VICTORIA STREET MEDICAL GROUP 7 VICTORIA STREET ABERDEEN AB10 1QW Tel: 01224 641930 Fax: 01224 656915
The Practice We are Victoria Street Medical Group, 7 Victoria Street, Aberdeen, Tel (01224) 641930, Fax (01224) 656915. We hold a General Medical Services (GMS) contract with NHS Grampian, Summerfield House, 2 Eday Road, Aberdeen, AB15 6RE, Tel (01224) 558565, Fax (01224) 558609. Details of this contract are available from our Practice Manager, Mrs Susan Lennox. Access Due to a difficult step to a narrow pavement, the surgery is not easily accessible to all disabled patients, and those who find access difficult are very welcome to attend our branch surgery at Kingswells Medical Practice, Kingswood Drive, Kingswells, AB15 8TB, Tel (01224) 745800, Fax 745820. The same doctors who consult at the Victoria Street Surgery also consult regularly at Kingswells. Suitable parking, wheelchair access and toilet facilities are all available at Kingswells. Please inform the receptionist at Victoria Street if you wish to transfer. Your appointments and medical care will thereafter be through the Kingswells branch surgery. A hearing loop is in place at the reception desk at both branches. Practice Area Our area generally comprises the postal districts AB10, AB11, AB15 (from City Centre to Kingswells, Cults and Beildside), AB16, AB24, AB25. A map of the practice area is displayed in the waiting room. The Doctors Dr Gavin Stark Full time MBChB FRCGP Dr Sandra Grant Part time MBChB FRCGP Dr Gregor Howe Full time MBChB MRCGP Dr Carmel Murphy Full time MBChB MRCGP Assistants Dr Mary Condon ( GP Retainer) Part time MB, BAO, BCh, MRCGP Dr Pauline Charleson Part time MBChB MRCGP DFFP Dr Heather Crilly Part time MBChB MRCGP DFFP Interpreting services are available from sources such as Aberdeen & North East Deaf Society, and Grampian Racial Equality. Further details can be given on request. Practice Staff Practice Manager Mrs Susan Lennox Our receptionists are there to help you with making appointments, taking requests for house calls, arranging repeat prescriptions, and performing other administrative tasks to assist in the smooth running of the practice. In order to deal efficiently with your request they may have to ask you appropriate questions in order to be able to pass full details to the doctor, we appreciate your assistance in this. Practice Nurses You may book an appointment with the Practice Nurses for such services as cervical smears, dressing of wounds, ear syringing, removal of sutures, routine blood pressure checks, dietary advice, smoking cessation advice and travel immunisation. As well as routine nursing care the nurses work closely with the doctors in providing Asthma, Diabetes, Chronic Heart Disease and Hypertension care. Should you require advice from the Practice Nurses please contact them on the surgery number of (01224) 641930. The receptionist will put your call through if possible or will arrange a suitable time for your call to be taken. A Phlebotomy session is available on a Wednesday morning. Health Visitor The Health Visitor offers advice and support mainly to families with young children. She provides baby clinics, child assessment clinics, and child immunisation clinics within the practice as well as working in the community. Children are seen by appointment with the Health Visitor and a GP for development checks on Tuesday mornings by appointment. A Well Baby Clinic for weighing and general advice is held on Tuesday afternoons from 1.30 pm. This is followed by an Immunisation Clinic which is by appointment. At other times the Health Visitor is available for home visits as necessary. The Health Visitor can be contacted at Airyhall Clinic on (01224) 556971. District Nurses The district nursing team, on referral from any of the doctors, will provide specialist nursing care and advice to patients in their own homes. They are based at Airyhall Clinic and can be contacted on ( 01224) 556970 Midwife Ms Sheila Rattray RGN RM The doctors normally refer maternity patients to Sheila, who runs fortnightly antenatal clinics at the Surgery and provides ante-natal and post-natal care. Sheila can be contacted at the Maternity Hospital on (01224) 550616. Pharmacist Ms Joan MacLeod MPharm MpharmS MSc Joan assists the GPs with prescribing issues, often undertakes medication reviews and assists in chronic disease management. On occasion you may be contacted by Joan to ensure that you are on the most effective combination of medications for your condition. Joan also participates in research projects. 1. 2.
