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Newbattle Admin
In NHS, Patient Information, Practice Updates, Uncategorised

Patient Notice

General Patient Notice:

Newbattle Medical Group, along with the vast majority of General Practices across Scotland is under immense pressure to sustain services to the community. As a result of the demand on all of our services , we are having to make adjustments to how we operate which may have an impact on how you currently use our service.

 

Why is this happening?

There are a number of financial pressures being placed on the practice meaning that there is less money to invest in frontline staff. In 22/23 and 23/24 Scottish Government decided that GP administrative staff were not to be uplifted in line with equivalent hospital staff. We protected our staff from this but this leads to a significant shortfall.  For the last two years of very high inflation our expenses uplift has been no where near the true cost of the rise in goods we must purchase (medical equipment, stationary etc). We have also been served with notice by NHS Lothian to meet the significant inflationary uplift to services they provide, such as building maintenance and cleaning.  This combination means we have far less money to support the community with frontline clinical and administrative staff. Worse still, for 24/25, NHS Lothian have been told by Scottish Government to cut their budget by 7%. This means the likelihood of any direct support for General Practice to assist us with these challenges is highly unlikely.

This financial backdrop is making an already difficult situation worse. Scotland has one of the most unwell populations in Europe along with a massive growth in the elderly population, meaning demand for healthcare is rocketing whilst the available workforce is dropping.

 

What will be changing?

Currently we provide eConsult to our patients 24/7. We are required to reduce this to 0600-1900 Monday to Friday. This will ease some of the pressure on our administrative team and allow us to concentrate our working hours within the standard working week. In the future, we may also be required to introduce a cap on the number of eConsults that we process each day. We will continue to operate a 24/7 service for repeat prescription requests.

 

What is the impact on me?

In the out of hours period we would encourage you to visit www.nhsinform.scot or call 111 rather than use eConsult. We remain committed to keep eConsult open either side of normal hours to help and support our working population. However, you may also experience eConsult not operating during a very busy day. If this is the case, if you cannot wait to complete an eConsult the following day, then please call the practice where we will assist on a needs first basis.

Please be assured, all our team will continue to strive to provide the best care and support to patients. Our administrative team will continue to help guide you and support you whenever looking for care. Please be supportive of them too; the rates of abuse to staff has risen and this will not be tolerated. To give you more of an idea on the pressures we face we would encourage you to read this article published very recently. Ben Shankland is a GP, but the rightwing press would tell you he’s an enemy of the people. Don’t listen | Polly Toynbee | The Guardian

 

Many thanks for understanding and patience throughout this difficult time.

Newbattle Medical Group

Newbattle Admin
In Important Post, NHS, Patient Information, Popular Posts, Practice Updates

IT Systems Scheduled Maintenance

Important Patient Notice

Please be aware that our IT systems will be receiving essential maintenance work on Thursday 3rd & Friday 4th August.

During that time, we will be unable to process prescriptions, or access patient medical records.If you do run out of a repeat prescription on the 3rd or 4th August, then your usual pharmacy can supply a small amount and should be contacted first.

We will be available on the 3rd & 4th August for emergency medical problems only. Please help by visiting www.nhsinform.scot or your local pharmacy first, and only contact us on those days if your problem cannot wait until Monday 7th August.

eConsult will be available as normal until Wednesday 2nd August at 17:00 and from Monday August 7th.

Thank you all for your support and understanding.

Newbattle Admin
In Danderhall Practice, Important Post, Patient Information, Popular Posts, Practice Updates

Danderhall Medical Practice – Update

Over the past 6 months, Newbattle Medical Group has been helping support Danderhall Medical Practice deliver GP services. We are delighted to announce that from 1st August Danderhall Medical Practice will formally become part of Newbattle Medical Group.

 

What does this mean to me?

