Medical Centre 41 Lyndhurst Road, Barnehurst DA7 6DL

Transcription

1 The Lyndhurst Medical Centre 41 Lyndhurst Road, Barnehurst DA7 6DL DR SIMON PYLE (Partner) DR ELIZABETH CAMERON (Partner) DR CLIVE ANGGIANSAH (Partner) DR MEHAL PATEL (Partner) DR JACQUELINE LEE (Salaried GP) Telephone: / (24-hour appointment cancellation line) Website: (prescription requests) (all other requests) A GUIDE FOR OUR PATIENTS

2 Welcome To The Lyndhurst Medical Centre Please switch off mobile phones and please do not smoke whilst on the premises. Please leave prams and pushchairs in the covered area provided outside the surgery. Doctors and Staff The Partners Dr S J Pyle (Male) MBBS DRCOG FPA Qualified 15/07/80 - Guy s Hospital, London Dr E A Cameron (Female) BSc Psy MBBS MRCGP DRCOG FPA Qualified 15/07/84 - Westminster Medical School, University of London Dr C Anggiansah (Male) MBBS BSc MRCGP MRCP Qualified 15/07/ St George s Hospital Medical School, University of London Dr M Patel (Male) MB ChB MRCGP RCPCH DFSRH Qualified March 2005 Salaried GP Dr J Lee (Female) MBBS BSc MRCGP MRCP Qualified 15/07/2003 The Reception Staff We employ five part-time receptionists, who will try in every way to help you. Our receptionists are fully trained, and are trying to do a difficult and demanding job, often working under extreme pressure. Please remember the receptionists carry out their duties, as instructed by the doctors, with the intention of making the practice run safely and smoothly. Therefore, if you seem to be asked one or two irritating questions or you have to be kept waiting, it is unintentional. Please try to help by giving the receptionist the necessary information as she has to try to judge the urgency of the request. The Nursing Team We have two practice nurses in the surgery team, Ruth Morgan and Judith Arthur, one nurse practitioner, Beverley Starbuck and one healthcare assistant, Eileen Cook, all of whom can be seen by appointment, morning and afternoon every weekday. They are able to attend to dressings, syringe ears, remove stitches, check blood pressure and give injections. They also run health screening clinics and can give advice on many health matters including cervical cytology tests. Our nursing team s time is valuable. Please remember to cancel your appointment as soon as possible if it is no longer needed so that it can be offered to another patient. You can have an appointment to see one of the nursing team without seeing a doctor, but they may need to consult a doctor about your problem, if your condition requires it. Community Nursing Service (The District Nurses) Telephone (Central Booking Desk) Patients who are confined to their homes, and who need nursing assistance and/or provision of disability aids may initially arrange with their doctor for a community nurse to call. The district nurses call into the surgery on a daily basis, however, when they are not on the premises, patients who are currently receiving visits from a district nurse can leave a message for them by contacting the Central Booking Desk (see above). The Health Visitors Telephone Our health visitors are qualified nurses with midwifery experience, who have taken further training to obtain the Health Visiting Certificate. They are happy to give advice on health care, particularly for expectant mothers, babies, young children, the elderly and the handicapped. The health visitors are notified of births and visit from the 11th day after the birth. They maintain contact thereafter by further home visits and the Child Health Clinics held at the surgery. As advisors on child care and family problems, they work in the community with the family doctors. You may contact your health visitor by telephoning the above number between 9.00 to 10.00am and 4.00 to 5.00pm Monday to Friday. Outside these times you should leave a message on their answer phone machine. The Midwife All expectant mothers will be looked after by their doctor and a midwife. Antenatal clinics are held at the surgery every Monday afternoon when a midwife from Darent Valley Hospital is in attendance. A midwife from DVH also runs a booking clinic at the surgery every Friday morning. The Practice Manager Our practice manager, Julia Weal, is responsible for the overall smooth running and backroom organisation of the practice and deals with everything that does not require medical expertise. She is generally available from 9.00am to 3.00pm, to discuss any suggestions which may help us to improve the service that we can offer to you, and to help with any administrative or non-medical aspects of your health. Complaints about any aspect of the service provided at The Medical Centre should be forwarded to the practice manager in writing. All complaints received are dealt with according to the NHS complaints procedure. Other Members Of Our Team The practice could not function properly without the assistance of our secretarial and clerical support team which consists of six part-time and one relief member of staff. They are employed to carry out the many varied aspects of practice administration that are essential to enable your GP to offer you a wider range of services. All staff are bound by the same rules of confidentiality as the doctors and nurses.