Registration Patients living within the Postal Code areas previously listed are welcome to register with the practice. Please call at the reception desk and the receptionist will then make an appointment with both a GP and the Practice Nurse. The appointment with the doctor is to obtain a detailed clinical history and the appointment with the nurse is to obtain basic health measurements including health data, blood pressure reading and urinalysis. You will be asked to complete a patient questionnaire for each member of the family who is registering with the practice. If you have a medical card please bring it with you. When you move out of the practice area, you will need to register with a new practice as soon as you move. Preference of Practitioner The doctors work in partnership as a group, and your registration will be with the practice rather than with an individual doctor. You may consult with any of the doctors in the practice, although it is suggested that you stay with the same doctor for a particular problem. Male and female doctors are available and you may request an appointment with either. Should you only wish to see a particular doctor we require this request to be made in writing, but please bear in mind that this may necessitate a longer wait for an appointment. Services available from the practice All GP practices are contracted to provide essential services ; that is, basic treatment of ill people. We also provide the following additional services : Child health surveillance, together with the Health Visiting team Contraceptive services, including insertion and removal of contraceptive implants. Maternity services in the ante-natal and post-natal period, together with the midwife attached to the practice. Routine immunisation of children, together with the Health Visiting team. Immunisation for adults in relation to travel. Not all travel immunisations are available on the NHS, please ask our practice nurse for details. Cervical smears. Freezing of warts and other small skin lesions. An annual flu immunisation programme to protect the elderly and those with a Chronic Disease causing them to be vulnerable to influenza. Regular monitoring, by blood and urine tests, for patients on a range of drugs for arthritis and bowel problems. Annual comprehensive reviews for patients with heart disease.3. Annual comprehensive review for patients with diabetes; this includes appointments with the dietician and podiatrist. A methadone substitution programme for patients with drug abuse problems. Minor Surgery. Opening Hours, Routine Appointments, Urgent Appointments, Consulting Times, Telephone Advice Routine appointments are available every day, morning and afternoon, and should be booked in advance by telephone or in person. Medical emergency appointments are also available every day, morning and afternoon. If you need an emergency appointment you will be seen as soon as possible on that day. Please help the receptionists by telling them whether or not your problem is urgent. Separate appointments are required for each person to be seen. If your problem is lengthy, or you feel you need extra time, ask for a longer appointment. The surgery is open from 8am-6pm for telephone calls and personal callers. Doctors are available for telephone advice between 10:30 and 11.00 am. for nonurgent matters. If no doctor is available to speak to you at those times, then the receptionist will either arrange for the doctor to return your call, or will give you an alternative time to call the doctor. For urgent matters the duty doctor will be informed and will deal with your call. GP surgeries are normally run during the following times: Monday 08.30 10.30 am. & 2.00 5.30 pm. Tuesday 08.30 11.30 am. & 1.40 5.30 pm. Wednesday 08.30 10.30 am. & 2.00 5.30 pm. Thursday 08.30 11.30 am. & 3.10 5.30 pm. Friday 08.30 11.30 am. & 2.30 5.00 pm. If you have not been seen at the surgery for three years (or one year for those over 75) you can request a check up appointment if you wish. Access to Doctors/Nurses In keeping with Government guidelines we are working towards an appointment system that allows access to a doctor or nurse within 48hrs. We guarantee to see anyone the same day if it is considered to be medically necessary. Home Visits If possible please try to telephone before 10.00 am. Please give our receptionists some idea of what is wrong, so that appropriate messages can be passed on. The duty doctor may phone you back to discuss your problem more fully prior to agreeing to visit. House visits are for those who are house bound or too ill to go out. Other patients are encouraged to come to the surgery where more facilities and equipment are available. When NON-URGENT requests for visits are received after 10.00 am., they may not be attended to until the following day. 4.
