1. health and fitness
2. drugs

Tadley Medical Partnership Newsletter December 2014
Hello and goodbye
Dr Alison Johnstone left the Practice on 12 December to pursue a different direction in her medical
career. We are sorry to see her go as, we are sure, will her patients who have got to know her in the 3
years she has worked in Tadley.
We are delighted to welcome Dr Ayesha Chaudhry who has worked in Basingstoke for
several years. Dr Chaudhry will take over the care of Dr Johnstone’s patients.
Some more changes…..
For many years the Practice has sought your views on the services we provide - more recently with the
collaboration of the Patient Participation Group.
The hot topics always seem to be parking and appointments.
Unfortunately there is very little we can do about increasing the number of
parking spaces. All staff are requested to use the staff car park and encouraged
to walk or cycle in. Ultimately we have no means to acquire additional land even if it were available. Please think twice about driving to the surgery
whenever possible to free up spaces for those who have no other option, and please respect the disabled
parking spaces.
Appointment System: We have made radical changes to the appointment system.
Urgent Appointments - all requests for appointments on the day for urgent matters will be handled by one
of two Duty Doctors who will be working from either surgery
When you contact the surgery your details will be given to one of the Duty Doctors who will return your
call. You will be assessed and, if necessary, will be offered an appointment that day with one of the Duty
Doctors – this might be at either surgery. It might also be appropriate for the Duty Doctor to deal with
your problem over the telephone
Routine Appointments - there will be more appointments available with your own doctor for routine
matters that can be booked in advance
These changes are quite challenging but our aim is to make it easier for patients to plan their routine
ongoing care more easily whilst guaranteeing all patients with genuine urgent need have access on the
day.
Friends and Family Test
This initiative by NHS England has been rolled out amongst all GP surgeries with effect from 1st December.
The idea behind it is to allow patients to provide feedback on the care they receive from the NHS. Initially
run in hospitals, it will expand to other NHS services.
You can take part online, by text, by telephone or by filling in a paper version and posting in the special box
on the reception desk. Our results will be published monthly from 1 February 2015.
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A message from the Chairman of the PPG (Patient Participation Group)
Hello and welcome from the Committee. Our aim is to improve the patient experience when you need the
services of the practice and, working in the spirit of a true partnership, make a difference to the staff and
doctors as well.
As you may have read elsewhere, improvements have been made to services in the Practice as a result of
our questionnaire. We are focusing on three main areas: communication, do not attends (DNAs) and
appointments.
We will be working with practice staff to see how to improve communication in various areas e.g. health
promotion, campaigns and dealings with other NHS organisations. These include the North Hampshire
Clinical Commissioning Group (NHCCG), with whom we now have close links. We are meeting with practice
staff in February to help this process along. With regard to DNAs, the practice has instigated a text
reminder and cancellation service which is having the desired effect. If you have a mobile phone, please
think about letting the practice know – the number will be used for appointment reminders, invitations to
make appointments specific to your medical condition eg Asthma and flu jabs. It will form part of your
NHS record.
A new booking system is now in place and is described elsewhere in this newsletter. Early indications are
that this is working well. Please be patient whilst this is bedding in.
The committee would like to hear from you if you have any suggestions for improving or adding to the
services available. You can email us at [email protected]
The committee and I wish you a merry Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year.
Best wishes
Paul Woodgate
PS We are looking for patients of all ages and backgrounds to join the PPG. Visit the Practice website
www.tadleymedical.co.uk or ask at Reception.
Sign up for our Text Message Reminder service
You will receive a text message reminding you of any forthcoming appointments
and will be given the opportunity to cancel by text if the appointment is no longer
required. This benefits you and us as we know instantly when we can offer a
cancelled appointment to another patient. Your mobile telephone number will
form part of your NHS record and may also be used to invite you in to attend clinics
particular to your medical condition such as Asthma or Flu. The number of patients
who fail to attend their appointments is showing a favourable drop but there are
still too many. Please speak to reception or sign up online at www.tadleymedical.co.uk
Dispensary and Pharmacy
The pharmacy located at each surgery is run by a company called Tadley Healthcare who operate in a
similar way to any other pharmacy on the high street.
The Dispensaries are a department within the Practice in the same way that Reception, the Secretaries and
Nursing team are – all working under the direction of the GPs.
