

The last issue gave some information about this initiative which will see patient records from surgeries like our own collected together with hospital records to help the NHS improve services. We explained how, if you had concerns about the confidentiality/security of sharing your data, you could opt out.

Since then, there has been a rethink about the timing and way the NHS goes about this. We are informed that leaflets explaining how the NHS uses patient information have been sent out and began landing on the doormats of every one of England’s 26.5 million households in January. The leaflet explains the benefits of sharing information about the care patients have received.

The leaflet also explains that patients have the right to object to their data being used for purposes other than their direct care. If patients wish to restrict their data being used then they should write a letter to the Practice. An information line has been set up for patients to call if they have any questions or concerns about how their data are used: the number is 0300 456 3531.

The final decision on this is of course for each individual to take.

Who’s who?

We continue to introduce some of the members of the Patient Reference Group (PRG) and PATIENT REFERENCE GROUP (PRG) – BADDOW VILLAGE SURGERY

Newsletter – Edition 6, February 2014

Practice staff.

Introducing members of the PRG – Chris Shaw

I was born in Stockport, near Manchester, and met my husband John in Leeds, when working in the university library before moving to Sheffield to do an MA in Library and Information Studies. My first degree was from Leeds in German. John is also a northerner and had come to Leeds to do his PGCE and some educational research - we actually met in the university library! We arrived in Essex simply because we needed a way of finding employment not too far apart – that turned out to be me in London and John in Basildon.

I worked on indexing and online information systems at the British Library until the birth of our first child. I then stopped commuting and worked freelance from home in various kinds of information publishing. When the children were older, I went back and worked for one of my freelance contacts, Essex County Council Supplies Department (later known as A to Z Supplies and privatised). I enjoyed many years there working on catalogue production and later e- commerce, until the second private owner decided to close down the Chelmsford site and merge operations with another of their acquisitions based in Enfield. At that point I went back to freelancing and have been doing so ever since. Since 1991 I have been a parish councillor.

Practice staff pen portrait – our new GP - Dr Amy Peek

I live in Chelmsford with my fiancé and our spoilt-rotten Springer Spaniel, Izzy.

Originally from Kent, I did my medical school training at Barts and the London Hospital. I met my fiancé who’s originally from Lancashire at medical school, but I’ve tempted him to stay down south. My hospital training involved time in Queen’s Hospital Romford, Colchester Hospital and Essex County Hospital.

My GP training was at Broomfield Hospital, Farleigh Hospice and St John’s Hospital. Since qualifying as a GP, I have worked in various Chelmsford GP Surgeries as a locum. I started at Baddow Village Surgery as a locum covering Dr Medhurst’s maternity leave and I am very pleased to now be working here as a salaried GP. Although I enjoy all aspects and the variety of General Practice, my particular interests are sexual health (I fit contraceptive implants and coils) and palliative care.

In my free time, I like to explore the countryside, walking Izzy (we have given up trying to keep her dry and clean, even on a sunny day she will find a muddy puddle). I’m an avid baker (albeit with varied success!) and I am currently very busy planning my springtime wedding. Pharmacists

Your pharmacist can provide advice on common winter illnesses and the best medicines to treat them. Chances are you will know your local pharmacy, such as Boots at The Vineyards, Great Baddow, Pill Box in Meadgate Avenue and Galleywood Pharmacy at the Galleywood shops. Below is a list of those in the Chelmsford area with extended opening hours.

Community Pharmacies in Chelmsford area with extended opening hours

Pharmacy Address Telephone Opening Hours (enhanced services Number ( all opening times are am) provided) Boots 43 High Chelmer, Chelmsford, 01245 Mon - Sat 8.30 - 6.00pm (Sexual Health, Palliative Essex, CM1 1DD 258252 Sun 10.30 - 4.00pm Care) Boots Unit 2b Chelmer Village Retail 01245 Mon - Sat 9.00 – 8.00pm (Sexual Health, Palliative Park, Springfield, Chelmsford, 349986 Sun 11.00 - 4.00pm Care) Essex, CM2 6XE Morrison’s Pharmacy Copperfield Road, 01245 Mon - Sat 8.00 - 8.00pm Chelmsford, CM1 4UX 443317 Sun 10.00 - 4.00pm Sainsbury’s Pharmacy 2 White Hart Lane, 01245 Mon - Fri 7.00 - 11.00pm (100 hour, Sexual Health, Chelmsford, Essex, CM2 5PA 311817 Sat 7.00 - 10.00pm Palliative Care) Sun 10.00 - 4.00pm Tesco Pharmacy Tesco Superstore 01245 Mon 8.00 - 10.30pm (100 hour, Sexual Health, Princes Road, Chelmsford, 547447 Tue – Fri 6.30 - 10.30pm Palliative Care) Essex, CM2 9XW Sat 6.30 - 10.00pm Sun 10.00 - 4.00pm Tesco Stores Pharmacy Tesco Stores Ltd, 47-53 01245 Mon-Sat 8.00 - 8pm Springfield Road, Chelmsford, 898847 Sunday 11.00 - 5pm Essex, CM2 6QT

The source of some well known phrases relating vaguely to health....

 Fit as a fiddle. Current from at least 1616 as when playing quickly a fiddler was expected to be particularly dextrous and to be especially lively and awake.

 Is there a doctor in the house? Traditional cry in a theatre when a member of the cast or audience falls ill. Recoded in a Punch cartoon in 1935 but believed to be earlier.

 Coughs and sneezes spread diseases ... catch them all in your handkerchief. A British Ministry of Health warning from 1942, made famous in Tony Hancock’s ‘The Blood Donor’.

 There’s a lot of it about. Useful but pointless response such as to ‘I’ve got the flu’. It was a running gag in a Spike Milligan TV series in 1982.

 What’s up Doc? The cry of Bugs Bunny a cartoon character between 1837 and 1963, addressed to Elmer Fudd, the doctor who devotes his life to destroying the rabbit.