Repeat Prescriptions Repeat prescriptions can be organised for long term treatment. If your doctor has agreed you are eligible to order repeat prescriptions without having an appointment: Do not wait until your medicine is finished 48 hours notice is required to produce, check and sign a prescription. If requesting by telephone please make your call after 10.30 am. Monday to Friday. You may make your request by post, but please enclose a stamped addressed envelope so that we can return your prescription. An annual review of all repeat medication takes place. Obtaining Test Results When asking for results, please do so after 11.00 am. when all mail will have been received, and the receptionists will have more time to help. The practice has a strict policy regarding confidentiality and data protection. We will only release test results to the person to whom they relate, unless that person has given prior permission for the release of the results, or if they are not capable of understanding the results. Leaflets and other written information about various illnesses and conditions are available on display in the waiting rooms and from the practice nurses and GPs. No leaflets are produced by the Practice. Out of Hours Cover On Monday to Friday between 6.00 pm and 8.00 am, and at weekends from 6.00 pm on Friday to 8.00 am on Monday, the surgery is closed. In order to obtain medical advice at these times, please dial NHS 24 on 08454 24 24 24. NHS 24 runs in conjuction with G-MED. A receptionist in the emergency call centre will answer your call. She will either: 1) Arrange advice from a doctor or nurse 2) Invite you to attend the centre to be seen by the doctor. 3) Arrange a home visit or an ambulance if you are too ill to visit the centre. Out of hours cover is now the responsibility of NHS Grampian. Further advice and information can also be obtained from NHS 24. Telephone no. 08454 24 24 24. NHS 24 Website: www.nhs24.com. During times when the surgery is closed the telephone contact details for NHS 24 will be repeated on the surgery s answering machine. Students Medical students and Nursing students attend the practice from time to time. We hope that you will co-operate with us and help the students to learn about general practice. However, you will be informed of their presence in advance, and if you do not want them to be present at a consultation, your wishes will be respected. This will not affect your treatment in any way. 5. Information sharing The practice complies with Data Protection and Access to Medical Records legislation. Identifiable information about you will be shared with others only in the following circumstances: To provide further medical treatment for you, e.g. from district nurses and hospital services To help you get other services, e.g. from the social work department. This requires your consent. When we have a duty to others, e.g. in child protection cases Anonymous patient information will also be used at local and national level to help the Health Board and Government plan services e.g. for diabetic care. If you do not wish anonymous information about you to be used in such a way, please let us know. Suggestions or Complaints We make every effort to give the best service possible to everyone who attends our practice. However, we are aware that things can go wrong, resulting in a patient feeling that they have a genuine cause for complaint. If this occurs, we would wish for the matter to be settled as quickly, and as amicably, as possible. Simply contact the Practice Manager, by telephone or in writing, or ask for a Complaints Form at Reception. The Practice Manager will set all the necessary wheels in motion. Further written information is available on the complaints procedure from Reception. Patients Rights & Responsibilities You will be treated with respect and as a partner in your care. Being a partner means you have responsibilities too. We will: Ensure our patients have 24 hour access to medical advice. Aim for you to have access to a suitably qualified medical professional within 48 hours of your initial contact during surgery hours or, in an urgent case, on the same day. Work in partnership with you to achieve the best medical care possible. Involve you and listen to your opinions and views in all aspects of your medical care. The prevention of disease, illness and injury is a primary concern. The medical staff will advise and inform you of the steps you can take to promote good health and a healthy lifestyle. We would respectfully ask that you: Let us know if you intend to cancel an appointment or are running late. Treat staff with courtesy and respect. Reception staff may have to ask some personal questions to assist us in providing you with the best service. 6.
Inform the practice staff of any alterations to your circumstances, such as change of surname, address or telephone number. Please ensure we have your correct telephone number, even if it is ex-directory. As patients, you are responsible for your own health and that of any dependants. It is important that you adhere to information and advice given to you by health professionals, and co-operate with the practice in endeavouring to keep you healthy. Violence Statement The practice considers aggressive behaviour to be any personal, abusive, and/or aggressive comments, offensive language, physical contact and/or aggressive gestures. The practice will request the removal of any patient from the practice list who is aggressive or abusive towards a doctor, member of staff, other patient, or who damages property. All instances of actual physical abuse on any doctor or member of staff, by a patient or their relatives will be reported to the police as an assault. 7.