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Some patients are eligible to be a Dispensing patient which means that they pick up their medicines from
the dispensary. Usually, these patients will live more than 1 mile (as the crow flies) from the nearest
pharmacy. The regulations regarding who we can dispense to have changed recently and so this is not
always a hard and fast rule. Newly registering patients are required to fulfil a criterion which decides
whether they can be Dispensing patients. Some patients who have been Dispensing patients in the past
have recently received letters from the Prescribing Authority advising that they are no longer eligible to
collect their drugs from the Dispensary. We can continue to dispense to these patients if they have
particular needs. All other patients are Non Dispensing and will need to collect their medicine from a
pharmacy.
All repeat prescription requests are processed by the Dispensary within 2 full working
days and if you are a Dispensing patient this means that you will be able to collect your
medicines from the Dispensary after this time. For example, if you order your repeat
prescription on a Friday night using the answerphone service or online, your medicine will
be available for collection from the dispensary from 9am Wednesday morning onwards. If you are a Non
Dispensing patient you will be able to collect your paper prescription from Dispensary and take it to the
pharmacy of your choice. If you have an arrangement with a pharmacy they will collect the prescription
for you and then provide you with the medicine. Independent pharmacies can set their own target times
to provide their patients with medicines. Currently the pharmacy at Holmwood is requiring an additional 2
days due to volume of work. The point to remember is that you must allow 2 full working days before
you attempt to collect your repeat drugs or pick up a repeat paper prescription from the Dispensary. If
you are seeing a doctor and require immediate medication this will be made available to you as soon as
possible following your appointment.
New Computer System
We are now all reasonably confident using the new system…but there is still so much more to learn.
Doctors and staff alike were under a lot of pressure to cope with the new system and we were all on a very
steep learning curve. We hope you were not too inconvenienced and thank you for your patience.
GP Practices under pressure
Hardly a day goes by without some reference in the news to the crisis in Primary Care. We have felt this
very keenly in Tadley as we have not yet been able to recruit another doctor to replace Dr Colley/Chen.
We could never have anticipated such a drawn out process. All Doctors are now dealing with larger lists so
please bear with us.
Christmas is coming….
and with it, in all probability, the annual round of winter illnesses. As you will have seen in
the press, the Department of Health wants to take pressure off GPs as primary care is
overstretched at the moment. In addition, with the steady rise of antibiotic resistance, the
surgery won’t want to prescribe you an antibiotic for most coughs and colds. Your first port
of call should be the pharmacy – pharmacists will be pleased to advise you, and they have a range of
remedies to relieve blocked and runny noses, sneezing and coughing.
Found at Morland Surgery
Some time ago a well-worn wedding ring with an inscription inside the band was found in the car park. If
you think this could be yours please contact the Practice Manager at Holmwood Health Centre
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Flu Vaccinations
You are eligible for, and it is recommended that you have a flu vaccination if you are in one of these groups
Aged 65 or over
Aged 6 months or over who have chronic respiratory, heart, kidney, liver, neurological disease or diabetes
Aged 6 months or over and are immunosuppressed
Have had your spleen removed or have a dysfunction of the spleen
Pregnant Women
In a residential institution
A carer for a vulnerable person
All children aged 2 to less than 5 years old (born on or after 2.9.2009 and on or before 1.9.2012)
Please make an appointment with reception
We have special clinics for children.
Christmas and New Year Opening Times 2014
Morland Surgery only will be closing at 1pm on Wednesday 24th December
Holmwood Health Centre and Morland Surgery will be closed on Thursday 25th and Friday 26th December
and will re-open at 8.30 on Monday 29th December. Both surgeries will also be closed on Thursday 1st
January 2015.
If you need non-emergency medical advice when the surgeries are closed please call 111.
If you have a medical emergency, please call 999
Holmwood and Morland Pharmacies
They will be closed on Christmas day, Boxing Day, and New Year’s Day but otherwise open as normal
during the holiday season. This means Holmwood pharmacy will be open on Saturday 27th December
between 9 and 12.30. Do remember that the surgeries are under extra pressure in the run up to Christmas,
so try to plan ahead and order your routine prescription items early.
The doctors and staff wish all our patients a very happy Christmas and new year.
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