THE ILCHESTER SURGERY 17 Church Street, Ilchester, Yeovil, Somerset BA22 8LN Tel: 01935-840207 Fax: 01935 840002 www.ilchestersurgery.co.uk INFORMATION FOR OUR PATIENTS For GP out of hours service: Ring NHS 111 NHS Direct Online: www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk For emergencies: Ring 999
SALARIED GPs Dr Juliet Eagland, MB ChB ADVANCED NURSE PRACTITIONER/CLINICAL LEAD Denise Harris, RGN BSc(Hons) NP Dip. Dip.Asthma, Independent non-medical prescriber. PRACTICE NURSES Anna Lawrie, RGN and Lin Coningham, RGN, SCM, Dip.Asthma HEALTH CARE ASSISTANT Sylvia Bond HEALTH COACH Victoria Simcox Practice Manager/Secretary Senior Receptionist Reception Staff Reception/Admin Assistant Jane Burrell Jackie Bushell Louise Baker, Shelley Morgan-May Donna Osmond, Kirsty Spiller Louise Baker ABOUT THE PRACTICE Working as a team from the centre of Ilchester we aim to provide comprehensive health care to all our patients. In addition to general medical services the practice may offer many other services and these include: general practitioner, maternity care, child health surveillance, full contraceptive services and minor surgery. There is full access and facilities for the disabled. SURGERY OPENING HOURS Monday to Friday: 8.30am-6.30pm OUT OF HOURS COVER Out of hours cover is provided by the Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group and not the doctors in this Practice. If you need to call the Out of Hours Service when the surgery is closed, please ring the surgery on 01935-840207. You will be connected to an answer machine. Please have a piece of paper and pen to hand. Alternatively you can ring the Out of Hours service direct on NHS 111 if you need medical help but it is not a 999 emergency. Calls may be recorded. Calls to NHS 111are free from landlines and mobile phones. CONTACTING THE SURGERY Between 8am-8.30am if a doctor is required, please telephone the surgery on 01935 840207 and listen to the message on the answer machine. REGISTERING WITH THE PRACTICE Complete the registration forms. We ask you to fill in a short health questionnaire and offer you an appointment with the Practice Nurse or Health Care Assistant for a health check usually within two weeks. This is to discuss any ongoing health issues, medication etc. NAMED GP All patients will have a named GP who is responsible for their overall care. However patients are still free to see any doctor they wish who works at the surgery and are not limited to their named GP. If you wish to know who your named GP is, please ask Reception.
CAR PARKING Unfortunately the surgery does not have its own patient car park. However there is a small parking area by the Town Hall and a free car park off Limington Road. We would ask that patients do NOT use the Ilchester Arms Hotel car park or the restaurant next to the surgery. APPOINTMENT SYSTEM All visits to the doctor or nurse are by appointment only. If your problem is URGENT then you should say so and we will try and fit you in as soon as possible. However we are not an emergency service so depending on the nature of your problem, you may be directed to call 999 or attend the Accident & Emergency Department at Yeovil District Hospital. The surgery runs a shared list system which means that you may see any one of the doctors but if you need to see a doctor urgently, you are likely to see the duty doctor. You may be offered an appointment with the Nurse Practitioner/Practice Nurse if this is appropriate. Please remember that late afternoon and evening appointments are aimed at those people who cannot leave work early. It is also helpful if you can let us know if you need to see the doctor or nurse for a special reason, eg a medical examination or longer appointment. The Reception Staff are trained in medical confidentiality and are an important part of the practice team. The doctor is not always the most appropriate person to deal with your particular medical problem so our Reception Staff may ask you for a rough outline of the problem in order that they can plan the appointment appropriately. Patients who express a preference to see a particular practitioner must understand that not all practitioners are able to provide the same service. If this is the case, it may well be more appropriate for a patient to see a different practitioner. CANCELLING AN APPOINTMENT OR RUNNING LATE Please help us by being punctual and we in turn will try not to run late! If you need to cancel an appointment, please let us know well in advance. Appointments cancelled at short notice cannot be offered to other patients. Those patients who persistently fail to attend without adequate notice or reason may be asked to re-register with another practice. HOME VISITS These are for patients who are too ill to attend the surgery. Please try to telephone before 10.30am if possible. It would help the doctors if you could give the Receptionist an idea of the problem; this will be treated with the strictest confidence. TELEPHONE ADVICE The doctors are happy to give advice over the telephone but if they are busy when you telephone, you may be asked to call again or a nurse may be able to help. REPEAT PRESCRIPTIONS Requests should be made preferably using the repeat prescribing slip which you will normally receive with your prescription. Prescriptions may be ordered on line at our web site www.ilchestersurgery.co.uk, left at Reception, or outside surgery opening hours posted through the surgery door. If sending by Royal Mail, please address request to the Reception Staff. We would ask patients to phone after 9.30am when requesting repeat Prescriptions on the phone. Please allow 48 hours notice for collecting your prescription. Unless stated otherwise, prescriptions are sent from the surgery to the Ilchester Pharmacy for dispensing. If you wish to collect your prescription from the Surgery, or another pharmacy please make this known to the reception staff. We can often send your prescriptions electronically but if you wish your prescription to be sent to you directly please enclose a stamped addressed envelope.