3 Advertising Feature Family run business serving London & Kent since 1986 Big Enough To Manage Small Enough To Care Roofing D&J is a roofing company with a difference. We have 2 showrooms in Bexleyheath & Dulwich where you can discuss your project with our staff. We specialise in all aspects of roofing from a dripping gutter to a roof renewal. We only use the best quality materials to give a long lasting guaranteed roof. Solar PV We are specialists in installing quality PV products from specialist German manufacturers with exceptional guarantees. Reduce your carbon emissions and cut your electricity bills by up to 50%. Our staff are always happy to advice, please call into our showrooms, phone or . Tel: / Chievley Parade, Mayplace Road East, Bexleyheath DA7 6EB dave@djroofingandsolar.co.uk Weight Loss All of us want to live a full, active and healthy life. However, for an ever-increasing number of people of all ages, being overweight makes this difficult, if not impossible. Official figures suggest that three quarters of the adult population are overweight and, of those, one third are clinically obese. It may surprise you to know that having a Body Mass Index over 30 (equivalent to being just 3 stone above your ideal weight) classifies you as obese. Apart from the serious health risks involved with excessive weight gain, which include an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, stroke, gallstones and certain cancers, many people are realising that being overweight is preventing them from fulfilling their potential and realising many of their ambitions. Lots of people want to lose weight, but are confused by the mass of conflicting advice available. They want an easy-to-follow and proven weightmanagement programme that does not require them to be dieticians or calorie-counting mathematicians. Programmes are available through weightmanagement advisors who can help you achieve your goals. Crowning glory It goes without saying that the roof over your head is one of the most important parts of your home. So keeping your roof well maintained is vital, and when work needs to be carried out you should use a company you can trust and is qualified to carry out the work. Competent Roofer is a scheme managed by National Federation of Roofing Contractors and government backed. Its members are regularly vetted and work to a strict code of practice. All new roof work both flat and pitched will comply to Local Authority Building Control Standards and an LABC certificate issued at no additional cost to the householder saving around 300 in fees. As part of this scheme you are issued with a deposit indemnity insurance and an insurance backed guarantee for 10 years. Giving the householder complete peace of mind on all new roof installations. It is an offence to carry out roof renewal work without submitting a building notice application, local authorities are fining householders and builders who do not comply. It s also becoming difficult to sell a property without this certification. We would suggest you always ask to see references or inspect previous work before choosing a company to carry out work to your property. Are you worried about your weight? Cambridge Weight Plan could be the answer off for new clients on production of this advert Your Independent Cambridge Consultant: Don t wait.. Call today: Tamsyn Nother Tel: tnother@hotmail.com Attract more business by placing your advert here. Simply call Advertising Feature Surgery Times Mornings (AM) MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY Dr Pyle Dr Pyle Dr Pyle Dr Pyle Dr Pyle or Dr Lee Dr Lee Dr Cameron Dr Cameron Dr Cameron * * * Dr Anggiansah Dr Anggiansah Dr Anggiansah Dr Anggiansah Dr Anggiansah or Dr Patel Dr Patel Dr Patel Dr Patel Dr Patel or or Evenings (PM) MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY Dr Pyle Dr Pyle Dr Pyle Dr Pyle Dr Pyle NOT ON DUTY or Dr Cameron/ Dr Cameron/ Dr Cameron Dr Cameron Dr Cameron Dr Lee Dr Lee NOT ON DUTY NOT ON DUTY NOT ON DUTY* Dr Anggiansah Dr Anggiansah Dr Anggiansah Dr Anggiansah Dr Anggiansah NOT ON DUTY or Dr Patel Dr Patel Dr Patel Dr Patel Dr Patel NOT ON DUTY or * Dr Cameron - Telephone consultations between am or am Dr Cameron - Once a month - family planning clinic only pm The surgery is open and the reception staff are on duty from 8.15am to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday (excluding Bank Holidays). The telephone lines are answered by our surgery reception staff between 8.00am and 6.30pm, Monday to Friday. Outside of these hours, including weekends, patients are advised to telephone 111 (the SEL NHS 111 call centre) and the call will be directed to the appropriate service dependant on the results of a clinical assessment. In addition, the surgery also offers early morning commuter clinics on Wednesday and Thursday from am. Please do not assume that there will always be a doctor available when the surgery is open. They may be on home visits, holding clinics (on the surgery premises) or doing other work for the benefit of the practice.

