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Trying to behave in a greener more sustainable way is often inconvenient and therefore unattractive. Car sharing is one such example that has only limited take-up because the convenience of the car is a very powerful force against changing behaviour. We need real incentives to share cars and this must be more than simply sharing fuel costs.
Hospitalrides is a brand new initiative that harnesses some meaningful incentives to try to persuade Ipswich Hospital outpatients and visitors to share rides. Firstly we offer cheaper parking in that a 2 hour ticket is valid for half a day. More significantly we are able to guarantee a parking space in a specially painted green bay within the new Hospitalrides parking zone near outpatients. This certainty of parking is important for outpatients but really crucial for visitors as afternoon visiting only lasts an hour and visitors do not want to waste time driving round searching for a space.
A final temptation is a free coffee or tea at Tempo Café in case you have to wait for your car sharer to come out of clinic. Of course , many people do not have access to the internet so Suffolk Libraries have kindly stepped in to offer the library computers (including the mobile library) to help those without computers to arrange rides to Ipswich Hospital. So Suffolk County Council, NHS Suffolk, Ipswich Hospital and NHS Innovations East have all joined forces to try to make this work - but without the support of Suffolk residents it will fail.
Flu Clinics 2009
This year we we will be holding two Saturday flu clinics on:
For further information on whether you qualify for a flu vaccination click here
This year we also plan to carry out screening for Atrial Fibrillation (abnormally fast heart beat) on patients over the age of 65 and will have representatives from our patient participation group, Saxquax Feedback Wasted Appointments – Help us to help you….
Over the period 1 st October 2008 to 31 st March 2009, we had a total of 849 appointments made where the patient failed to attend. This equated to the equivalent of 142 hours of appointment time, which is nearly 5.5 hours a week!
When patients fail to attend, appointments are wasted and in turn increase the waiting times for all our patients.
As one of the ways to help improve patient services and decrease the number of wasted appointments, we will be sending you a FREE appointment reminder via text message before your appointment. Should you then find that you no longer need your appointment; early cancellation will enable us to offer the appointment and provide care to another patient. It is hoped that this service will begin in July.
In order to receive this service you will need to provide the receptionist with details of your mobile telephone number. Either complete one of our text messaging registration cards by clicking here, or give your mobile telephone number to the receptionist. Don’t forget to let us know if you change your number!
In addition to this, our Reception Team will be asking you for your mobile phone number when you attend for your appointment. We do appreciate that not all patients have mobile phones or would wish to receive this service, however your support in reducing wasted appointments is very much appreciated.
Finally, so that we can understand why appointments are missed we also intend to send out questionnaires to patients that miss more than two appointments and send an individual letter to patients who miss in excess of three in a reasonable period of time.
Suffolk Information on Prescription
Suffolk Information on Prescription is a countywide service helping people with certain conditions or requiring support, get quality information to help with everyday living.
When you visit the surgery, the receptionist/GP or practice nurse may give you a prescription to access information. You can access the information yourself at www.suffolk.gov.uk/informationonprescription or bring your prescription along to any Suffolk library.
Your surgery can prescribe information on prescription or you can go directly to the above website yourself. A copy of the information on prescription template can be found with a guidance leaflet on our practice website.
More Wasted Medication
We recently had approximately £900 worth of unused medication returned to us, including 39 of one type of inhaler and 22 of another type from a patient who had sadly passed away. We are not able to reuse this medication so it is simply disposed of.
Please when ordering your repeat medication only put a tick next to the items you really need. Not ticking an item does not mean it will be taken off repeat, it just means you don’t require it this time. A medication is only taken off repeat if it hasn’t been ordered for more than 6 months.
The Dispensary is staying!
We have some really good news. For now the dispensary is staying! The Pharmacy White Paper has not been passed, and it's thanks to everyone who wrote to the Department of Health with their objections. We would like to thank all our patients for their support.
