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Spring Update 2023

We continue to face severe challenges in the practice, in General Practice,
and in the NHS as a whole.  Demand continues to be very high as we continue
to recover from COVID, deal with backlogs and have added pressures due to
long waiting lists in the hospitals.  We are still working very hard to deal
with as many patients as possible and, when we can, are trying to use the
additional staff the NHS has provided such as Pharmacists, Physiotherapists,
Social Prescribers, and Health and Wellbeing Coaches.



New nurses

We were very sad that our three long-established Practice Nurses retired
over the last five months.  Jenny, Bev and Chris were dedicated and caring
nurses who had a huge range of experience and expertise between them.  We
wish them all a long and healthy retirement.  With the current state of
recruitment in the NHS, we have struggled to replace them but are delighted
to be now joined by Aleksandra and Rebekha.  Please welcome them and be
patient as they train and get used to the ways we work.  Teresa will also be
joining the team as a health care assistant as John has moved to a new role
in the NHS.



New GP contract

Like the rest of the NHS, General Practice is really struggling.  Rather
than working with GPs to improve the situation for patients and practice
teams, the Government has decided to impose a new contract on GPs in
England.  This forces us to make changes to how we use our time and our
staff.  Sadly, despite media reports, there are no new resources with this
contract so staff will be under additional pressure, not less.  The main
focus of these changes has been on "access" - making it easier for patients
to contact the practice.  This is welcome but does not ultimately help
patients if we do not have more doctors or nurses to meet people's needs.



New system for contacting the practice

If you need an appointment with one of our nursing team, such as for an NHS
vaccination, cervical smear, dressing of a wound, chronic disease management
clinic or a blood test requested by your GP, please contact the practice by
phone in the usual way.



If you have a problem and you think you need to consult with a GP, a
pharmacist, a physiotherapist or another of our attached staff, we are
introducing a new online form from Tuesday 16th May 2023 which you can
complete from a computer or a mobile phone.  We will be using the AccuRx
system which we have used successfully for some time to send text messages
to patients.  We chose this system as it is very simple to use with just a
few questions for you to explain your problem without the need to go through
a long list of online questions.  We will ask all patients to complete this
form themselves if they can.  By completing the form yourself, you will free
up time in our receptionist team so that they can help people who cannot do
the form and they can also support other patients quicker.  All the requests
for appointments will then be assessed in the practice to determine the best
member of the team to help and how quickly an appointment might be needed.
This form can also be used for administrative queries such as requests for
sick notes, letters, questions about referrals, or requesting copies of test
results.  There will be links to the online form on the practice website,
our Facebook page, shared with our Patient Participation Group and will be
sent directly to patients where we have a mobile phone number.



We will continue to try to deal with all urgent requests on the day but once
we are fully booked, you may be directed to another service.



We will offer booked telephone appointments for routine issues in the future
up to six weeks.  If you need to be seen, have further tests or treatment,
these will be arranged during the phone call.  If these appointments are
fully booked and we are unable to offer an appointment, we will start a
waiting list for appointments and let you know when we can offer one.



New phone system

We will also be getting a new telephone system on Monday 22nd May.  This was
ordered before the recent Government announcements.  This will allow more
flexibility with new features including the ability for patients to opt for
a "call back" when they reach the top of a queue, rather than having to stay
on hold.  There will also be no limit on the call queue so you should never
hear an engaged tone when calling in.  We have been told there will not be
any disruption on the day but please bear with us if there are problems.
Our phone number is not changing.



There is a lot of change happening and a good deal of it beyond our control.
Please bear with us as we try to manage this. We will continue to do our
best for our patients with the resources we have.  Sadly, we recognise we
will not be able to provide all our patients with everything they want and
need.



We will monitor closely these changes and work with our Patient
Participation Group (PPG) to make changes as we can.  Please feedback to the
PPG who will help collate responses for us.