4 When The Surgery Is Closed Outside normal surgery hours, patients are advised to telephone 111 (the SEL NHS 111 call centre) and the call will be directed to the appropriate service dependant on the results of a clinical assessment. Calls to 111 from both landlines and mobile phones are free of charge. You may be asked to attend one of the out-of-hours centres run by GRABADOC for treatment or, if appropriate, be visited at home by a doctor. The out-of-hours centres run by GRABADOC are located at Shooters Hill Road and Crayford Town Surgery. There is a Walk-in Centre based at the Crayford Town Surgery, Crayford Road (Next To Town Hall) Crayford, Kent DA1 4ER, which is accessible by all patients for immediately necessary treatment only. The Walk-In Centre is open from 8.00am to 8.00pm, Monday to Sunday but patients must attend by 7.30pm. Appointments The Appointment System: Telephone or The appointment system operates both for your convenience and to aid the doctor. All surgeries are by appointment only. Appointments are generally 10 minutes long, and may be booked between Monday and Friday by calling into the surgery or telephoning on the above number. Do plan ahead for non-urgent appointments by booking as far as possible in advance, as your usual doctor may not be available for several days. It should be noted that each of the doctors based at the surgery operates different appointment systems. Please arrive on time for your appointment, patients who arrive more than 15 minutes late for their appointment may not be seen. Children under the age of 16 should be accompanied by an adult, preferably a parent. Please remember to cancel your appointment as soon as possible if it is no longer required so that it can be offered to another patient whose need may be urgent. The practice operates a Did Not Attend (DNA) policy and patients who fail to attend a pre-booked appointment on four or more occasions within a 12-month period could be removed from the practice patient list. The full policy and procedure is available from the practice manager. We realise that patients sometimes do genuinely forgot to attend for appointments and in these instances we would suggest that you telephone the surgery a reasonable time after the event to apologise and this will prevent a DNA being recorded. Patients can also call our dedicated 24 hour appointment cancellation line and leave a message on the answerphone. Our receptionists are experienced and trained to help you arrange appointments but at busy times are restricted to offering urgent appointments. These are only for medically urgent cases. Please do not blame the receptionist if the doctor is running late for your appointment, or if she is unable to offer you exactly what you want. Consulting Times By Appointment To try and avoid wasting your time and to ensure that people do not have to wait too long, we operate an appointment system. As you will appreciate, occasionally doctors are called out of surgery and therefore delays may be unavoidable. However, we would be grateful if you could arrive for your appointment on time. Whenever possible, you will be given an appointment to suit you with your preferred doctor. Emergency Consultations For an emergency daytime problem you must contact the surgery as early as possible and it helps the GP if you can give the receptionist some details. If there are appointments available for that day, you will be given a routine appointment with a GP. Alternatively, you will either be given an appointment with Beverley Starbuck, nurse practitioner, who is able to take a full medical history, perform physical examinations, give a diagnosis and issue a prescription or be asked to come to the surgery and wait until a GP is able to see you. The doctors prefer to deal with emergencies after their morning surgeries. These extra consultations are five minutes long and tend to be busy. Therefore, we would be grateful if you could be brief and only mention the urgent problem, as this will avoid unnecessarily delaying other patients. Telephone Consultations If you do not need a face-to-face consultation with a GP, you can book a telephone consultation. Dr Cameron has pre-bookable appointments for telephone consultations between 8.30 and 8.55am on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Patients wishing to speak with any of the other GPs or a member of the Nursing Team can be allocated an appointment within their normal surgery. The GP or nurse will ring you as near to the allocated time as possible on the telephone number given at the time of making the appointment. Please note that we do not ring mobile telephones and therefore if you only have a mobile telephone number available, you will be asked to telephone the surgery at an allotted time and the GP will endeavour to take your call without delay. Please be aware that you could be asked to wait on the line