Practice News
Bank Holiday
Surgeries are closed for the Bank Holiday on Monday 26th August 2024
We will re-open on Tuesday 27th August at 8.30am
If you need medical advice over the Bank Holiday please either use NHS111 online or alternatively call 111 for signposting advice.
Staff shortages
Due to staff sickness and very sadly 3 different staff members who have experienced family emergencies over the weekend we find ourselves short staffed. We have managed to secure a locum session, reassign staff and patients and change workload in an attempt to reduce the impact on patients, we are sorry if any of these actions cause inconvenience. Thank you for your understanding during this difficult time for members of our team.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Unfortunately we are very short of staff at both surgery sites due to high sickness levels.
Please remember it is 48 working hours for prescriptions (they are often done same day or next day) but with the staff shortages it may not be possible to do the normal.
Thank you for your patience.
Practice Email access problems
We are currently unable to access our practice email accounts at present due to an upgrade over the weekend. IT have been asked to sort our access out quickly but in the meantime we have no access.
We are sorry for any inconvenience caused but if you have sent us an email and it is urgent please either drop your request into your practice or call your surgery site.
Thank you
Closed for Christmas and New Years
We are closed for the following dates for Christmas and New Years:
25th December 2023
26th December 2023
1st January 2024
If you are in need of medical asisstance please call 111. We will reopen on the 27th-29th December 2023 at 8:30am and then re-open again on 2nd January 2024 at 8:30.
We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year fom everyone at Manor House Lane & Marston Green Srugeries!
Chasing referrals
Referrals to hospital teams and other specialists are often made by your clinicians and these are mainly done via an electronic booking system. You will receive paperwork from us that includes a UBRN number and a password unique to that request you must then follow the instructions in the paperwork and book the appointment yourself (if there are any available) or be added to a waiting list managed by the team that you have been referred to. If you have not received initial paperwork from us within 2 weeks please call and speak to our admin team. Once you have followed the instructions in the paperwork you should direct all further enquiries to the hospital appointment team, we have no control over the secondary care waiting lists, the only exception to this is if your Clinician feels that your medical condition has changed significantly for the worse and it may be possible for them to write to the hospital but again we do not control the waiting list and it will be up to the consultants to decide if the appointment should be expedited.
Thank you for your assistance.
The Surgery Team.
Care Navigation
From today 15th May, 2023 we have been instructed by NHSE to undertake more care navigation when patients contact us to request appointments. NHS UK stated on the 9th May 2023 that 15% of current GP appointments could be navigated to self care, community pharmacies, First contact physios, A&E or 999.
Care navigation and clinical triage allow practices to prioritise patients with the most urgent health needs, using a clinician agreed protocol, to ensure they see the most appropriate clinician or are signposted to alternative services.
Triage systems can:
- Improve access to health services as practices can direct patients to the right practitioner/service (Community Pharmacy / urgent care/A&E services).
- Improve patient care by ensuring that patients with the highest or most complex health needs are prioritised.
- Maximise workforce capacity by making the best use of skills mix in the practice / wider health care teams.
Once we have reached appointment capacity Reception staff will continue to triage requests for appointments and navigate as usual directing patients, if need be, to NHS Online for advice and guidance or to call 111.
Please be kind to our reception / admin teams, they do not make up the rules they just follow the directives of NHSE. They will do their best to help and point you in the right direction to ensure more efficient use of the NHS system.
ABUSIVE BEHAVIOUR TOWARDS STAFF
We have recently seen an increase in abusive behaviour towards staff members both face to face and on the telephone. The NHS is under immense pressure at the moment with parents anxious about Group A Strep and all of the usual winter illnesses on top of the normal everyday issues that patients have. The increase in pressure on A&E, NHS 111 and our out of hours service is having a knock on to the demands on surgery. We continue to have very real challenges with locum supply. We do appreciate the problems for patients as we are all patients ourselves and experience the challenges facing the NHS as patients too. We will not accept abusive behaviour towards staff and recently we have had, on a regular basis, staff reduced to tears because of abuse. Please help us to help you. Thank you.