Borras Park Surgery
Borras Park Road
Wrexham LL12 7TH
Tel: 08444778601
Fax: 01978 310294
www.borrasparksurgery.co.uk
ISSUE 9
JANUARY 2013
Welcome to our first newsletter of 2013. We would like to wish
all our patients a happy and healthy new year.
The doctors and staff would like to thank everyone who sent us
Christmas cards and gifts, your kind thoughts are greatly
appreciated.
Surgery Hours
Mon
8.00 am to 6.00 pm
Tues
8.00 am to 6.00 pm
Weds 8.00 am to 6.00 pm
Thurs 8.00 am to 12 noon
Fri
We would like to thank everyone who gave money for the raffle
which we are pleased to announce raised £218.62. This will be
put towards new equipment for the surgery.
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8.00 am to 6.00 pm
On a Wednesday the surgery
is closed from 12 noon to 1 pm
for practice meeting.
Missed appointments for September, October, November and
December 2012:DOCTORS 192
NURSES 240
PHLEBOTOMIST 38
The surgery telephone is
Switched to ‘emergency calls
only’ during lunchtime between
12 noon and 1 pm.
Home Visits
If you think you require a
Home visit, please try to contact the
Surgery before 10.30 am. Visits
not booked onto the doctors
list by this time may have
to be placed on the following
day.
Emergency calls will continue
To receive their priority.
TOTAL MISSED APPONTMENTS = 470
This figure is very alarming. Persistent failure to attend booked
appointments (for GPs or nurses) will result in removal from the
practice list and a request to register elsewhere. We are aware
that this has caused offence to some people, but as our list size
is now over 6,000, there is extreme pressure for appointments
and it is essential that patients attend for appointments. We are
experiencing particular problems with patients not attending for
appointments some of which were only booked ‘on that day’.
Please be mindful of the impact that this has. We cannot stress
enough how important it is that you telephone to cancel your
appointment if you are unable to attend for any reason.
However, we are increasingly finding that patients are leaving it
very late to cancel so that we are unable to re-allocate that
appointment to someone who urgently requests to be seen.
Please call in good time.
We are now coming to the end of our flu vaccination season. If you have not had your flu vaccination
and you are over 65 years or in any of the categories please make an appointment as soon as
possible.
Three babies have died from whooping cough in England and Wales during October last year bringing
the total to thirteen so far that year. Young babies are particularly at risk because they are vulnerable
until they can be immunised against whooping cough from 2 months of age. Due to the increase in
the cases of pertussis (whooping cough), the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, have
advised that pregnant women, between the 28 th to 38th week of pregnancy, should be vaccinated to
provide cover for their babies from birth until they are old enough to receive their routine vaccinations.
By immunising the pregnant women against Pertussis, the antibodies produced will transfer to the
foetus so that when the baby is born, they will already have some immunity to Pertussis. This
immunity is short lived, therefore the infants will still need the routine childhood immunisation
schedule.
The Duchess of Cambridge’s admission to hospital recently has highlighted the condition of nausea or
vomiting in early pregnancy also known as hyperemesis gravidarum in severe cases.
Calling it
“morning sickness” is wrong because, although symptoms may be worse first thing, it affects many
women during all waking hours. Probably around a third of pregnant women suffer this to some
extent but it is usually only mild and lasts a few weeks. Most don’t need strong drugs and hardly any
need admission to hospital, usually things settle down on their own and women go on to have normal
pregnancies. In just a few cases, symptoms can last much longer than the first third of pregnancy
and they can be very severe. Apart from being unpleasant for the woman, the danger is that vomiting
can lead to dehydration, weight loss and biochemical imbalance that can put the health of mother and
baby at risk. Sometimes medication needs to be used to suppress symptoms or intravenous fluids
may be given to keep the stomach rested and to allow any fluid or chemical imbalance to be
corrected. It is still not known why women get sickness but it could be related to the hormonal
changes in pregnancy as well as some dietary factors.
Most people will get several coughs and colds a year; they are caused by viruses that infect the nose
and throat. Coughing does not damage the lungs; it actually helps to protect the lungs from serious
infection. Paracetamol can be taken to cool a fever and soothe a painful throat. As the cause is
usually a virus, antibiotics are not effective for common coughs and colds. Most will get better without
complications, but consult a Doctor if symptoms become worse.
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Please remember to log into our practice website at Borrasparksurgery.co.uk.
You can access information from the website. Online prescription order service is available and this
is an alternative to calling into the surgery or posting your prescription request.
If you have any suggestions for services that you would like to see provided by the practice, please let
us know. Doctors and the Practice Manager will welcome suggestions in writing.
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We have recently changed the times on the telephone messaging for test results from after 10.30 am,
when telephone lines are very busy, to after 2 pm. Hopefully this will reduce the waiting time on the
telephone and improve your experience contacting the surgery.
We always aim to deal with your call efficiently and the receptionist will help you decide the best
person to deal with your problem. It should be noted that any information you provide will be treated
in the strictest confidence.
The receptionists can consider various options and by working with you can arrange an appointment
with a suitable GP/nurse/phlebotomists:
Contraception
Travel advice
Exercise on referral
Clinics: asthma, COPD, heart disease, smoking cessation, cervical smears, childhood immunisations,
One of our nurses also sees patients with minor illnesses and can prescribe.
Registrations/deductions
Change of address/name/contact numbers
Access to various forms (eg self certificates)
Booking/cancelling appointments for clinicians
Home visit requests
Test results
Prescription requests
Referral letters (requests from GPs)
Letters to other agencies, patients etc
Typing of medical reports etc
Copies of medical records to outside agencies including invoice for charges incurred
Various options to access a doctor:
1. Same day appointments
2. Pre booked appointments (up to one month in advance)
3. Telephone discussions
Finally, we are very proud to announce that Borras Park Surgery is the first GP practice in Wales to
receive Going for Gold Primary Care Accreditation. The Accreditation, awarded by the The Gold
Standards Framework, was given in recognition of the excellence in designing and providing care for
all patients with a life-limiting illness, and support for families during bereavement. The Practice
recognises that patients have choice around where, and how, they want to be cared for towards the
end of their life, and aim to adhere to this as far as possible. We can develop advanced care
arrangements for patients who request it, planning care at home in the final days, and avoiding
unnecessary hospital admissions – a truly patient-led service. The team also ensure that all patients
and their families feel supported and informed: all leading to a gold standard of care for people with a
life limiting illness.