Latest News
Note our latest Newsletter is now
available to collect from the surgery or download from the Noticeboard
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H1N1 (swine Flu) Vaccine
We are sure that you have been hearing
reports in the National Press about the distribution of the swine flu vaccine
to surgeries. Unfortunately they do not
tell the whole story. Certainly from
Monday 26th October some practices will have received their supply
but unfortunately other practices will be waiting another 3 weeks for their
supply. We have been informed that we
will not get a delivery before 11th November 2009. It is also worth stating that initially all
practices will be getting 500 doses whatever their list size. We will then have the opportunity to request
further supplies. This will mean that
some patients may not get their injection until December.
We apologise to our patients for this
situation but unlike seasonal flu supplies, we have no control over the
distribution of the H1N1 vaccine. We
also cannot inject any patient that is not already identified by the Department
of Health priority groups. This will
mean that unlike the seasonal flu not all over 65 year old patients will be
offered this injection only those that have a “risk factor” such as asthma, COPD, heart disease etc.
Pandemic Flu - July 2009
We are sure that patients are getting
concerned about the headlines with regards to Pandemic Flu. We know there is a lot of information
available for patients on how to avoid getting this virus which is quite easy
to catch through hand to mouth contact and in water particles in the air
(coughing, sneezing etc). We would like to stress that this H1N1 strain
currently does appear to be a mild form of flu which would mean that the
majority of patients getting it will only be unwell for about 7-10 days at most
and then should make a full recovery without medical intervention (following
self-help advice taking medication such as paracetamol
etc that can be bought from a chemist).
However as this is a virus that
primarily affects the lungs, patients with pre-existing problems such as
asthma, COPD, heart disease or are on long term steroids are at more risk of getting
complications that may need antibiotic medication. We would therefore like to say that patients
should contact us if they fall into this group.
We also would like to hear from any parent with children under 16 years.
Finally with regards to the question of
whether there will be a vaccination against this strain of flu this year, we
would say that it looks likely that doses will be coming into the
country in August/September. Our
understanding is that sufficient doses have been purchased for the whole
population to be injected. As you can
appreciate this would be a huge undertaking as two injections would be
necessary (spaced 3-4 weeks apart) so the thought is that these will need to be
undertaken in phases throughout the winter and spring 2010 with priority groups
getting it first. Surgeries will not have a choice of who to vaccinate first
and we have received no confirmation on where these vaccinations will take
place- i.e. local schools or surgeries.
We would say that the surgery have plans
in place to ensure that we maintain a medical service to our patients, and
although we have been getting increasing telephone calls from patients with
suspected flu, it is worth saying that many of these contacts do not appear to
be flu, and we would appear to have relatively few suspected cases so far in
this locality.
Please continue to remain calm and check the Pandemic Flu Update page for
further advice
June 2009
We are now very please to report that we
have been joined by a new member of the nursing team. Annette Farrow joined the
practice this week and following her induction period will be in charge of the
childhood immunisation programme alongside her general nursing duties. Annette previously worked at
April 2009
Please note that we now have a Patients’
Charter available for patients to view.
This outlines what a patient can expect from the practice and what we
would appreciate from our patients to assist us in the service we offer our
patients. This can be viewed in the
practice and on the Notice Board page of this
website
April 2009
Change to the Nursing Team
We are sorry to report that Fiona Jones
who has been with us just over a year will be leaving this month. Fiona will be
moving back to
January 2009
New Saturday morning appointment surgery
You can now
pre-book an appointment with a doctor for a Saturday morning 8.30-12.30. Unfortunately you cannot phone on the day as
the line will be transferred through to the emergency service in Huntingdon. It is also worth mentioning that this is a limited
service, the dispensary will be closed and a nurse will not be available for
wound dressings etc. The lab is also not
working so we will not be able to take any samples such as blood testing. It is always worth discussing your problem
with the receptionist who will guide you towards the most appropriate doctor or
nurse led clinic. You can also access
some appointments through the internet booking service ACCESS (you will need to
have a registration password which you can obtain from the reception team) this
will allow you to make an appointment at anytime day or night (if appointments
are still available).
If you do come
to the surgery on a Saturday morning we would remind all patients to use the
back car park and access the building via the side entrance. The front door will not be open. A receptionist will be available on the day
to answer any queries but will not be able to hand out any pre-ordered
medications.
