The Park Medical Centre
NEWSLETTER ~ SPRING 2009
REPEAT PRESCRIPTION / MEDICATIONS
We are continuing to review our Repeat Prescription System in order to be able to deliver an efficient,
accessible service for all of our patients.
You may now request your repeat prescription over the telephone after 10.00am every day. Please have
your prescription list or medication in front of you so that you can request the items accurately.
We also accept prescription requests emailed to us via our website www.theparkmedicalcentre.co.uk.
You can still post your prescription to us of course as well as handing in your request at the Reception
desk or placing in our Prescription box in the foyer.
Please allow 48 hours for repeat prescriptions to be processed. This may seem a long time to simply
produce a prescription and obtain a signature, however there are certain protocols we must adhere to in
order to ensure prescriptions are correctly printed, are within the correct timescales, and are signed by
the patients GP. We also need time to resolve any queries regarding review dates and changes to
medication.
If you have any unused items of medication belonging to yourself or a
relative, please return to one of the local Pharmacies, we are unfortunately
unable to accept any returned medication at the Surgery.
Many patients choose to have their prescriptions sent to one of the local
Pharmacies for delivery of the medication directly to their home. If you would like to receive this
service, please contact one of the local Pharmacies for details.
If you do choose to have your medication delivered this way, please remember that this is a private
arrangement between yourself and your chosen Pharmacy. Delivery of your medication is the sole
responsibility of the Pharmacy and any problems should be directed immediately to them and not the
Surgery.
Please remember we can only fax prescriptions to a Pharmacy if expressly requested to do so by a GP.
We CANNOT fax requests for medication to a Pharmacy routinely.
PATIENT SATISFACTION QUESTIONNAIRE
Thank you to everyone who took the time to complete our Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire. We have
now analysed the results which show that we are on the whole providing a good friendly service for our
Patients. However, it appears that some patients still experience problems getting through to the
Surgery on the telephone early in the morning.
In order to address this problem we have increased the number of staff available to answer the
telephone and introduced a triage booking system to enable calls to be dealt with quickly and efficiently.
You can help us improve our call handling by ringing after 9.30am for test results, non-urgent
appointments and other general enquiries and after 10.30am for prescription requests.
We have introduced a suggestion box in the Waiting Room and welcome any further comments or
suggestions you may have regarding our services or the Surgery.
Many thanks for those suggestions already received, however, although we would like to make more car
parking available for our Patients, this is just not possible at the present time. Patients can park at the
Co-op across the road, car parking fees are refundable with any purchase in the shop.
FOXHOLE MEDICAL CENTRE
Our Branch Surgery at Foxhole is about to enter its 25th year. During this time many changes have been
implemented and the number of patients using Foxhole has grown each year. There is a Surgery held
every day either by Dr Hennig or our new Partner Dr Knobloch. Jo, our Practice Nurse now also runs two
busy clinics each week. Mrs Eileen Hatton the Branch Manager, is responsible for the day to day
management of the Surgery and ensures that everything runs smoothly.
We intend to mark Foxhole Medical Centre’s 25th anniversary later in the year, details from Mrs Hatton
in due course.
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
Throughout the year we plan to highlight specific health awareness events such as ‘Wear Red to Work’
for the British Heart Foundation, which we supported on Friday 13th February and which we hope will
provide valuable information for our patients.
Further events planned are:
The Great Daffodil Appeal – Throughout March we will be supporting this appeal which
raises money for Marie Curie Cancer Care. We will be having a ‘Wear Yellow to Work’ day
on 24th March.
The Moon Walk – Two members of our staff, Debbie Marshall and Eileen Hatton and one of our GPs,
Dr Rosalind Hennig, have entered the London Moon Walk in aid of Breast Cancer Research. The walk
takes place on the 16th May and involves walking 26 miles through London at midnight!! They are hoping
to raise £500 and would welcome your support.
Twinning Arrangement with The Auroville Clinic
Pondicherry, South India
At the end of 2008 we were delighted and honoured to receive a visit, as a guest of Dr Davis, from Dr
Ananda Balayogi, medical officer at the above clinic in rural South India. This was set up in 1969 to
provide for an area where few people can afford private health care, and the state hospitals are
hopelessly overburdened and overcrowded (You may complain about Treliske but at least the beds there
are under a roof and not in the hospital grounds.). The clinic caters for the needs of a population of
about 25,000 patients scattered across 18 or so villages. These people are generally impoverished farm
workers.
The Village Health Care Project
This scheme has been set up to provide basic health needs to the community. Services which we take for
granted here like good ante-natal care, vaccinations, simple first aid, and basic public health are
difficult to access in rural India, and the project trains and employs 21 health workers to supply simple
health care and education in the rural villages.
One of their main roles is to supervise the treatment of TB, which is a common problem in the area, and
also to arrange investigation and referral of others suspected of having the condition. A network of coordinating health workers support this work.
Ante-natal Care
This is a major deficiency in rural India, as is provision of contraception. Malnutrition and anaemia
remain common complications of pregnancy, with the subsequent risk of premature birth, and a high
neonatal death rate (and indeed maternal death rate). The health workers target pregnant women and
their families to offer nutritional and educational support
Growth Monitoring
While childhood obesity is becoming increasingly common in this country, it is sobering to remember
that for countless children in developing countries malnutrition is still a serious threat. The Auroville
clinic has set up a programme of growth monitoring for children up to five years old. They are weighed
monthly, given a record card, and supplements where necessary. The whole community is encouraged to
participate in a “kitchen garden” scheme, and recent audit has shown that 600 children have so far
benefited from this.
Village Health Mapping
This is a public health exercise to record average income, water provision, food supply and the
prevalence of illnesses in the villages, in order to plan for health services. Again, these are all services
we take for granted in this country, but the whole concept of public health is still extremely basic in
much of India.
Child to Child Programme
This is a way of delivering education on hygiene, nutrition and basic health matters to children. Groups
of children are taught in the village schools, using play and drama to encourage involvement, as part of
the ongoing drive to improve health.
The ‘Scar’ Foundation
This is a voluntary organisation in Chennai (Madras) which provides basic care for people with
schizophrenia in the area. A mental health team visits the village on a regular basis and supplies
medication which the patients would be unable to afford.
How Can We Help?
Imperfect as our NHS may be, it is still light-years ahead of the very basic health care in rural Tamil
Nadu, and many places like it. Malnutrition, poor hygiene, and inadequate ante-natal care are still major
problems there even in the 21st century, while in the west we are spending millions of pounds dealing with
the consequences of obesity.
We are trying to raise funds to help with the projects described above. To train a health care worker
costs 1,800 rupees (£25) and their wage is about 2,700 rupees (£37) per month. The cost of a month’s
treatment for schizophrenia is 500 rupees (£6). These are not, I am sure you will agree massive sums in
western terms.
If you could make a donation, however small, to the Auroville Clinic it would be hugely appreciated. (Go
on; why not sacrifice the price of a chocolate bar once a week?) They will report back to us on how the
money is spent, and the changes it can make.
If you would like to support the Village Health Care Programme, please leave your donation at
reception. Many, many thanks