Welcome to the slightly belated edition of our Newsletter
Staff
We have had a number of comings and goings over the last six months.
Dr Pauline Love, who joined us as an Assistant Doctor in August 2007, became a Partner in September; I am sure our patients are as delighted as we are that she has committed her future to Bakewell.
Nurse Jackie Taylor, Health Visitor Mel Seymour and Office Manager Jennifer Lawrence, all left in the summer for new pastures, and we thank them all for their valued contributions and wish them all very best wishes for their futures.
We are very fortunate in that we have been joined by some high quality staff:-
Morag Franshaw - Health Visitor, who joins us from Evelyn Medical Centre in Hope;
Catherine Wallwork - Practice Nurse, who joins us from Derby Royal Infirmary ITU;
Jill Smith - appointed as Assistant Practice Manager from Ashenfell Surgery, Baslow;
Sue Fear - Receptionist who joins us from another GP Practice in Bloxham, Oxfordshire, having recently moved into this area.
We are delighted to welcome them all and look forward to them staying with us for many years to come.
Dr Williams is to head off to Lesotho, South Africa with his family for a six month sabbatical at the end of October. We have asked him to email us an update for our Spring 2009 Newsletter, and wish him, Pamela, Matthew and Chloe a safe and fulfilling trip. Meanwhile, Dr Williams gives us a brief outline of what his venture is all about:-
‘We have always planned to have a sabbatical, but were not sure where or when, and through our Church we have a wonderful opportunity to combine health and social care with our Church work in Lesotho. There is no health and social care in this area and people illegally cross to South Africa to try and get this. However, they have no access there either and so end up in a worse situation. Many get into trouble with the authorities for having no papers. Many end up with HIV living in the township around Clarens. So rather than this I am going to see if we can set up a clinic there. We will need favour with the King of Lesotho and the Health Department and we will need to work with the two nearest hospitals (30 kilometres in either direction). Pamela, my wife, is going to be working with the Hope Project. This works into the township to bring love, care and HIV support to the people there. Our daughter Chloe will go to school at Dihlabeng where the Church is and Matthew, our son, will hopefully get a place at pre-school.
I will write a further article for the next Newsletter in the Spring, or on my return to the Practice in early May 2009.’
Whilst he is away we are fortunate in that Dr Maggie Paterson will be working her full-time. Dr Paterson has worked here briefly before as a locum and until recently worked at Ashenfell Surgery, Baslow.
Please note that Dr Paterson does not see patients for emergency or other contraception or terminations, but Drs Lockhart, Isherwood and Love will of course continue to see patients regarding these matters.
We look forward to having Dr Paterson with us for the next six months and are sure you will find her an excellent addition to the team, albeit on a temporary basis.
Premises
At long last, after aborted applications and years of looking hard and long for a suitable site, we have completed our building project.
The Partners have invested very substantially in this project and are proud to be able to provide such superb facilities. All our patients have the opportunity to have a look at these at our Open Day (see below).
In brief, we have upgraded and updated our consulting rooms, have modern and built-for-purpose treatment rooms, a purpose built Dispensary with its own reception area and external door, a much larger and brighter waiting room, as well as a suite of admin offices, both for our own and our community staff, plus a meeting room for internal and external use.
There are many more parking spaces, mainly created by being a dedicated parking area for staff at the rear of the building, leaving the front car park free for our patients.
The building is designed for the long term; with the rapid pace of change in Primary Care and opportunities to continue to develop our services, such a building is essential, and we hope you agree demonstrates the partners absolute commitment to its patients.
Open Day
Following completion of our premises (see earlier article) we are to hold an Open Day with an official opening on Wednesday 12 November from 2.00pm to 8.00pm.
There will be an ‘official’ opening ceremony at 2.30pm performed by Mr Robert Ball, previously resident in The Hayes bungalow which has been a part of the building development at the rear of the Surgery, and Councillor Carol Walker, Mayor of Bakewell.
Other than this, there will simply be an opportunity to look around the building accompanied by either a member of staff or by a member of our Patient Participation Group who have helped to organise and run the event. A complimentary glass of Bucks Fizz or squash will be available for anyone calling in.
We will be delighted to welcome all our patients, friends or anyone who is simply interested in what has been going on during the last 12 months, and look forward to seeing you.
Are you surprised to know?
On average, women say 7,000 words a day and men just 2,000. In evolutionary terms, women chatted to form protective bonds with other women, so they would look out for each other’s children. But when men went hunting, short, sharp instructions were more useful.
Sunday Express 2006
Well that’s one explanation!
HPV Vaccination to protect against cervical cancer
This is a new vaccination to be given to girls aged 12-13 years old in school Year 8.