January 2009
Changes to the nursing team
Sue
Darlington, one of our practice nurses has left the surgery this month but will
continue to offer holiday cover. She will be greatly missed.
Jacquie
Merritt is now back from her maternity leave and will be undertaking travel
advice and respiratory clinics.
Baby News
We are please
to report that Jacquie Merritt (practice nurse) has now had a baby boy called
Joseph – we all unite in wishing her and her family every
happiness and we look forward to her return in early 2009. We welcome Fiona Jones to the nursing team
whilst Jacquie is on maternity leave.
Changes to our team
We are very
sorry to report that one of our long serving member of
the team is moving away and is therefore leaving the practice after 11 years –
Julie Gardner started work at the surgery and then moved across to manage our
branch building at
Creation of bicycle and motorised buggy
area – September 2007
We have
noticed an increase in the number of patients attending the surgery by bicycle
and using motorised buggies, which is great for the environment and our car
park! To ensure that the entrance and
exit are kept clear we are planning to create a small area by the entrance for
patients to leave their bikes/buggies when visiting the surgery. The plan is for this work to be done in
September 2007 and we will try to ensure that patients are not inconvenienced
too much whilst this is taking place.
At the same time we will be taking the opportunity of making a change to
the patient exit by putting in a ramp replacing the deep step. This will probably necessitate patients
leaving by the entrance whilst this work is being done, so please accept our
apologies for any inconvenience that may be caused during this time.
Routine Nursing Appointments from 3rd
September 2007
Many of you
will have noticed each month in the waiting room the number of DNA (did not
attend) appointments for the previous month for our nurses. Unfortunately since we started recording this
data the number of patients defaulting from appointments has not improved with
on average about 70 appointments being lost each month.
This is
obviously a situation we must improve on.
To this end we have decided to adopt a similar booking system to the
doctors, in that the majority of appointments for a nurse will be made on the
day. There will be a smaller number of
appointments available to book up to 7 days ahead.
If your visit
necessitates another visit, the nurse may be able to make this appointment for
you, please be advised on the day. This
will apply to leg ulcer dressings etc.
THIS WILL NOT
TAKE EFFECT UNTIL MONDAY 3RD SEPTEMBER 2007
We have no
plans at present to change the current method for booking appointments for
blood tests these will continue to be made in advance with Beryl Wood in the
phlebotomy clinic.
Please advice
family and friends registered at the Moat House Surgery of this proposed change
in September.
9th May 2007
Many of you
who have visited the surgery recently will have noticed that we have had our
waiting room seating re-upholstered. At
the same time and following patient feedback, we decided to provide some seats
with arms for patients who find it difficult getting up and down without this
support. From the response we have
received this appears to be working well.
We always welcome patient comments about our services and
facilities. We are also in the process
of having a “blitz” on our garden as it is definitely “taking over” and we will
soon lose the building all together! – This is a “work in progress” so
hopefully you will see a marked improvement in the next few weeks.
6th March 2007
We are very
pleased to notify patients that following Dr Warbrick-Smith retirement patients
raised in excess of £2,500 for the Hope & Homes for Children Charity – this
is an amazing amount of money and we will hopefully hear what the charity plans
to do with this donation. The open
afternoon for Dr Warbrick-Smith went brilliantly with in excess of 300 patients
popping in to say goodbye during the afternoon. He will be sadly missed by us all, but we
are determined that the practice will continue with the same high quality of
care that is his legacy.
31st January 2007
We do plan to
offer patients the opportunity to say goodbye to Dr W-S by having an “open
afternoon” with tea and biscuits when Dr W-S will be available between 2.00 – 4.00pm. He has requested no presents, but we do plan
to have a message book available for patients to add any comments. He will then keep this book.
2007
Although it
seems amazing but Dr Rachel Sutcliffe is now reaching the end of her time in
December 2006
Retirement
news – we are sorry to report that Wendy Milne, one of our Resource Centre
receptionists will be retiring at the end of this year. Many of you will remember that Wendy retired
a few years ago, but we managed to tempt her back! – She will be greatly missed
by all at the Centre and the surgery.
Julie will be joined by Fiona Hawkins who you might speak to over the
next few weeks as she undergoes training,
November 2006 Choose & Book
appointments
As you know we
have had the ability to make hospital appointments directly from the surgery
for over a year now – although there have been some problems with accessing the
available appointments sometimes, this has greatly improved. We feel this works quite well, but
unfortunately due to our rural locality the availability of choice is somewhat
limited (unlike some inner city practices).