until the GP is available or to ring back. Home Visits Telephone: Please do not ask the doctor to call unless the patient is too ill to come to the surgery. If the patient has a temperature or a rash, coming to the surgery will do no harm and will not endanger others, but please inform the receptionist of any relevant facts on arrival. Remember that house calls are very time consuming and that patients should be seen at the surgery whenever possible. The time available for home visits is limited and patients can be examined more thoroughly in a surgery environment. If a home visit is unavoidable, please telephone before 10.00am on the same day. When you request a visit, the receptionist will ask for full details of the patient s name, address, age and telephone number and the reason for the visit. This information allows the doctors to determine whether a visit is necessary, plan their calls and allows urgent visits to be dealt with promptly. If you telephone after 11.00am, the visit will be carried out by the doctor on-call for emergencies, which may result in your visit being delayed. Abuse of the system will result in considerable inconvenience for other patients, staff and doctors and it is at the doctor s discretion as to whether a home visit is deemed necessary. The GP may be able to deal the problem by way of a telephone consultation rather than undertaking a home visit.

5 Test Results Telephone: The results of all pathology tests requested by a GP/Nurse will be sent back to the surgery by way of an electronic report and the doctor will check the results. Patients should therefore contact the surgery approximately one week after the test and ask the receptionist for your test result. If there are any problems and/or we need to discuss the results further with you, a comment to this effect will be added to your computerised medical record and conveyed to you. Please telephone the surgery after 2.00pm, Monday to Friday when the telephones are less busy and the receptionist has more time to find the result. Blood tests are carried out at Erith Hospital between 9.00am and 12 noon each day and at the Crayford Town Surgery between 8.00 and 9.00am. Urine and other test samples must be received at the surgery before 2.00pm. If you think you may be pregnant, you will need to do a home pregnancy test to confirm this before you see the doctor. All patients records on file or held on the computer are confidential. In order to maintain confidentiality, all test results will only be given to patients themselves or to parents of minors if appropriate. Repeat Prescriptions If you need to take tablets or medicines regularly, your doctor may suggest that you be issued with repeat prescriptions. This will be authorised by your GP who will issue you with a repeat prescription request slip from the computer. When you require a new supply, please send this slip to the surgery, clearly indicating which items you require. It is advisable for you to request your repeat prescription at least one week before it is needed (do not wait until you are running out of your medication). However, prescriptions will normally be available 72 working hours after the request is received (weekends and Bank Holidays are not classed as working days). Requests that require reauthorisation from a GP will take longer to process and therefore additional time should be allowed. The repeat prescriptions are processed by a prescription administrator who works 8.00am to 1.00pm and she is available to answer prescription queries during these times. The reception staff are always on hand to assist you with any queries you may have regarding the system however, they are unable to make any alterations to your repeat medication or issue prescriptions. We will accept postal requests for repeat prescriptions and will be happy to post them back to you, providing you have enclosed a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Once again, please allow a reasonable amount of time to take postal delays into account. We encourage patients to utilise the prescription collection services offered by many local chemists and the receptionists will be able to provide details of the chemists offering this service but they are unable to make recommendations. Patients utilising a collection service operated by a local chemist should allow additional time for their prescription to be processed and dispensed. You can choose to utilise the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) whereby your prescription will be sent electronically to a nominated pharmacy. Further details are available from your local pharmacy. You can deliver your repeat prescription request by hand. Simply place your completed request slip in the box provided which is located in the railings of the front porch area. You can either call to collect your prescription from the reception desk at the appropriate