Newsletter - Restalrig Park Medical Centre

Newsletter - Restalrig Park Medical Centre

Welcome to our Spring 2015
newsletter! We’d like to share
with you some of the many
changes that have been
happening in the practice
recently, and some exciting
changes to come soon which we
feel will be of benefit to our
patients.
Immunisation
achievement rates
We
take
the
annual
immunisation campaign very
seriously,
and
our
immunisation team make every
effort to encourage those most
at risk to attend.
This year again our flu
vaccination figures compare
very well to other practices in
the area, and to other parts of
the country, but we would
encourage all those over 65 to
get the immunisation next
year.
Over 65
Restalrig
- 68%
Lothian
- 76%
Scotland
- 74%
At risk
Restalrig
Lothian
Scotland
- 51%
- 50%
- 51%
Pregnant women
Restalrig
- 52%
Lothian
- 48%
Scotland
- 45%
Staffing
Dr Anna Gelsthorpe and Dr
Catherine Easton (nee
Hamilton)
We are delighted to welcome 2
additional part time Doctors to
our team. Many of you will
already have met Anna who
was our Registrar last year, and
Cathy who has worked in the
practice as a locum on many
occasions. We believe they
will bring an added enthusiasm
and vigour to our team.
Dr Mary Payne, who has been
a regular doctor at Restalrig for
many years, semi-retired in
summer 2014 and has been
working since then at Restalrig
as a locum doctor. Dr Payne
has now decided to ‘‘hang up
her stethoscope’’ and retire
fully from General Practice in
July 2015.
Dr Marshall left the practice in
July 2014 after many years
service at Restalrig.
Our new Health Visiting
team.
Louise Allan, Emma Moonie,
and Sarah Clyde have now
joined Diane McGreavy to
form our new Health Visiting
Team, and we look forward to
working closely with them,
particularly with young
children and young mums in
the practice. We also welcome
back our health visitor Jennifer
Crooks who is returning from
maternity leave.
District Nurses
We were all very sad to bid
farewell to Mairi Howie, who
had been our District Nursing
Sister for 25 years. She will be
sorely missed, but we know
she is enjoying her retirement
to the full.
We also lost Gillian Brydon
who has been moved to
another short staffed local
practice, and her smiley face
will also be missed.
The District Nurses mainly
help us look after the
housebound, but Mairi was
also trained to undertake
telephone Triage and Minor
Illness.
Our new District Nurse team
now includes Jackie Forsyth,
Karen McQuade, Sheena Ross
and Laura Sutherland, and we
know they will continue to
provide an excellent district
nursing service.
Appointments
We continually monitor our
appointment availability and
on occasion we may need to
make changes to improve our
system.
Details of any changes will be
displayed in the waiting room.
As always we appreciate
constructive feedback. Our red
suggestions box is sited on the
wall at the right hand side of
the reception desk.
Help us to Help
You
We will be closed on the
afternoons of Wednesday 3rd
June, 26th August, 30th
September, 28th October and
25th November 2015.
Notices will be displayed in
the waiting room in advance of
the closures.
Out of Hours
If you are ill and need urgent
medical advice when the
surgery is closed, call NHS 24
on Freephone 111. If you call
the surgery out of hours, you
will hear a message asking you
to call NHS 24 on this number.
Appointments
We know that it is not always
easy to get an appointment
with the doctor of your choice,
but this is made even more
difficult when appointments
are wasted. If you are not
going to be able to keep your
appointment with the doctor,
or nurse, please let us know.
Even if it is last minute,
someone else will be able to
use it, and this will free up
other appointments.
Last month 175 appointments
were wasted by DNAs (Did
Not Attend)
An experienced NHS 24 nurse
will assess your symptoms and
give appropriate advice or
arrange for you to be seen by a
nurse or doctor if it is felt
necessary.
Repeat Prescriptions
Please remember that we need
48 HOURS (2 working days)
notice to process a repeat and
remember to pick up your
prescription once ordered.
Changes on the
Horizon
Lothian Learning
All GP surgeries in Lothian
close for Wednesday afternoon
team learning and training
sessions.
This may either be at a
Treatment Centre or at your
home, according to medical
need. Out of hours cover is
now the responsibility of NHS
Lothian.
The NHS 24 website is
accessible at
http://www.nhs24.com
At Restalrig Park Medical
Centre we are always
reviewing practice and
discussing ways in which we
can improve the patient
experience. Here are some
improvements coming soon.
Waiting Room Screen
Recently we have been
successful in obtaining funding
for a Waiting Room Screen.
We will be using the screen to
communicate important
information on healthcare and
current campaigns and
changes.
We are excited about this new
addition to the practice and
expect the screen to be in place
within the next 3 months.
Website
Our new website is almost up
and running and will be a
treasure trove of useful
information about the practice
including useful links to
further resources for our
patients.
We expect this to be finalised
within the next 2 months and
will communicate the website
address to you as soon as it is
available.
Surgery POD
Restalrig has a surgery POD
which is an automated health
monitoring computer enabling
patients to have their blood
pressure and weight checked
and added into their clinical
record without the need for a
nurse appointment.
The current location of the
surgery POD has so far limited
its use. Arrangements are
being made to move the POD
into the main reception area to
make it more accessible to
patients.
We expect this change to be of
great benefit to those patients
who regularly need their blood
pressure checked.