TEST RESULTS We would ask if patients could please ring the surgery after 9.30am for any results. NURSE PRACTITIONER Denise Harris has undertaken the Nurse Practitioner degree course and qualified as a Nurse Practitioner. She is able to prescribe medications. She is available to see patients with a wide range of illnesses, including chest, throat and ear infections in addition to her traditional role of providing advice on the prevention of heart disease, asthma, diabetes, high blood pressure, contraception and emergency contraception. PRACTICE NURSES Anna Lawrie and Lin Coningham are available by appointment for dressings, ear syringing, injections, blood pressures, blood tests, cervical smears, advice on prevention of heart disease and giving up smoking (Anna) and asthma/copd advice (Lin). HEALTH CARE ASSISTANT Sylvia Bond, Health Care Assistant, is available by appointment for all blood tests, ECG s, Spirometry, Giving Up Smoking advice and routine tests as ordered by the clinical staff. HEALTH COACH Victoria Simcox is our Health Coach. The Health Coach role is to be a supportive mentor to motivate individuals to cultivate positive health choices. A Health Coach has a varied role. Some of the things they can help you with are; Coaching sessions to put you back in control of your health and wellbeing, Help with care planning to support self-management of your conditions, and Signposting to help you know what support is available to you. ATTACHED STAFF There is a full complement of staff attached to the surgery. These include a Community Midwife, District Nurses, Health Visitor and a Dietitian. We also have a podiatrist who attends the surgery twice monthly for nail cutting/full chiropody. This is a private service but you are able to make an appointment to see her through our reception team. If you wish to contact any of these staff please ask one of our Receptionists. CHAPERONES It is the policy of this practice that patients will be offered or may request a chaperone when an intimate examination is requested by a doctor/nurse. IMMUNISATIONS We recommend that all women check that they are immune to German Measles (Rubella) especially if they are thinking of starting a family. Pregnant women are advised to have a Pertussus vaccination when they 28 weeks pregnant. Influenza immunisations are offered from September/October onwards for any patient over the age of 65 yrs and those patients under 65 yrs considered to be at risk. Immunisation against pneumococcal infection and shingles will be offered where appropriate. FOREIGN TRAVEL AND IMMUNISATIONS If you are planning to travel abroad please contact the surgery well in advance of your departure date for advice on an immunisation programme. THIS SHOULD BE AT LEAST 6-8 WEEKS BEFORE YOUR DATE OF TRAVEL. If you contact the surgery 3 weeks or less before travelling and require immunisations, please note that you will NOT be fully immune to the infections/diseases you are being vaccinated against. Please note there will be a charge for some travel vaccines.
CERVICAL SMEARS All women are invited to have a cervical smear. We recommend that all women between the age of 25 65 should have regular smear tests unless otherwise advised by the doctor. The smear tests are very important and we would urge you to make sure that you book in for your tests. However, if you do miss your tests, there is a system in place which should ensure you are sent a reminder. Following a smear being taken at the surgery, you should receive a letter notifying you of the result. If you have not received this after 4 weeks, please contact the surgery for the result of your test. CHLAMYDIA SCREENING The surgery is a centre for Chlamydia screening. Both men and women between the age of 15 and 24 yrs can collect a screening pack from the surgery. MATERNITY CARE The team at the Ilchester Surgery aim to provide a comprehensive maternity service in conjunction with the Yeovil Maternity Hospital. In the main, patients are seen by the Community Midwives and the GPs. However the GPs are not involved with care during delivery. ANTENATAL CLINICS These take place in the surgery once a week. The Clinic is run by the Community Midwives. DISTRICT NURSING STAFF The district nurses provide general nursing care for housebound patients. HEALTH VISITOR/BABY CLINIC You can contact the Health Visitor on the surgery number or 01935-841751. If you have problems with a baby or a young child then the Health Visitor would be the first person to contact for advice on eating problems, behavioural problems, concerns about growth etc. The baby clinic takes place every 1 st and 3rd Wednesday in the month from 9.30am-11am at The Little Marsh Children s Centre near the Ilchester Infant School. VACCINATIONS Children will only be given a vaccination/immunisation if brought to the surgery by a PARENT. If this is a problem, please discuss this with Lin our Practice Nurse or one of the Reception Staff. PRIVATE FEES Some services that we provide are not paid for by the NHS. These include private medical examinations, insurance claims, HGV medicals, some travel immunisations and private prescriptions, etc. A scale of fees for non-nhs services is on view in the waiting area. The fee is payable in advance. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION From time to time, medical students and qualified doctors who are training to be general practitioners will work at the surgery; the receptionist will tell you when you arrive at the surgery if this is the case and you are free to decline to see them. However, please note that it is very important to the training of these doctors that they see as wide a range of patients as possible. The nearest Casualty Department is at Yeovil Hospital (01935 475122) To obtain details of other primary medical services in the area contact: The Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group, Wynford House, Lufton Way, Yeovil, Somerset. Tel No: 01935-384000 PERSONAL HEALTH INFORMATION & CONFIDENTIALITY The practice is compliant with the Data Protection Act 1998, the Access to Health