time, or we will post it to you if a stamped, self-addressed envelope has been enclosed. Always use your current computerised prescription request slip. We may be unable to issue your prescription if the request prescription slip has been altered or additional items have been added by hand. Prescriptions requested without a repeat prescription request form will take longer to process. You can also order your repeat prescription via our website or by sending an to scripts.lyndhurst@nhs.net. Please ensure that you take the details of all medication required from your repeat prescription request slip. The reception staff are always on hand to assist you with any queries you may have regarding the system however, they are unable to make any alterations to your repeat medication. We regret we are unable to take prescription requests by telephone as the lines must be kept free for more urgent calls and to avoid mistakes occurring. We are unable to fax prescriptions to the chemists. Registering Patients applying to join the practice patient list must live within the practice area shown on boundary map. Each applicant is required to complete a new patient questionnaire and return it to the surgery reception with the following documentation: A valid medical card signed in the appropriate section. If a medical card is not available, a Form GMS1 must be completed in full. One original utility bill (dated within the last three months) OR Two originals from the following list (dated within the last three months) Bank / building society statement Credit card statement Letter/statement re: mortgage Local authority rental agreement for housing (not private) Council tax letter Letter from solicitor Official letter from government department re benefits Patients aged under five years no proof of address is required but unless there are exceptional circumstances,we will only register children under five years if the child s mother is already a registered patient or in the process of registering. Patients aged 6-16 years - no proof of address is required but unless there are exceptional circumstances, we will only register children in this age group if a parent/guardian is already a registered patient or in the process of registering. Failure to provide the requested documentation may result in the refusal of your registration. It is practice policy for all patients over five years of age to attend a new patient registration examination with a member of our nursing team as it may well take several months for us to receive your full medical records. It also gives us the opportunity to make sure that your vaccinations are up to date and that any regular medication is recorded on the computer. Please note that a patient s registration with this practice is not complete until this examination has been carried out therefore, failure to attend may result in you being removed from our practice patient list. All patients have the right to express a preference of practitioner and a request should be put in writing to the practice manager. The practice will endeavour to comply with this right, although it might not always be possible, in which case an explanation will be offered.

6 Changes To Your Details Please ensure that we have a record of your correct address and contact telephone number(s) in order that we can amend our records. This will help avoid inconvenience to patients when we need to cancel appointments at short notice due to unforeseen circumstances. It will also allow us to notify the hospital of the correct patient details in the event of a referral being required, thus avoiding delays in appointments being notified. We will only contact patients on a mobile telephone number in an urgent/emergency situation. Therefore, it is important that patients provide a landline telephone number wherever possible. Patients can change their details via our website Failure to provide us with your correct address and contact details may jeopardise your registration with the practice. In addition to our current formal practice area, the practice has an outer boundary area so that registered patients who move home between these areas can stay registered with the practice, if they wish, unless the practice believes it would not be in the patient s interests to do so. Please refer to Practice Area Map section for details of practice boundaries. Clinics and Other Services Health Screening Screening involves the detection of the first signs of illness before it has a chance to damage your health. All of our adult patients are invited to make an appointment with a member of the nursing team for health screening. Checks will be made of your height, weight and blood pressure. The nurse can advise you on diet, exercise, smoking and other aspects of your lifestyle that may affect your health. If necessary they can carry out various blood tests or refer you to the