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Ash Trees Surgery
Newsletter no 31 December 2014
www.ashtrees.co.uk
Carnforth
Bolton Le Sands
Halton
Silverdale
Arnside
Drs Hobbs + Halhead + Wrigley + Wadeson + Thomas + Knox + Cheung + Wickenden + Woodbridge
Baker +Trafford + Swi +Smith +Lupton + Kew
The doctors and staff of Ash Trees wish all our patients
and colleagues a very happy & healthy Festive Season
The surgery will close on Thursday 24 and Friday 25 December,
also Thursday1 January 2015
FLU SEASON IS
UPON US !!
Update of merge of
Ash Trees and Arnside Surgeries
If you are
eligible for the
vaccination,
Stop the
FLU VIRUS
spreading make an
appointment
We are now in the process of combining certain aspects of
the business, whilst retaining the character of the different
sites. We have started proceedings to combine the two Silverdale surgeries, into one building. Our future intention is
to be able to offer Silverdale patients increased sessions of
both doctor and nurse.
You may notice doctors from Arnside covering for Ash
Trees doctors and vice versa. Otherwise, our aim is to
continue to offer good patient care, with as little disruption
as possible for our patients and staff. We will keep you
updated of all future developments.
What can we do about MONDAYS ?????
The day after a weekend or Bank Holiday are bound to be busy. But, we often
have three times the calls into the surgery than on other days. Please consider;
if the call will wait, call later in the day or the next day?
We don't want the urgent cases to be kept waiting. Thank you
If something's troubling you, then get in touch with the
Samaritans. They will listen, not be judgmental and be
completely confidential (You don't have to be suicidal).
They are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
08457 90 90 90
Order your repeat
prescriptions
early for the holidays
When the surgery is closed - call 1 1 1
DO YOU HAVE PATIENT INTERNET ACCESS ?
This is our internet service offering you the ability to book
appointments on-line and order repeat medications at your convenience.
If you would like to sign up to this service please collect a form from our reception desks. You need to
provide personal id. We also provide an SMS messaging service which will confirm your appointment by
text and send you a reminder 24 hours before. We hope to use this more in the future to send out
important health information to our patients.
**IMPORTANT: Please check at the reception desk that we have your correct contact details **
CQC ….. It was with trepidation we faced an inspection in
October. Last year our report was outstanding, but we were
aware our recent changes would have an impact this time. However, our staff worked so hard to exhibit the workloads they
manage, the inspectors could not fail to be impressed. The response from our patients was mainly very positive and hugely
supportive—thank you. There is work to be done to improve, eg
documentation to evidence some of our work, not relating directly
to patient care. The full report can be seen on the CQC website in
the New Year. http://www.cqc.org.uk/location/1-545159139
Avoiding Unplanned Admissions to hospital
We are part of a national drive to support our older patients and
those with long term conditions at home, and avoid unnecessary
admission to hospital. These patients will have received letters
explaining this initiative recently and how it will result in your
personal care plan.
Your GP or one of our team will contact you to ensure that your
care plan is tailored to meet your care needs. The care plan is
about your family, your health and the care that you receive and
can be shared by the team of health and social professionals
involved in your care. If you have any queries regarding this ,
contact the project lead, Lisa Jones, or speak to your GP.
FRIENDS & FAMILY TEST
The NHS have introduced a
mini questionnaire, to allow
easy feedback from patients to
give an indication of how their
Doctor’s surgery is performing.
The main question asked is;
‘Would you recommend this
surgery to your friends and
family?’
All patients are encouraged to
take part, either by ticking a
form in the surgery, on line, or
by responding to an SMS
message.
We are obliged to submit our
patient responses monthly.
Ask at reception for more
details.
Thank you!
Practice News
Chelsea Williams and Kirstie Sewell were welcomed to our permanent, full time staff of
Patient Advisors at Carnforth. Both girls are very quickly increasing their skills and
knowledge.
Nicola Lovering joined as a full time Patient Advisor. Nicky will work at both Arnside
and Ash Trees.
We bade a sad farewell to Gill Collingwood, Practice Manager at Arnside, who left after
14 years service. She will now be able to spend more time with her family.
Lorraine finished in her dual role of receptionist and phlebotomist at Arnside and
Silverdale. She has many travel plans and we bid her ‘bon voyage’!
We welcomed a new Practice Nurse, Harriet Kelly to the team, who comes to us with a
lot of experience in trauma and triage.
Our much loved and unique pharmacist, Jeff Chambers, left us in November. He and
wife, our ex Nurse Practitioner, Shirley, have re-located to the sun!
Dr Helen Thomas has returned to work, having settled baby boy no 2 into nursery.
******* Look for more news of staff development in the New Year…….