Surgery Extension.
During the Summer of 2009 we received a grant to extend the surgery with 2 new training consulting rooms. Work started in May this year and progress is commencing well. It is a feature of any building work that there will be a degree of noise and eventually disruption to normal service. The project will last during the summer, with a completion date of August - September.
We appoligise if you are inconvienced in any way and do let me know if I can be of any assistance.
Update on the Duty Team
In February 2009 we embarked on an enhanced appointment booking service, developed with the aim of improving your access to our doctors and nurses. This was carried out by setting up a dedicated team (The Duty Team) to deal with patients requesting appointments within 24/48 hours.
The pilot service ran for 3 months and additional resources were available to help the system run smoothly. After 3 months we reviewed progress and felt that, although we had been extremely busy during the pilot stage, we had met many of our targets, with patients receiving advice and appointments within the hour.
The success of the system has been our downfall. Some days, particularly Monday, the workload increased 3 fold and the Duty Team found it difficult to meet the demand. The results of a patient questionnaire (distributed to the patients called and seen over a weeklong period) showed that although the majority found the system excellent, for a few it did not work. Staff also found the volume of work very stressful, spending hours telephoning patients.
So, where do we go from here? We are committed to offering our patients the best possible service we can:
· Help and advice must be available each day with reception staff able to point
you in the right direction;
· Appointments will be available each day with a Doctor or Nurse Practitioner;
· You must be able to pre-book appointments up to 2 weeks ahead.
Over the next few months we hope to continue to improve access to our services and will keep you informed of progress.
Your Comments and Suggestions
It has been a year now since we refurbished the waiting rooms and the redecoration has been received very positively with comments such as “light and airy”, and “very relaxing”.
The lack of television has displeased some patients, but the majority have been shown to prefer light music and the relaxing atmosphere. We try to also mix the style of music and not have the radio on too often.
Some of you have also commented on the lack of flowers in the waiting room. I’m sorry but the recession has now hit the surgery! Donations of flowers from your garden are always appreciated.
We have had comments about the loss of the children’s play house. We have now introduced another activity toy for children, plus an extensive range of children’s books. In considering the style of toy required, great thought went into the choice of toy, as any toy had to be safe and easily cleaned.
A comment has been made about the cleanliness of the patient check-in touch screen, and a comparison with a hospital. The screen is wiped regularly, and we have provided a bottle of antibacterial hand gel for you to use after checking in. If you feel it is not suitable for you then please check in with the receptionist.
The patients’ car park has proved to be one topic for comments - this includes several occasions when staff, and I, have had to remove some very unpleasant items of rubbish from the car park. A periodic check of the car park is now carried out by the receptionists. During the winter months we had a problem with the drainage of the car park. This should now have been solved. We are currently also looking at marking out a slot for disabled patients, so more improvements are planned for the future.