doctor for specific problems. If you have not seen a doctor for a long time, or would like a health screen, please make an appointment in the usual way. Well Woman Check These are carried out by our nursing team by appointment only. Please bring a urine specimen and feel free to discuss general health and ask for advice. Mammography (routine x-ray examination of the breasts for women between 50 and 65 years of age) is available in this area. Appointments for the screening centre will be sent to you by post. However, it is a good idea for women of all ages to examine their breasts regularly for lumps. If you are not sure how to do this, a member of our nursing team will be happy to show you and give advice on how to reduce your risk of developing disease. Our nurses can also offer you help to lose weight and give up smoking. Cervical Smear Tests Smears are taken either by the doctors or the practice nurse. Smears for women involve a simple quick test to check for changes which occur before cancer develops. These changes can be easily treated in an outpatient clinic and cancer prevented. We recommend that all women up to the age of 65 should have regular smears unless advised otherwise by the doctor. All patients who are eligible for this test are sent a letter by the Cervical Screening Service. Your test result will automatically be sent to you by the Cervical Screening Service. Well Man Check These are to be carried out by our nursing team by appointment only. Our Nurses will be pleased to advise you on any aspect of your general health and provide you with information on testicular examination. The clinic is intended for any male between 16 to 74 years of age. Please bring a urine specimen. The nurse will also check your height, weight and blood pressure. If you are at particular risk of having heart problems, she will give you advice on how to reduce your risk of developing disease. Contraceptive Services And Family Planning Clinic The practice offers a full range of family planning care and advice including the fitting of diaphragms (caps), coils (IUCDs), implants and the morning after pill (within 72 hours of intercourse). We prefer you to receive your family planning care at the surgery rather than from a family planning clinic as much of this care is preventative medicine and it makes good sense to receive it from the same doctor who is giving you your general medical care. If you simply need the contraceptive pill, you can see your doctor or Ruth Morgan, practice nurse, at a normal surgery appointment or attend our family planning clinic which is held once a month on a Thursday from 3.50 to 6.20pm (by appointment only). Dr Cameron and a practice nurse will be in attendance. This, like all services provided by the practice, is completely confidential. Antenatal Clinic You should confirm your pregnancy with your doctor. In nearly all cases most of your antenatal care will be provided by the practice in conjunction with the hospital, midwife and health visitor. Following confirmation of your pregnancy you will be referred to the hospital of your choice for antenatal care, who will contact you direct to arrange a booking appointment with a midwife. Patients receiving antenatal care from Darent Valley Hospital can attend the antenatal clinics held at the surgery, which are held on a Monday afternoon. Patients receiving care from another hospital will be advised regarding the location of antenatal clinics. You should arrange to see the health visitor as soon as possible for health advice. The doctors, midwife and health visitors are also available for postnatal care. Child Health Clinic: Telephone The aim of this Clinic is to ensure the wellbeing of children up to the age of five by assessing them to see that they are growing and developing normally. A planned programme of health checks is provided by the doctors in conjunction with the health visitors. All babies and young children will be offered an appointment in advance to attend for routine immunisation and developmental checks. We hope all patients will take advantage of these services. It is important that all children and babies are immunised. If you have any worries or queries about this or any other aspect of your child s immunisations, please feel free to discuss them with your doctor or health visitor. The childhood vaccination clinic is run by the practice nurse and the childhood development clinic is run by a doctor and health visitor. Both are held on most Fridays from 1.30 to 3.30pm and are by appointment only. To make an appointment please contact the surgery. The health visitors will also be available to give advice if needed. The health visitors also run a drop in child health clinic which is held on most Tuesdays from 1.00 to 2.30pm. The health visitors will be available at this time to discuss any problems and to weigh your baby. An appointment is not necessary.