Very little will change from how you currently use our service. However, if you are keen to see a particular GP, you may be offered a quicker appointment with that GP if they are based in Danderhall on a particular day. There will be no obligation for you to travel and if this is not possible you will be offered their next available appointment at Newbattle or Newtongrange. The additional support provided by the HSCP means we will be upgrading our phone system to make call handling faster, leading to shorter call waits. We will also see additional staff join the practice to provide more access to our patients. We

Newbattle Admin
In NHS, Patient Confidentiality, Patient Information, Website

NHS Digital Sharing (Opting Out)

NHS Digital Sharing (Opting Out)

We would like to reassure patients that the proposed extraction of GP data by NHS Digital does NOT include patients registered with this practice or in NHS Scotland. NHS Digital provides services in England so are not able to access any data held in Scotland, You are not required to opt out as your data is already safe. We take patients confidentiality extremely seriously and safeguards and in place to protect this, including when data is used for research.

Further information on how NHS Scotland handles your personal information is on the NHS inform Website and can be found here: 

Newbattle Admin
In Coronavirus, Important Post, NHS, Patient Information

NEW- Covid 19 Vaccinations

Covid-19 Vaccination Patient Roll-out.

(Updated 22/1/21)

We are delighted to have started our COVID19 Vaccination Clinics.
GPs have been asked to provide vaccines for those aged 80 and over, moving on to those aged 75 – 79 and then those who are shielding. This will take us up to mid-February to complete, subject to supply.
You can find out more about the priority groups by clicking here.
All other groups will be offered appointments via Health Board run services by letter.
The delivery of the vaccine is in small batches and we are not certain when these will arrive. As soon as we have supplies of vaccine our team will contact you to arrange an appointment.
There is no need for you to contact the practice as we will be in touch with those eligible.  If you have any questions about the COVID Vaccine, please visit NHS Inform by clicking here, or call the national helpline 0800 030 8013 which is open from 8am to 8pm, seven days a week.’
Newbattle Admin
In Flu, Patient Information

Pre-School Flu Vaccines

Pre-School Flu Vaccines

If your child is aged two to five years old and has not yet started school then you should book and appointment with the Childhood Immunisation Team. You can do so by telephoning 07766 922 751.

You can phone between 0am and 12 noon from the 16th September to the 27th November.

We are sorry but appointments cannot be booked at the practice.

 

Newbattle Admin
In Coronavirus, Important Post, NHS, Patient Information, Popular Posts

Latest Coronavirus Patient Info

Patients please note:
Please do not attend your GP surgery if you have any reason to suspect you may have been in contact with corona virus, or you have any cold or flu-like symptoms.

Important Links:

For the most recent and up to date information please see:

>> NHS Inform Website 
>> Stay At Home Guidance 
>> Protecting The Vulnerable 

IMPORTANT UPDATE AS AT 21/04/2021

Please do not contact your GP Practice to ask for a Covid vaccination passport or status certificate – they will not be able to provide any standard document. International certification standards have not yet been agreed.

The Scottish Government is working to support the re-opening of international travel once it is safe to do so. We are working with the other UK Nations and with the World Health Organisation to agree on potential future COVID certification requirements for international travel.

As part of this, a technical solution is being developed that could allow people to access their Covid vaccination status directly

LATEST UPDATE AS AT 17/03/2020

To all our patients, We need your help. Please share this info if you can.

Similar to what the supermarkets are saying, we have capacity to help everyone who needs us most, but only if everybody uses our service wisely. The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is placing unprecedented strain on the practice.

We are receiving several hundred more queries per day than normal in addition to managing with own staff absence. The answer to most of the queries we are getting can be found online and do not need medical advice. Please do not ask for sick notes. The government is urging employers and employees to have a flexible and common-sense approach to medical certification at this time. This will also help to reduce the pressure on GP services. Please, if you have a general enquiry about coronavirus, or need advice about whether you need to isolate your self or your family, please check the Government website or nhsinform for advice rather than contact us.

Only contact us if you are significantly worried about the symptoms you are suffering, mainly only if you are having difficulty breathing.