Some patients who have gone through the C&B booking route will
receive a short questionnaire asking a few questions about the service – it
will even ask if you had a copy of the C&B Booklet! It is very important that these are completed
and returned.
November 2005 - Jan Gower – Nurse
We have some
excellent news – although Jan had been planning to move back to
July 2005
Choose &
As previously
mentioned The Moat House Surgery agreed to pilot a new method of booking
hospital appointments. We can now
confirm that this went “live” on 25th July 2005. You can obtain more information on the
official website www.nhs.uk/chooseandbook
As far as our patients are concerned it means that if you need to be
referred to gynaecology, dermatology or cardiology from now on, you can
choose when you want to be seen.
Currently we would have to write a referral letter and you would have to
wait to receive an appointment assigned from the hospital, this could take
weeks in some cases. With this new system you would have access to a chose of
appointment times/days and you would select the one that best suited you. The hope is that all appointments will be
made in this way by the end of the year.
July 2005
Partnership News
As mentioned in March 2005 we will be
undergoing some partnership changes at the end of this year. We are pleased to notify our patients that
following interviews we have found a new partner to join the team. Dr Joanna Minnis
will be joining the practice in December 2005.
The partnership for 2006 will therefore be Dr Warbrick-Smith, Wilcock,
Mackay, James and Minnis. From 2007 Dr Warbrick-Smith will be retiring
with the partnership consisting of Dr Wilcock, Mackay, James, Sutcliffe and Minnis.
May 2005
Newsletter
Newsletter – Spring 2005 now available
for collection from the following locations:
surgery front desk, Resource Centre,
March 2005
Practice Changes in 2006
At the end of this year Dr Rachel
Sutcliffe is planning to leave the practice for twelve months and we are
currently advertising for a new doctor to take her place.
Dr Sutcliffe is accompanying her partner
to
We will try to ensure that these changes
represent minimal disruption to the running of the practice and the continuity
of care for you, our patients.
March 2005
Advanced Ordering facility
This is a new option for patients we
dispense for – at the time of collecting your medication you now have the
option to book your next supply. This
means that you will not need to contact the surgery again until your collection
date, as the dispenser will be responsible for generating your repeat
medication. This is particularly useful
for patients that have a regular 28 day supply. Please ask for more information when you
next see the dispenser.
February 2005
Pneumococcal Immunization Programme
We are in the process of writing to all
patients aged between 65 – 74 years after 1st April 2005 advising
them about the benefits of having a Pneumovac
injection. This is an initiative by the
Department of Health to offer this protection to all patients aged over 65yrs
by the end of 2005.
This vaccination is only required once
in a lifetime and offers 60-70% protection against the pneumococcus
bacteria that can cause serious pneumonia and occurs in 1 in every 1000 adults
each year.
Some patients have already had this
injection and will not therefore be receiving a letter.
January 2005
New Member of Nursing Team – January
2005
We are pleased to introduce a new member
of staff to our nursing team – Sue Darlington now joins, Jan Gower, Cathy Watkins and Jacquie Merritt.
Choose & Book Pilot
The Moat House Surgery has agreed to be
one of three practices in the Huntingdonshire PCT to pilot something called
“Choose and Book”. This will allow the
practice to make hospital appointments for our patients from the surgery. We are hoping the first stage will go live
in March/April of this year. This
project is being phased in by introducing this option for only three
specialities – dermatology, cardiology and gynaecology. The plan is that by the end of this year all
appointments will be available.
The “choose” option will be that each
patient will have a choice of five hospital/clinics to pick from.
It is very early days at present, but we
are envisaging that once a doctor has advised a referral, patients will be
advised to go home and within 3 days an admin clerk will contact them to discuss
the appointment options. We are advising
this slight delay as it will allow patients to consider diary commitments and
transport arrangements before committing to an appointment.
Touch Screen upgrade
We have had an upgrade to our touch
screen software this month – the appearance of the screen has changed slightly,
but hopefully it should still be easy to use.
If patients have any doubts about using this to book in, then our
receptionists are always available to answer any queries at the front desk.
December 2004
Retirement
We are sad to report that Janet Hill,
who has been one of our practice nurses for just over 22 years retired this
month – Janet will be sadly missed by her colleagues and regular patients, but
I am sure we all unite in wishing her a long and happy retirement.