Tottington Medical Practice                                                                                                                                                    

 

   16 Market Street, Tottington, Bury, Lancashire, BL8 4AD                                              Practice Opening Times

   Tel 01204 88 5106   Repeat Prescription Line 0120488 8785                                          Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm

   www.tottingtonmp.nhs.uk                                                                  The telephone line is closed from 12.30 to 1.15pm each day

 

   SPRING 2010 NEWSLETTER

Text Box: A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A RECEPTIONIST Patients sometimes get frustrated because they ring the bell at reception but it may take the receptionist a while to come out – we wanted to make you aware of what goes on behind that frosted glass! We have a team of 8 experienced receptionists; there are 4 working at any one time. The following is only part of their daily duties:- • Answering incoming calls estimated at around 500 calls per day! • Arranging patient printouts for home bound patients who need to be visited. • Trim and tag – this is the sorting of the paper records into a more manageable form. • Stock monitoring and ordering – includes vaccines, clinical equipment, office stock. • Sorting out actions that have been put on blood results or hospital letters. • Contacting the hospital secretaries to chase letters and appointments. • Specific invitations for targeted clinics – asthma, diabetes etc. • Housekeeping in the office, kitchen, doctors and nurses rooms. • Prescription enquiries to and from the chemist and patients. • Auditing appointments daily to ensure the correct balance. • Summarising paper records in the practice onto computer. • Daily trip to the post office for sending letters. • Putting data entry on the computer for home visits. • Dealing with any front desk enquiries. • Dealing with GP and nurse queries. • Chaperoning. • Keeping the wipe boards up to date daily. • Brewing up for the doctors in the afternoon! Receptionists can sometimes be perceived as an obstruction but please remember they are only trying to ensure you are seen by the correct health professional. So if you do ring the bell and the receptionist takes time to answer, please be patient as they will be with you as fast as they possibly can.
 

 

 

 


       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Text Box: APPOINTMENTS NOT ATTENDED BY PATIENTS - January 2010 Doctors – 81 (13 hrs 30mins) Nurses – 199 (43hrs 55mins) This is a huge amount of appointment time that has been lost and obviously impacts on every patient’s ability to get a slot. If you are unable to attend an appointment please let us know then it can be given to someone else. Thank you.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Text Box: Health issues that may interest you. Chlamydia Screening – A national campaign for all 16 – 25 year olds. Chlamydia is a sexually transmitted infection that is very easy to treat. It may cause you no symptoms but can have serious implications. To find out if you have it just give us a urine sample. Pots are available at the reception desk. Swine Flu vaccination is being offered to any one with long term health needs such as asthma, diabetes, stroke and heart disease – it is also open to all children aged 6 months to 5 years and also pregnant women. Please book in if you would like one, or let us know if you prefer us to take your name off the list. HPV Vaccine for girls aged 13-19 This vaccine protects against the virus that causes cervical abnormalities and in turn cervical cancer. If you have not been given this at school and would like to know more please feel free to ask. Free Condoms We are part of a condom distribution scheme where any one under 20 can sign up to get free condoms on request. Please ask us if you are interested.
Text Box: The practice encourages training for all members of staff and therefore the surgery closes on the second Thursday in every month Closed for Training 8th April 10 13th May 10 10th June 10 8th July 10 12.30-4PM
Text Box: Patient Access Survey. The Department of Health sends a small percentage of our patients a survey each quarter. The purpose of the survey is to assess our Patients’ satisfaction with access to a health professional when acutely ill and to be able to make an appointment beyond 48 hours. The Practice was very disappointed with the results and low response of the survey last year. A working group has been actively working to improve the appointment system for some time and will continue to monitor our overall availability for patients; we hope you have noticed an improvement. As a consequence of last years results a significant amount of practice resources, highlighted for use in expanding the workforce was lost. If you receive a questionnaire, please take the time to complete it as the better the response the more representative are the results. Thank you.
Text Box: NEED MEDICAL HELP OUTSIDE NORMAL SURGERY TIMES NHS Direct 0845 46 47 BARDOC 0161 763 4242
Text Box: Prescriptions. Did you know that most pharmacies offer a repeat prescription service? You can nominate a pharmacy to collect your prescriptions from us and they will prepare it ready for you to collect from them. Your pharmacy will be able to advise you if they offer this service and if required most will also offer a delivery service straight to your door. Batch Prescribing. You may not even need to ask for a repeat prescription. Electronic prescriptions can be passed directly to your nominated pharmacy for dispensing and the pharmacy can hold a number of month’s prescriptions in readiness for your needs. You may be eligible for this service if your prescription has remained unchanged for some time. Please ask.