7 Adult Vaccination And Immunisation We are committed to preventative medicine and therefore encourage all patients to make sure that their vaccinations are up to date. All adult vaccination requirements including vaccination for travel abroad (with the exception of Yellow Fever) are carried out by the nursing team. Anyone planning holidays abroad should check with us well before they are due to travel (a minimum of two months) in order that we can make sure any necessary vaccinations are completed in time. An Influenza vaccination is offered completely free of charge to all our patients over 65 years of age and those patients who fall within the at risk categories in September/October every year. If you have any questions about vaccinations it is better to ask rather than just hope you are protected. Chronic Disease Management All patients with chronic illnesses are required to attend the surgery for an annual check. This includes patients with heart disease, asthma, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, blood pressure, diabetes and epilepsy. Even if you are also seen at the hospital for an annual check up, we may still request that you attend for a review at the surgery in order to complete any outstanding investigations or checks. Our practice nurses are trained to assess, review and alter treatments for most ongoing conditions and will be able to complete your review in one visit. They will of course be able to refer you to either your GP or for more specialist care, if they feel this is necessary. Smoking Cessation All patients who currently smoke and want help to stop smoking are offered an appointment with our healthcare assistant, who is a trained adviser in this field. She will give you advice and support to help you stop smoking and arrange prescriptions for therapy where appropriate. Alternatively patients can contact Smoke Free Bexley on for information about free support. Other Services In addition to those already listed, our nursing team offers various other services. These include cervical smear tests, blood pressure checks, prevention of heart disease and advice regarding losing weight. Our nurses will also advise you on reducing your alcohol intake and assist you in giving up smoking. Patients Over 75 Years Of Age If you are over 75, you receive special attention and are offered the opportunity to book an appointment with our healthcare assistant for an annual check-up. Please book an appointment via the reception staff, stating that it is for an over 75 check-up. Minor Surgery Certain minor operations will be done at the surgery in order to ease waiting lists at the hospital. These are undertaken by the doctors after an initial consultation in the surgery. Please note that cryo-therapy (treatment of warts and verrucae) is only carried out on Tuesdays and Fridays. For legal reasons anybody under 16 must be accompanied by an adult. Non-NHS Medical Services We provide a number of services to our patients that fall outside of the NHS, such as completion of holiday cancellation forms, private insurance claim forms, fitness to attend gym forms, countersigning documents such as passports and driving licence applications, examinations for HGV and PSV licences, completion of private medical certificates, provision of To whom it may concern letters etc. These services are provided at the discretion of the GPs on a private basis and are done outside normal consulting hours. A fee will be payable and a list of current private fees is displayed in the waiting room. Our fees are in line with those suggested by the British Medical Association. All applications for non-nhs medical services require an authorisation form to be completed and signed, which also confirms that you are happy to pay the appropriate fee. Failure to complete and sign an authorisation form will delay provision of the service required. Whilst the GPs endeavour to complete requests within 10 working days, clinical work must take priority and therefore during busy periods and annual leave periods this timeframe will be extended. If you are making an appointment for a medical examination, please tell the receptionist as special arrangements must be made. If you have any queries about fees, please refer them to the practice manager. Requests for medical certificates, to whom it may concern letters etc can be requested by . Please send your request to lyndhurst.surgery@nhs.net. Chaperones If you would like a chaperone to be present during a consultation please inform the receptionist either at the time of booking the appointment or when you arrive for your appointment at the surgery. Comments/Suggestions/Complaints Whilst we constantly strive to provide a good, friendly and efficient service, we realise that occasionally things do not go as smoothly as we would like. We are always pleased to receive constructive criticism, so if you have any suggestions or are unhappy about any aspect of our service please bring it to the notice of the doctor and not the receptionists, or preferably, ask to make an appointment with the practice manager. Complaints about any aspect of the service provided at The Medical Centre should be forwarded to the practice manager in writing. All complaints received are dealt with according to the NHS complaints procedure. Patients can also get help and advice about making a complaint from NHS England by telephone or england.contactus@nhs.net. Alternatively, you can contact Advocacy for All on or bexleynhscomplaints@advocacyforall.org.uk The practice also has a suggestion box located in the waiting room. Patients are encouraged to make constructive suggestions on how the practice can help to empower patients to improve their health and any new services which might be useful. All suggestions raised will be discussed by the Patient Participation Group in consultation with the practice team and an amalgamated response to all suggestions raised will be issued on a bi-monthly basis. This practice is part of NHS England (London Region) Southside 105 Victoria Street SW1E 6QT This publication is for your help and guidance. The details may be subject to change from time to time, so please check with the reception staff who will be happy to assist you, should further information be required. Access For The Disabled There is wheelchair access; parking and toilet facilities for the disabled at the surgery.

