Notice Board

We are proud to have been chosen as one of the first practices in the UK to introduce the Electronic Prescription Service. As you may be aware, Dr Kaye has been involved in its development and we will therefore have the benefit of his knowledge about the service when we introduce it at Davyhulme Medical Centre. This new service lets your GP send your prescription electronically to the place you choose to get your medication from – without the need for paper in some cases.

To begin with, we will offer the service to patients who currently collect their prescriptions from the Lloyds Pharmacy next to the surgery. This is because when we first start using the system we need to send prescriptions to just one pharmacy so that we can check everything is working correctly. In addition, to check everything thoroughly, it has to be a pharmacy that receives a relatively large proportion of our prescriptions and one that has the software and systems in place to implement the service. The Lloyds Pharmacy next to the surgery currently meets these criteria but in the future we will be able to send electronic prescriptions to all pharmacies.

If you usually go to another Pharmacy then you can continue to obtain your prescriptions from that pharmacy in the usual way until we are able to implement the service with that Pharmacy.

If you usually obtain your prescriptions from the Lloyds Pharmacy next to the surgery, and you wish to use the Electronic Prescription Service, you will need to ‘nominate’ Lloyds to receive your electronic prescription. Once you have nominated Lloyds, all your prescriptions will be sent to them electronically. However, nomination is very flexible and can be changed to a different Pharmacy (once other Pharmacies introduce the system), or cancelled at any time.

If you wish to nominate the Lloyds Pharmacy next to the surgery, please complete their ‘nomination form’ obtainable from their pharmacy. Their staff can then explain how the system will work.

When will the Electronic Prescription Service Start?

We hope to start sending electronic prescriptions by late January 2010. However, you can give your completed nomination form to the Pharmacy now, ready for any prescriptions you request in January. If you have any questions about the Electronic Prescription Service please speak to a member of staff in the Lloyds Pharmacy next to the surgery.

Alternatively, we will be holding an information session in our surgery reception area Wednesday 13^th January between 12.30 and 2.30pm, where we will be happy to answer any questions you may have, or take a look at the website below:

We continue to strive to provide you with excellent health care that is easily accessible, therefore, we are delighted to inform you that we now have a Blood Pressure Self Check Service located within the main waiting room at the surgery.

All adults can use this service and we especially encourage those who have previously been advised that their blood pressure is raised to do so.

Anyone with diagnosed raised blood pressure or who has been found to have or to be at risk of developing any related conditions (heart problems, stroke, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, no “disease” but at increased risk due to smoking/cholesterol etc) the machine will not replace your annual chronic disease health check (for which you should still receive a recall letter), but we encourage you to use the machine for BP check at 6months. Rather than needing to book and wait to see the health care Assistant you can simply drop in to use the Self Check BP Service which will save you time and ensure we have more appointments available.

Please also use the Self check BP Machine whilst waiting for any GP/Nurse appointments (you can take the result in to the appointment with you).

The reasons we place so much emphasis on detecting raised blood pressure and ensuring it is closely monitored are explained below – research evidence strongly supports the detection, treatment and close monitoring of raised blood pressure as a crucial means of reducing risk of serious and potentially life-threatening events.

High blood pressure usually causes no symptoms yet, over the years, may damage your arteries and put a strain on your heart. Having high blood pressure is on of the “risk factors” that can increase your risk of developing stroke, heart disease and other serious health problems.

Remember -- No appointment is necessary – please use the machine whilst waiting to see GP/Nurse or to monitor your blood pressure if you have been advised to do so. Full explanatory notes for the use of the machine and what actions will be required depending on the reading are availablewith the machine.

We are pleased to announce that from August 2009, we will be starting to train doctors to become GPs. This has been a longstanding aim of the practice for several years but due to the constraints of space and limited room availability at Canterbury Road Surgery we were unable to take this forward. Now we have moved into our new premises we are in a position to take this forward. Dr Chris Tower and Dr Kamani Wijeyesekera have attended a trainers course in order to prepare for this and we are pleased to be able to welcome Dr Balveer Manku who will be joining us in August.

Dr Manku has already completed three years of postgraduate hospital training and will be with us for 6 months in order to gain experience in a General Practice setting. During her time here Dr Manku will be required to video some of her consultations for education purposes and will obtain consent from you in order to do this. This is entirely voluntary and you are free to decline this if you prefer not to have this done. We all hope that Dr Manku will enjoy her time here at Davyhulme Medical Centre and that you will join us in making her feel welcome.

OUT OF HOURS SERVICES - MASTERCALL

The method of accessing the Out of Hours Services is by telephoning our surgery on 0161 748 5559 or by contacting Mastercall direct on 0161 476 2299.

If you require health information or advice, NHS Direct, a 24 hour nurse led advice line is available on 0845 4647

Patients requiring a doctor when the Surgery is closed should ring the Surgery on 0161 748 5559 or by contacting
MASTERCALL on 0161 476 2299 (all calls are recorded). Patients who use Minicoms should contact MASTERCALL via Type Talk - 0071 - prefix.

TO ORDER A PRESCRIPTION PLEASE USE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING METHODS

1. ONLINE at www.davyhulmemedicalcentre.co.uk
2. Hand your request to a local pharmacy of your choice
3. By fax to 0161 747 1997
4. By post to the surgery
5. Hand your request to a receptionist at the surgery

Please allow 48 hours for collection from the surgery and 72 hours for your request to be processed before collecting your medication from your chosen pharmacy.

We do not of course take requests for repeat prescriptions on the normal surgery phone lines.

PLEASE NOTE

REQUESTS FOR APPOINTMENTS AND THE CANCELLATION OF APPOINTMENTS CANNOT BE TAKEN VIA EMAIL PLEASE EITHER PHONE 0844 499 0845 OR CALL IN THE SURGERY TO ARRANGE ANY APPOINTMENTS.

PLEASE DO NOT EMAIL THE SURGERY WITH ANY CLINICAL QUESTIONS AS THE GPs ARE NOT ALWAYS AVAILABLE TO READ AND ACTION THEIR EMAILS ON A DAILY BASIS. FOR ANY QUERIES REGARDING YOUR TREATMENT, PLEASE SPEAK TO ONE OF OUR RECEPTIONISTS ON 0844 499 0845

**GO ON LINE TO NHS DIRECT**
THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE
FOR 24 HOUR LED TELEPHONE HELPLINE FOR PATIENTS

www.nhsdirect.co.uk this give patients information about health problems

**WE HAVE A NEW EMAIL ADDRESS**

davyhulmemedicalcentre@nhs.net

TEXT PHONE AT THE SURGERY
We are pleased to inform patients with hearing difficulties that we have installed a Text Phone on number 0161 747 7742

SMOKING CESSATION ADVICE
THE SURGERY OFFERS SMOKING CESSATION ADVICE AND HELP FOR PATIENTS WHO WANT TO STOP SMOKING MAKE AN APPOINTMENT TO SEE THE GP OR PRACTICE NURSE AND TAKE THAT FIRST STEP TO A HEALTHIER LIFESTYLE

********WEBSITE FOR PATIENTS*********
Patients can access helpful information and print self-help leaflets by visiting www.prodigy.nhs.uk