The main websites to use are:
https://www.nhsinform.scot/illnesses-and-conditions/infections-and-poisoning/coronavirus-covid-19

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-stay-at-home-guidance/stay-at-home-guidance-for-households-with-possible-coronavirus-covid-19-infection

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-on-social-distancing-and-for-vulnerable-people/guidance-on-social-distancing-for-everyone-in-the-uk-and-protecting-older-people-and-vulnerable-adults

We are working flat out to attend to all of those that do need our help.

Many thanks for your help and support throughout this difficult time.

Newbattle Admin
In Important Post, Patient Information, Practice Upgrades, Website

Our eConsult Service: Two Months On . . .

Some 2 months after we set up our new eConsult Service, we take a look at how it has been working for our patients and the practice as a whole.

Following feedback from patients regarding access issues to the telephone triage system we launched our new eConsult service. This allows people to request an administrative task or a GP review by the end of the next working day. Demand for the service has been high but we have managed to meet the target of answering all queries within the allotted time.

We are currently dealing with 60-100 requests per day with over 90% of patients satisfied with the service. It is likely that as the service gains more popularity we will need to dedicate more GP and administrative time towards supporting it.  We find it has been particularly helpful for our working population who can find it difficult to wait on the phone in the morning.

If you were unaware of the service or would simply like more information on it please visit our eConsult page here>>

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Newbattle Admin
In Patient Information, Phone System, Practice Updates

New Phone System Info

The Newbattle Medical Group Phone System

At the start of October the practice introduced a new phone system which makes patients aware as to where they are in the queue. This will to allow you to decide whether you wish to hold on or call back later when the lines may be quieter.

There are no other changes from the phone system we previously operated. This was made as the previous telephone system allowed only 4 calls to queue at any time and cut off any others waiting, meaning that patients constantly had to redial in order to book an appointment.  The waiting period to be answered was no different if anything it may have been longer as we are now able to see the number of patients waiting in the queue and increase the number of receptionists answering the calls to enable patient’s calls to be answered quicker.

Currently the practice answers an average 4 calls every minute at peak times, therefore if you were number 36 in the queue it would take approximately 9 minutes for your call to be answered.

The size of the queue is driven by patient demand on a daily basis.

Since the 3rd of October we have had the ability to see how many calls are coming through the practice.  During the period from 3rd October up to the 31st October (a three week period) a total of 11486 calls were answered by our reception.

In November a total number of 11430 calls were answered between the 1st and 30th of the month.

Newbattle Admin
In Patient Information, Popular Posts, Sexual Health

Female Sexual Health

Female Sexual Health

We offer a number of services at the practice relating to sexual health and contraception.

To discuss any method of contraception, please arrange a telephone appointment with one of our doctors . Before doing so, you may wish to look at some helpful information first to see what might be the best option for you.

NHS Lothian’s Sexual Health Website has a huge amount of relevant information

http://www.lothiansexualhealth.scot.nhs.uk/

IUD/IUS (Coil)

An intrauterine device is an excellent form of contraception.  If it is something you would like to discuss further then please make a telephone appointment with Dr Ansell, Dr Gaskell, Dr Glencross or Dr Morrison who can then arrange your fitting.

Vasectomy

If you are considering a vasectomy, this can be arranged directly through the Chalmers Centre.  Please call

0131 536 1512

Implant

This is another excellent form of contraception fitted in the practice.  If you would like to arrange a fitting then please arrange a telephone appointment with Dr Ansell, Dr Florence, Dr Gaskell, Dr Glencross, Dr Morrison or Dr Read.

Pregnancy / Abortion

If would like to continue with a pregnancy then you can now arrange an appointment directly with a midwife by calling NHS Lothian Maternity Services on 0131 536 2009.  Monday-Friday 0900-1645

To find out about care during pregnancy  www.readysteadybaby.org.uk.

Perhaps you did not intend to get pregnant or find yourself in a really difficult situation and wish to consider a termination of pregnancy.

You can call 0131 536 2454 to arrange an initial appointment at the Chalmers Centre.  Alternatively you can arrange a telephone appointment with one of our GPs to discuss the situation further.

STI testing

If you have had sex without a condom and would like STI screening, then this can usually be arranged at the practice.  Please arrange an appointment to discuss this with any of our GPs.

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