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NHS Health Checks
Even though you might be feeling great, if you’re over 40 you may be at risk of developing heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, diabetes or dementia.
A free NHS Health Check with your GP Practice can help you reduce these risks and make sure that you stay healthy.
The NHS Health Check is a free health check-up for adults in England aged 40 to 74 who do not have a pre-existing condition. It’s designed to spot early signs of stroke, kidney disease, heart disease, type 2 diabetes or dementia. As we get older, we have a higher risk of developing one of these conditions. An NHS Health Check helps find ways to lower this risk and make sure that you stay healthy.
Your GP Practice will invite you for your NHS Health Check if you are eligible.
For more information about NHS Health Checks & eligibility please click here
OUR NEW TELEPHONE SYSTEM IS NOW LIVE
On Friday July 21st we switched on our new telephone system.
We know it has sometimes been difficult to get through to our team and our new system should offer a much better experience for all patients.
What differences will I notice?
- You will no longer get the engaged tone and you will listen to different, less annoying, holding music
- You will benefit from Call Queueing – being told which number you are in the queue
- At busy times you will have the opportunity to use Call Back – press 1, hang up and the surgery will call you back when you reach the top of the queue
- For the first hour of each day we will focus on meeting requests for urgent appointments. Prescription enquiries, general enquiries and routine appointment lines will open from 09:30 and, for those who do not have online access, test results will be available from 15:00.
- We will keep you updated and share useful information whilst you are in the queue
- The team will immediately have access to your record as the phone system will integrate with your clinical record
- All calls will be securely recorded for training and monitoring purposes
- No more withheld number if we call you – the practice number will show when we ring
We know that this won’t fix everything – demand for our services remains extremely high. However, we will continually review the system to optimise the experience for patients – if you have feedback on our new phone system, please let us know here.
In the near future we will be introducing additional features including being able to:
- Check your appointment date and time automatically without queueing in the system
- Cancel your appointment without queueing in the system
- Book some appointments automatically without connecting to the care navigation team
And by next month we will be introducing self-book text messages that allow you to click a link to book an appointment without even needing to call the practice
New System for Managing Long Term Conditions
As a result of meeting the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic we have fallen behind with long term condition reviews for some of our patients. We are now looking to get back on track and are going to change the way in which we recall patients for these reviews.
Patients with long term conditions will now be invited for their annual review on or around the month of their birthday. This means you may receive an invitation to book your review a couple of weeks prior to your birthday month. Patients with a birthday in April will receive their invitations in the coming days.
Some patients have more than one long term condition. If this is the case, all relevant conditions will be reviewed within a single annual review process. This ensures that you are not asked to attend surgery appointments unnecessarily.
Patients with only a respiratory condition will generally need just one appointment with a nurse, although we may send you a text questionnaire in advance of your appointment. Most patients will need two appointments, one to see an HCA who will perform some investigations and a second with a nurse, pharmacist or GP. A small number of patients will need three appointments – with an HCA, a Nurse or Pharmacist and a GP. If you are invited (by letter or text message) please respond promptly and book an appointment as soon as possible. This saves us significant time and money as well as frustration for you when we send reminders
Between April of this year and March of next year we expect every patient with a long term condition or on long term medication to be invited for a review. We have put together some FAQs to explain what you can expect – please read them here. if you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. As this is a new process we would appreciate any feedback on how the system works for you
Rise in measles cases
Recent UKHSA health protection data shows there has been a rise in measles cases
Between 1 January and 20 April this year, there have been 49 cases of measles compared to 54 cases in the whole of 2022. Most of the cases have been in London, although there have been cases picked up across the country and some are linked to travel abroad.
Measles is a highly infectious disease that can lead to serious problems such as pneumonia, meningitis, and on rare occasions, long-term disability or death. Symptoms include a high fever, sore red watery eyes and a blotchy red-brown rash, and it is particularly easy to catch in environments when in close contact with others.
We are calling on all parents and guardians to make sure their children are up to date with their 2 MMR doses. It’s never too late to catch up, and people can get the MMR vaccine for free on the NHS whatever their age. There is further information below which you may wish to use on your own channels:
Vaccines are our best line of defence against diseases like measles, mumps and rubella and help stop outbreaks occurring in the community. However, in recent years the number of children vaccinated against these diseases has fallen.
You can read more about this story at Parents urged to check children’s MMR vaccine records following rise in measles cases – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