8 Parking There are car parking spaces available for patients at the surgery. However, we would ask you not to park in the spaces marked STAFF ONLY at the rear of the premises; if able bodied, in the disabled bay situated near the main entrance or on the grass verge to the left hand side of the drive. We do not accept responsibility for any damage caused to cars parked in our car park. Practice Boundary Map Training This practice is involved in training of Year 5 student doctors from Guy s and St Thomas and Year 1 student nurses from Greenwich University. Accident And Emergency The nearest Casualty Departments are at Darent Valley Hospital and Queen Elizabeth Hospital. There is also an Urgent Care Centre at Queen Mary s Hospital. The Northumberland Heath Centre offers a restricted service for minor injuries only. For telephone numbers please refer to the useful telephone numbers section. Data Protection Act Under the Data Protection Act 1998, you are entitled to access your clinical records or any other personal information held about you. A fee of is payable for access to this information and 35p per photocopy requested. This practice contributes anonymous patient data to databases used for health care research purposes. The practice receives a nominal fee and training from the company aggregating the data to help improve quality in its computer records. The company holding the anonymous data will be providing the data to authorised researchers for a data fee. The data collection scheme has been approved by the South East Multicentre Research Ethics Committee. The committee will also be overseeing all research conducted on the data. The database will hold data on millions of patients and no patient will be traceable to anyone outside this practice. Freedom of Information - Publication Scheme The Freedom of Information Act 2000 obliges the practice to produce a publication scheme. Patients are entitled to access the information as described in the Lyndhurst Medical Centre General Practitioner Publication Scheme. Violent And Abusive Patients This practice operates a zero tolerance to violence. Patients who are violent or abusive to the GPs or members of their staff will be removed from our practice patient list. Patient Participation Group Members of The Lyndhurst Medical Centre PPG meet regularly with members of the practice team to discuss suggestions of how we can improve the health and well being of patients and how we can improve the services we offer to patients. Patients interested in joining the virtual patient reference group can lyndrdppg@hotmail.co.uk. More information regarding the Patient Participation Group is available on our website (lyndhurstroadsurgery.co.uk) How can a Personal Trainer help? Some people are happy to follow their own programme in their own time and place, and at their own pace. However, for those who lack the time, motivation, or energy to train effectively on their own, a Personal Trainer can be the answer. So, when should you consider a personal trainer? Well, when you are overweight or underweight, when you are unfit or want to get fitter, when you are in training, when you are bored with training, when the kids have left home, when the jeans don t fit, when you are too busy to keep fit, when you are going skiing, when Christmas has happened, when Summer is about to happen, when aerobics has got boring, when you can t avoid the mirror, when you always avoid the scales; in short, when you want to! A personal training session will normally last for one hour. This will usually follow along the lines of a brief warm-up followed by your main training programme then a cool down or relaxation period. Programmes may vary from one session to the next according to your progress. SP/CP COPYRIGHT WARNING: All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be copied or reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise without the prior written permission of the publisher. D48576W

9 Useful Telephone Numbers THE SURGERY Appointments / hour Appointment Cancellation Line Enquiries Home Visits Emergencies District Nurses (Central Booking Desk) Health Visitors SEL NHS 111 Call Centre (Out-of-hours Service) LOCAL HOSPITALS Erith & District Hospital Darent Valley Hospital Queen Elizabeth Hospital Queen Mary s Hospital SOURCES OF ADVICE & SUPPORT NHS Bexley Clinical Commissioning Group NHS England Department of Works and Pensions Walk-in Centre (Crayford Town Centre) Social Services Citizens Advice Bureau Samaritans RELATE (Marriage Guidance) British Pregnancy Advisory Service Age Concern MIND in Bexley Alcoholics Anonymous Drug Link HIV/AIDS Helpline Advocacy for All To encourage our patients to become your clients or customers, advertise your business now through our practice booklets, appointment cards and website. Simply call for more information. Practice Booklets are published by Neighbourhood Direct Ltd. (01253)