The Pharmacy White Paper put before parliament on 3rd April 2008 proposed to stop this surgery from being able to dispense medications to any of our patients. Which would have meant that when you are not feeling at your best and your doctor writes you a prescription, you would have had to walk or get in your car, find a parking space and wait in a queue to get your medication at the local pharmacy - very different from the short walk from the doctor’s room to the dispensary!
Moving Abroad?
Living abroad for more than three months
If you are no longer resident in the UK and are living abroad, the NHS normally won't pay for any treatment or services. This includes people who are in receipt of UK state retirement pensions.No longer resident, means that you have left the country for more than three months or don't have a permanent address in the UK. Therefore, you will have to obtain healthcare cover in the country you are in, or get private medical insurance.
Living abroad for less than three months
If you are away from the UK for less than three months, and still have a permanent UK address, you may be able to get free or reduced healthcare if you are visiting another country.
For further information please click here
Awards...
Dr Havard has this year won the NHS Alliance in recognition of his work developing a piece of software for GP's to reduce the risk of strokes in patients. The web based software advises on the best course of treatment for patients with the condition atrial fibrillation (an abnormal heart rhythm) which can result in strokes.
Click here to see the award entry Click here to see the EADT article covering Dr Havards award win.
Doctors Advice
Dr Havard has had another of his publications in the media. A two page spread was featured in the East Anglian this week centering around Dr Havard's new brochure aimed at educating teenagers about the dangers of smoking and obesity. The leaflet is called "Stuff for you for life" and can be seen by clicking here. Realising that teenagers dont always heed the advice of "boring authority figures" the leaflet has been designed to make most of its impact with pictures. There is limited text as the pictures speak for themselves. Dr Havard would appreciate feedback whether positive or negative about the leaflet, especially from its target audience - teenagers. Please feel free to contact Dr Havard using the following email address admin@gp-d83053.nhs.uk. All of your comments will be passed to Dr Havard who will try and incorporate ideas into the design of the leaflet.
To read the East Anglian article please click here
We feel it is very important, particularly in a climate of such considerable change within the NHS, that we communicate as well as possible with our patients. We communicate in a number of ways, one of which being our bi-annual newsletters. These are put on reception and dispensary for patients to take away. They are also published here on the website and in the future could possibly be emailed out to patients who would like to receive them.
If you have anything that you think we should put in our newsletters, or have any ideas how we could improve them then please get in contact with us by email and we will do our best to take your ideas on board. Please send your email to admin@gp-d83053.nhs.uk (please put "newsletter" in the subject bar of your email.)
Please click on the past newsletters below Summer 2005 newsletter - click here Winter 2005 newsletter - click here Summer 2006 newsletter - click here Winter 2006 newsletter - click here Spring 2007 newsletter - click here Summer 2007 newsletter - click here Autumn 2007 newsletter - click here Spring 2008 newsletter - click here Autumn 2008 newsletter - click here Winter 2008 newsletter - click here Winter 08/Spring 09 newsletter - click here Spring 2009 newsletter - click here Autumn 2009 newsletter - click here
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Breaking News...
Staff News
Tracey Riches has joined our Practice Nursing team having worked in a Nursing Home in Woodbridge..
We would like to congratulate KJ who has worked in Dispensary for many years now. She gave birth to a healthy baby boy, Oscar, in December.
Caroline Hambly has joined us as a Practice Nurse. She will be taking the lead on respiratory clinics.
Juliet Lillicrop our former Practice Nurse has begun her midwifery training at Ipswich Hospital.
Tracey Whitwood is now our new Reception Manager.
Matthew Spencer has joined the admin team as our new Admin Assistant.
Lisa Callaghan has joined us as a Medical Secretary replacing Barbara who retired in August.
Fiona Smith has moved from reception to admin and is now another of our Medical Secretaries. She is also studying to become a Health Care Assistant.
Donna Brown has moved from reception to work solely in Dispensary.
Nurse Ruth Osborne has unfortunatly moved on to a job closer to home. Nurse Fin Foreman has very kindly come out of retirement to bridge the gap until we appoint a new nurse
We have two new receptionists, Kim Wolstenholme and Nicki Swords.
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