I Want Great Care
Caterham Valley Medical Practice
‘I Want Great Care’ is an independent website that works with the NHS to
allow patients to leave feedback about the care they receive at their GP
practice. We would like to encourage you to leave feedback. It is very quick
and easy to use and totally anonymous www.iwantgreatcare.org or http://
iwgc.net/eb8t2. If you don’t have access to the internet or would prefer to
complete the paper version, they are available in the waiting room.
Newsletter
Once a month a report is produced which the practice reviews. It is always a
morale booster when we receive positive feedback, but also when the
feedback is not so positive; it is a learning opportunity for us to try and im-
Winter 2016
prove the service we offer our patients.
Patient Reference Group
The patient Reference Group started in 2011, and is a virtual group, which
communicates mainly via email, but does meet once a year. It is an
Welcome to the brand new Caterham Valley Medical
Practice newsletter—we hope you enjoy it!
In this issue:
opportunity for you to give your views about how the practice is doing. We
CQC report
would like to be find out the opinions of as many patients as possible and so
Practice News
if you would like to join the group, please provide your contact details so we
Electronic Prescription Service (EPS)
can contact you by email every now and then. If you are interested please
give your name, date of birth and email address to reception. The date for
Wellbeing Advisor
the next meeting is planned for January 2017 (date TBC) This is a chance for
Carers Association
you to have your say and to hear from the management team about the
Charity Fundraising
latest developments in your practice. We particularly would like to see more
I Want Great Care
representatives attending who have young families.
The next meeting is Thursday 19th January at 6.30pm
At Caterham Valley Medical Practice
Thank you also to the kind support of the Caterham Valley Patient Participation
Group who have helped put this newsletter together
Patient Reference Group
www.caterhamvalleymedicalpractice.co.uk
Charity Fundraising
Care Quality Commission (CQC)
The CQC carried out an announced inspection on
February 16th. The inspectors looked at certain key
areas to see if our services were safe, effective, caring
and responsive to people’s needs and were well
managed.
They also looked at how well services were provided
for specific groups of people and what good care
looked like for them. The population groups they
looked at were, older people, those with long term
conditions, families, working age people, the
vulnerable, and people experiencing poor mental
health.
Although the feedback we received on the day was
very positive, we did not receive the final report until
May.
We are delighted to announce that the practice was
rated GOOD in all areas (the ratings are Outstanding,
Good, Requires Improvement, or Inadequate) If you
are interested in reading the full report it is available
on our website or in hard copy in the waiting room.
It all started a few years ago when we were running our flu
campaign. As the two main clinics were held in October, which
happened to be Breast Cancer Awareness month, we decided that it
would be good to support one of the breast cancer charities and we
chose Breakthrough Breast Cancer. We all wore pink on day of the
clinics and decorated the corridors with pink balloons and handed
out pink sweets to patients. It was a lot of fun and a great success
and we raised approximately £150.
After the success of our first fundraising event, we decided not to
send Christmas cards to each other, but donate to Breakthrough
Breast Cancer instead. Again a further £100 was raised.
By the second year we decided that we wanted to make this a
regular event, and each year the staff chooses a charity that they
would like to support with a personal connection. This year Ehlers
Danlos UK has been chosen. It is a charity that offers support to
children and adults with disorders of the connective tissue, such as
hyper mobile joints. So watch out for the yellow and red theme
during our flu campaign this year. There will a collecting box at front
reception throughout October for anyone who would like to make a
donation.
Are you a carer?
East Surrey Carers Support Association (ESCSA) can help and
support you if you are caring for someone who would not manage
without your help. Based in Bletchingley they help carers to find
care and support for the person they are caring for including
respite and breaks.
ESCSA can contact social services where appropriate but can also
help if you would rather not involve outside help or are self-funding.
They also run various support groups and social events for carers,
including a men carers group, parent carer group and mental health
carers group. They are able to help carers even if the person they
care for is not able to agree to receiving help, maybe because of
personal choice or memory issues.
You can also register as a Carer with the practice by completing a
yellow registration form, the form has an option to ask Carers
Support to contact you.
East Surrey Carers Support Association,
Practice News
Having been the steady hand at the helm for the last (almost)
seven years, our practice manager, Victoria Gillespie, has taken
the decision to retire from the end of this year. Vicki has been a
dynamic and dedicated leader, building a cohesive team and
moving the practice forward through some challenging times in
the modern NHS. We are all very grateful for Vicki’s hard work,
support and unfailingly positive attitude over the years, which
will be greatly missed by us all. We all extend our best wishes to
Vicki for a long, healthy and enjoyable retirement.
We are delighted to announce that we have been successful in
appointing Katie Taylor as our new practice manager. Katie
joined us on 17th October, and has been working closely with
Vicki to ensure a seamless transition for this important role.
Katie also has board level responsibility in our East Surrey GP
Federation (we are a member practice along with sixteen other
local GP surgeries). Katie has a broad range of experience of
working in primary care settings within the NHS, and is a very
welcome leader for our practice team.
78A, High Street, Bletchingley, Surrey, RH1 4PA
Or you can contact them direct on 01883 745057 or visit their
website www.escsa.org.uk
We would also like to extend our sincere thanks to Louise Chambers, a long-serving member of our practice team, for all her
hard work and dedicated service prior to her move to Kent and a
new home. Louise’s vast experience and understanding of NHS
administration has been a real asset over the years, and we wish
her well for the future.
Dr Richard Wright—GP Partner
Electronic Prescription Service (EPS)
Wellbeing Prescription
We use ESP to produce patient prescriptions – what is it ?
1.
The patient nominates a pharmacy of their choice to receive their
electronic prescriptions (this could be near your home or near your
work for example)
2.
A prescription is requested and is raised in the surgery
3.
The prescription is sent electronically for the GP to check and sign
4.
This electronic prescription is then sent to the national spine centre
5.
The nominated pharmacy is notified that there is a prescription
waiting and they download it
6.
The pharmacy then dispenses the medication ready for the patient
to collect
Frequently Asked Questions
What is it?
Wellbeing Prescriptions are a free social prescribing service that
launched in January 2015 which aims to support people who feel
they would benefit from support to lead healthier lifestyle such as,
taking more exercise, losing weight, stopping smoking, or even just
meeting new people.
Wellbeing Advisors receive referrals from GPs and other providers,
or you can self-refer. They can signpost people to a wide range of
services and activities within the local community.
It is a great opportunity for people to improve their health, reduce
pressure on health services and to join health and wellbeing activities in the area.
Why do we ask for 72 hours to turn prescription requests around?
Sometimes EPS can be quicker but as has just been explained, each prescription has to go through a number of processes before the medication
can be dispensed, and there can be delays in the system. Each GP also
has to sit at their computer to electronically sign each prescription This
can be time consuming, and if they are very busy they may not be able to
sign them straight away, causing further possible delay.
Mark Dopson is the Wellbeing advisor attached to our practice
and he is here on a Monday. The service has proved very popular
and there is currently a 3 week wait to see him.
The initial appointment with Mark usually takes about ¾ hour,
where he will assess your needs and talk you through the options
available to help you achieve your goals. He will then follow you
up to see how you are getting on, usually by phone.
How can our patients help?
EPS is still relatively new to the practice and local pharmacies, so we ask
that you bear with us. Please also ensure that you do you allow 72 hours
for your prescription to be ready, particularly during busy times, such as
Bank Holidays.
If you feel you would benefit from the service, please either speak
to your GP or nurse at your next appointment or book directly
with Mark, via our reception team.