Records Act 1990 and the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Anything that you tell us is confidential. We may share information with other health professionals who are involved in your care and from time to time, we may share anonymised information with the Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group for the planning of service provision. The surgery undertakes, from time to time, research studies for the Primary Care Research Network South West. There is no obligation for any patient to be involved in these studies and if you do not wish to take part, this will in no way prejudice the patient care which we provide. ELECTRONIC MEDICAL RECORDS Since 2008, medical records are now transferred electronically and automatically when a patient registers with another practice. Equally, we shall receive medical records electronically when new patients register with us. SUMMARY CARE RECORD (emergency care record) since October 2010 An emergency care record containing a patient s current medication, conditions and any allergies is automatically uplifted from the surgery to the NHS spine (database). If you do not wish this information to be stored on the spine, please ask reception for an opt out form. REFERRING PATIENTS TO OTHER SERVICES When we refer patients to other services, the referral is administered by the local NHS at a referral management centre through the e-referrals system. The Booking Management Centre is responsible for allocating your referral to other services and normally sees full information about the referral, including any confidential information. If your GP is referring you to other services and you feel there is information you wish to withhold from the referral management centre, please inform your GP as soon as possible during normal working hours. If you experience problems with the referral management centre or wish to discuss its role further, please contact the Patient Advice & Liaison Service (PALS) on 0800 0851 067. Community Re-enablement Team. This integrated team aims to provide a co-ordinated approach to help you maintain your independence. They will provide advice and information to help manage a condition, provide equipment if it is needed and work closely with other health professionals. They can be contacted on Somerset Direct 0300-123-2224. ZERO TOLERANCE The practice operates a zero tolerance policy as regards verbal/violent aggression. CONCERNS/COMPLAINTS We aim to provide a comprehensive health care service to our patients. If for any reason you feel we have failed in this aim, any concern/complaint, whether verbal or written will be given urgent attention. Advice and advocacy support is also available to patients through the Area Complaints Team at NHS England; their contact number is 0300 3 11 22 33. If your concern is with a commissioned service, you can contact the PALS service (Patient Advice and Liaison Service) at NHS Somerset Clinical Commissioning Group, Freepost RRKL-XKSC-ACSG, Yeovil BA22 8HR; telephone number 0800 0851 067; email address is pals@somersetccg.nhs.uk EAST SOMERSET NHS TRUST - YEOVIL DISTRICT HOSPITAL In order to reduce the number of patients who fail to attend their hospital appointments, if a patient fails to attend ONE appointment within the hospital, that patient will be removed from the waiting list. A further referral letter will then need to be sent by the GP if an appointment is still required. Therefore if your allotted appointment time is not convenient, please contact the hospital immediately in order that a further time can be given.
SELF TREATMENT OF COMMON ILLNESSES Diarrhoea & Vomiting This is usually due to a viral infection and consequently will get better in its own time. Whilst you continue to vomit, it is wise to take frequent but small amounts of clear fluid and if necessary, take nothing at all for the first 24 hours if you are an adult. Once you have finished vomiting or if you just have diarrhoea on its own, it is advisable to eat foods that are high in carbohydrate, for example, pasta, rice or potatoes. However, if your symptoms persist or you have severe pain, you should contact your doctor. Colds and Flu Unfortunately the medical profession can t cure the common cold or influenza! Take either Aspirin, (if over 16 yrs), Paracetamol or Ibuprofen to relieve your symptoms. Drink plenty of fluids and if necessary, go to bed. Burns Soak the affected area with large quantities of cold water. Keep this up for at least fifteen minutes. If the burn area is larger than a 50p piece in children or on the face, genitals or joints, contact the doctor or seek further advice from the local Casualty department. If there are blisters do not pop them without first taking medical advice. Sunburn Treat as for other burns but remember it is much better to avoid sunburn by use of a sunblock and especially in the case of babies and young children, a total sunblock should be used. Insect bites and stings Best treated with antihistamine tablets, which you can buy from the Chemist. Hayfever If you think you have hayfever medications can be bought over the counter at the Pharmacy. Eye Problems If you have an acute eye problem contact the Acute Care Eye Service (ACES). This is a free service available to all patients registered with a Somerset GP. The service is designed for the assessment and treatment of recently occurring medical eye conditions by local optometrists. The service is provided by local optometrists with the specialist knowledge and skills to carry out this work at locally approved optometrists. For details www.somerset.nhs.uk/welcome/services/aces or ask reception for details. Dental Helpline If you have dental problems and you are not registered with a dental surgeon contact the dental helpline on 03001237691