UNION BRAE & NORHAM NEWSLETTER Spring 2016

Appointments

We are still experiencing an excessive number of missed appointments every week, and this is having a huge impact on the service we offer to our patients. The procedure for missed appointments now is:

Miss 1 appointment – No action

Miss 2 appointments – Receive a warning letter

Miss 3 appointments – Receive a final warning letter.

Miss 4 appointments – You will be removed from the practice list and have to go to a different GP surgery.

If you cannot attend your appointment please contact us as soon as possible so we can offer it to someone else.

We have 7100 patients

We offer on average per week the following appointments:

50 Nurse Practioner

260 Practice Nurse

500 GP

In February we had 148 missed appointments

Help us to help you – CANCEL YOUR UNWANTED APPOINTMENTS

Prescriptions

Please note we are no longer able to accept repeat prescription requests by email. To order your prescription you can:

Apply for patient access and submit your request online.

Drop the prescription in to the surgery or your pharmacy.

Post the prescription to the surgery.

All prescriptions take 2 working days to process. In an emergency we will try to process your prescription in 24 hours but this cannot be guaranteed. Allow yourself plenty of time to order your repeat medications.

Patient Access

From 1st April all patients will be able to access a summary of their medical records, in addition to booking an appointment or ordering repeat prescriptions online. Patients, who would like to make use of this service, even if you are already registered for patient access, will need to come into the surgery to request a registration form, and reception staff will explain how to sign up.  Please note you must attend in person for the registration code and will need to bring some form of identity with you. We will accept driving licence, bank card or utility bill for this. Patients over the age of 14 must attend in person to collect their own codes.

Telephone Numbers

Please make sure we have a correct telephone number for you, If you change your number and or address please inform us so we can keep your records up to date.

ECG at Norham

Patients are now able to have an ECG at Norham, saving them a trip into Berwick. We are able to offer this service because of a generous donation in memory of Mr Ian Meikle a patient of the practice for many years. We have also used some of this money to buy the planters to brighten up the front of the surgery  as at lasting tribute to this keen gardener.

Late Night appointments

We are open until 8pm on a Wednesday night for pre booked appointments with both our GPs and nurses. If you would like to book a late night appointment please mention this to our reception staff when you ring to book .

Contacting Us

Our phones are busiest first thing in the morning, if your call is not urgent please ring after 10.30 am

Stopping Smoking

If you would like assistance to stop smoking, we have leaflets available in the surgery or contact your pharmacy

Contacting You

Please let us know how we can contact you. There are forms available in reception for you to let us know if you would rather be contacted by letter, telephone or email. Please either complete one of the forms and hand it in, or speak to a member of the reception staff.

Call Recording

Following some recent incidents of abuse directed at members of staff we are adding a call recording facility to our telephone system. Once in place all calls in and out of the surgery will be recorded, and anyone who is abusive to a member of staff will be removed from the practice list.