Live Life Well

live well

NHS Better Health Launch

Extra weight causes fat to build up around vital organs, making it harder for the body to fight against diseases like cancer, heart disease and now COVID-19. If you are overweight or living with obesity, lowering your weight can help reduce your risk of developing serious diseases. Your health matters. There has never been a better time to kickstart your health. Better Health has a range of tools and support to help - find what works for you. Let's do this!

 

A Message From the Practice Regarding Covid-19

“Why aren’t things back to normal yet?”
We are having an unprecedented number of patients ring the surgery for help. Some are expecting a normal service and are disappointed when they find out that it is not. Unfortunately, like the rest of the NHS, we cannot provide a normal service at the moment. We will need to continue to work differently for some time. The COVID-19 virus is still circulating in the community. Therefore, we must continue to work hard to protect our patients and our staff with strict infection control measures, and for the same reason, hospital services are still not working normally. These measures are essential if we are to prepare for a possible second peak which, the experience of other pandemics tells us, could be even more devastating than the first peak of the illness.
 
"I understand that the surgery is not at all busy at the moment."
We have heard from some patients that they believe that the surgery is not busy currently. This could not be further from the truth - we are busier than ever! Although we are not having so many patients come into the surgery for appointments, we are incredibly busy. On Monday 6th July, for example, we had a record number of phone calls into the surgery for the doctors to deal with. More calls were received on that day than even at our busiest day in winter during a flu outbreak! This is a combination of factors:
• We are still dealing with all our normal urgent calls.
• COVID-19 is still causing mental and physical illness in our community. These issues have not gone away despite the easing of lockdown.
• We are currently trying to restart some normal routine work and to start to deal with the backlog of problems from over the last four months as routine care by us and the hospitals had to be been postponed.
A further impact of the current situation is that our face-to-face appointments take longer now. We must put on Personal Protective Equipment, take it off at the end, and thoroughly clean the clinical areas between patients. It is vital to us that we do all that we can to protect you and our staff. Also, a lot of the usual services we rely upon at the hospital or in the community are still not working normally. It often takes much longer to work around the new processes and systems so that we get the right help for our patients.
 
"Why can't you squeeze me in for my blood test? It only takes 5 minutes."
Due to the precautions needed to protect our patients and our staff, each blood test appointment is taking about twice as long as usual. This means that we can only offer half as many tests each day as normal. It is vital that we keep a certain proportion of these blood test appointments available for emergencies and those with suspected cancer or other serious illnesses. We are doing all we can to provide more appointments, but we cannot just squeeze in extra patients for routine blood tests and keep everyone safe. We can assure you that all our staff are working very hard.
 
“What do you need people to do to help?”
We know that things are still difficult for everyone and we thank you for all the ways that you have been helping us to keep people safe and well. You can continue to support us in the following ways:
• Please observe all the systems which we have put in place, such as wearing a mask where appropriate, following the one-way signs and coming to the surgery only when called in by a member of our team.
• Please remember that our staff are working under a great amount of pressure just now. Our reception staff would greatly benefit from a kind word or two! They are dealing with a lot of worried and sometimes angry patients and this can take its toll on these important people in our community.
• Finally, please look after yourselves. Follow the guidance to limit unnecessary contact with others, keep 2m away from others in public (1m with mitigations such as masks). Try to maintain a healthy lifestyle as far as you can in these difficult times. Look after each other.

NHS Data sharing update

NHS Data sharing update - We have been asked to share the following important information with you. 

This practice is legally required to share your data with NHS Digital unless you choose to opt out. For more information about this see the GP Practice Privacy Notice for General Practice Data for Planning and Research.

https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/data-collections-and-data-sets/data-collections/general-practice-data-for-planning-and-research

This collection will start on 1 July 2021.

If you do not want your data to be shared with NHS Digital please register your Type 1 Opt-out with your GP practice by 23 June 2021.

If you wish to opt out please complete a Type 1 Opt Out form.  Forms can be posted in the foyer in the surgery or e-mailed to type1optout.haddenham@nhs.net

Hard copies of the form are also in the foyer.

General Information about NHS Digital Data Transfer

Patient Leaflet For Type 1 Opt Out