Heathcote Medical Centre
Patient Newsletter July 2015
Reminder of Opening Times
Appointment Availability
The surgery is open
As is the case for all GP practices, demand easily outstrips
supply of routine appointments. Here at Heathcote we offer

Monday - Friday 08:00 - 18:30 (core opening hours)
telephone consultations with doctors in circumstances where

Appointments can be made at reception from
the 10 minute face to face appointment is not necessary and
08.30
encourage our patients to explore whether this would be

appropriate by giving information to our trained
Telephone lines are open between 08:30 - 12.45
receptionists. We would also remind our patients that many
and 14:00 - 18:00
issues can be effectively covered by our nursing and
We also offer bookable extended hours late appointments on
healthcare assistant team.
Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 18:30 until 20:30 and
To assist us in maximising appointment availability we
Saturday morning appointments from 09:00 until 11.00.
politely ask all patients who no longer need an appointment
After closing times patients should telephone 111 to access
to cancel them. It is not necessary to speak to a receptionist
out of hours care for issues which cannot await the surgery
– you can use our automated system and leave a message,
reopening.
even out of hours. Please do make use of this to free up
much needed appointment time.
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NHS Changes
Prescriptions
Summary Care Records
The NHS is introducing the Electronic Prescription Service
The NHS in England is now using an electronic record called
which becomes operational here in July 2015. This could
the Summary Care Record [SCR] which is being used to
make collecting prescriptions easier and more convenient
support patient care. It is a copy of key information held
for you. The service gives you the option to ‘nominate’ the
within your GP record. It provides authorised healthcare
place you choose to get your medication or appliance from
staff with faster, secure access to essential information
so that they can receive your prescriptions electronically.
about you - when you need unplanned care or when your GP
This could save you a trip to the practice just to collect a
practice is closed. The information can only be accessed
prescription form - particularly if you have regular
with your consent.
prescriptions.
Your Summary Care Record contains important information
To sign up to the service you will need to complete a form
about any medicines you are taking, any allergies you suffer
at the pharmacy of your choice. Please note that once
from and any bad reactions to medicines that you have
signed up you will no longer receive a paper prescription.
previously experienced. Your Summary Care Record also
You can change you pharmacy or opt back out of the scheme
includes your name, address, date of birth and your unique
at any time but changes will need to be processed via the
NHS Number to help identify you correctly.
pharmacy. Ask a member of staff for more information or
Allowing authorised healthcare staff to have access to this
visit www.hscic.gov.uk/epspatients
information will improve decision making by doctors and
other healthcare professionals and has prevented mistakes
This will not affect the turnaround time for prescriptions
being made when patients are being cared for in an
emergency or when their GP practice is closed.
and we would advise patients to allow at least 2 working
days.
You may have already considered your options regarding
your SCR. However, you can choose to opt in or out at any
time. We have information in the surgery for patients to
access (please enquire at reception) and forms for any
patient who wishes to opt out. Please note that if you are
the parent or guardian of a child under 16 you are strongly
recommended to discuss the consequences of opting out
with your GP or the Practice Manager.
Free Health Checks Service
We are now offering health checks to patients aged between 40 and 74 who are not already being monitored with a serious
condition. The check is to assess your risk of developing diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, stroke and dementia. If
there are any warning signs, then together we can do something about it.
The check should take about 20-30 minutes and is based on straightforward questions and measurements such as age,
gender, family history, height, weight and blood pressure. There will also be a simple blood test to measure your cholesterol
level.
Following the check, you will receive free personalised advice about what you can do to stay healthy. For more information
please see the website: http://www.healthcheck.nhs.uk/
If you wish to make an appointment with one of our health care assistants please see reception or call the surgery at your
convenience.
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Surrey Travel Clinic - Before You Fly
If you are travelling this summer, please consider your vaccination requirements. Ask reception for an assessment form
which will include countries and areas within countries you intend to visit in order that we can advise you. Please note not
all vaccinations are covered by NHS services and hence may incur a charge.
Heathcote Diabetes Service
You may not be aware that we run a very comprehensive clinic at the surgery for most of our diabetes patients including
those on insulin. We are fortunate to have 2 highly trained Practice Nurses and now the input from a Diabetes Specialist
Nurse who can also help us. For those patients seen in the clinic we can access the services of a Dietitian which can be so
important for this condition.
Over the last year the local diabetes specialist service has been completely reconfigured to produce a series of community
based specialist teams [our nearest is in Epsom at the Ebbisham Centre] which we can access whenever the need arises and
communication between GP and specialist has been improved. If you have diabetes and feel that you have not had a recent
update on diabetes education then do speak to one of our nurses and we may be able to arrange a referral. Also consider
joining Diabetes UK the national charity for diabetes
Dr A Pitsiaeli [Diabetes lead]
Birth News
We are very pleased to confirm that Dr Murphy and Dr Rahman have both had their babies (boy and girl respectively) and
mothers and babies are all healthy.
Patient Participation Group
We have an active patient participation group here at Heathcote who meet quarterly. The objective of the group is to
improve the care patients receive by involving patient experiences in a way helpful to the practice, to bring a sense of
ownership and partnership between patients and the practice, and to ensure patients’ needs and views are taken into
consideration. We link with the local Clinical Commissioning Group and will be joining the National Association for Patient
Participation. Our work might involve fundraising for items needed or canvassing patient opinion. This year we plan to
arrange training for the benefit of patients in areas such as CPR and first aid. We would welcome suggestions for training so
please get in touch. Some of us have been practice patients for very many years but it would be good to have some younger
people joining us. We appreciate that attending meetings may not be possible for all age groups but we would welcome
input. Anyone under 25 who can put forward a proposal using technology which can be implemented to enhance and broaden
our demographic will receive a general £25 voucher.
Patients are invited to contact us at heathcoteppg@gmail.com. Please note that this email inbox will be monitored weekly
and MUST NOT be used for any clinical correspondence.
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