The programme consists of three vaccinations given at 0 months, 1 month and 6 months. We started this in September and had 100% uptake.
We are currently running a catch-up programme and are vaccinating 17-18 year olds. This catch-up programme will be on-going until all girls at school will have received the vaccine. This may take some time and will be controlled by the Government. If you have any queries, please contact Dr Love or Sara Land, Community Matron, at the Surgery (01629 816631)
Flu Vaccinations
If you have not already had your flu vaccination, and you are eligible to have one, please contact the Surgery to make an appointment.
Prescription Payment
Often patients or their representatives (family, friends, neighbours, etc) will call into the Surgery to collect prescriptions and say that they do not pay for their medications. Whilst there are reasons for exemptions from payment, please do not be offended if you are asked why you believe you should not pay for your prescriptions and/or asked to provide evidence of your exemption.
Opening Times
In case you are not aware, our Surgery Opening Times are:-
Monday 8 am – 8.30 pm )
Tuesday 8 am – 6.30 pm ) Appointments
Wednesday 8 am – 6.30 pm ) start at
Thursday 8 am – 6.30 pm ) 8.30 am
Friday 8 am – 6.30 pm )
We also provide one early morning surgery per week opening from 7 am, with appointments available from 7.30am. Each week the day of this surgery will vary, so if you would prefer an early morning appointment with a Doctor, please ask.
‘Did You Know?’ Campaign
You know what it’s like – you’re out and about, need to contact the Surgery and don’t have the number with you! Well, you may have noticed on your travels in and around Bakewell, some small yellow cards displayed on shop counters and in other public places. These cards give details about the Surgery and some of the services provided by us and are designed to be of a size suitable to be kept in pockets or handbags, so that patients have information at their fingertips. So why not pick up a card next time you see them in and around the Bakewell area, or indeed at the Surgery.
Phone Numbers
Increasingly we are finding it difficult to contact our patients by phone on their land-line numbers, and would therefore ask that if you do have a mobile phone you supply us with this number also please. However, with the ever increasing costs of our telephone bills, we would still prefer to contact you via a land-line number wherever possible
Many medications taken are on repeat prescription. This means that for a period of time prescriptions can be issued without the need to see a Doctor. However, at intervals the medication needs to be reviewed and this is shown at the end of the list of repeat drugs. If this date has been exceeded you may be asked to see the Doctor or Nurse before a prescription can be issued. Some people have been upset when they have ordered prescriptions to find that they are unable to get them without seeing a Doctor. This is a safety issue for you to ensure your medications are still appropriate etc. Our staff do try and contact people to warn them of this but are often unable to do so as we are unable to leave messages on answering machines due to confidentiality issues. Hand-written reminder notes are also attached to your repeat prescriptions if you are near to your review date.
MMR Catch-up Programme
There are global concerns that there could possibly be a Measles epidemic this winter. The Government are taking this seriously and are planning a ‘catch-up’ campaign to ensure all children under the age of 18 years have had two vaccinations.
In November we will be contacting any child who, from our records, has not had the required two vaccinations, offering them an appointment to have this done.
If you have any concerns regarding your child’s vaccinations, please do not hesitate to contact Morag Fanshaw, Health Visitor (01629 816633), or Sara Land, Community Matron (01629 816631), at the Surgery.
Wow !!!
Your heart will beat three billion times in your lifetime, pumping enough blood to fill 100 Olympic-sized swimming pools!
Christmas Raffle
We will once again be organising our traditional Christmas Raffle for a worthy local cause. This year we have decided to support the Bakewell Artability Group.
This group started out at the end of January 2008 at Hoyle Court, Bakewell and aims to give people with a disability or illness, or indeed carers, the opportunity to socialise and express themselves in a creative way, therefore re-gaining confidence and a sense of purpose in life. We hope to be displaying some of the work produced by the group within the Surgery in the near future. Further information available from Kath Wibberley, 01629 817883
Donations will of course be very gratefully received; both in the form of prize donations, and of course the purchase of tickets, which will be on sale very soon.
Cancer Research UK Race For Life
You may recall that several members of staff from the Surgery (including Dr Lockhart and Dr Love) took part in this event in May, and a good time was had by all once again. We were blessed with a good day and a good turn-out of spectators, not to mention the huge number of ladies all running, jogging and walking their way to raising money for Cancer Research. Everyone involved had their own reason for taking part, and whether participating for personal or more general reasons, the Surgery Team raised a combined amount of in excess of £1,000! Many, many thanks to everyone – family, friends, patients and visitors to the Surgery - who sponsored and supported us so generously once again in this event.
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