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We wish you a very good and happy New Year… to celebrate another year of providing health care (to now over 10000 people in Hove and Brighton) we send you this Newsletter to bring you up to date with various changes that have been implemented in our practice which aim both to improve the service available to you and also the comfort/ambience of our premises. We hope that this is helpful. MAKING IT EASIER FOR YOU IN 2007 Primarily we would like to advise all patients that Goodwood Court Medical Centre is now open between 8am and 8pm Monday to Thursday (to 6.30pm on Fridays) and appointments are available throughout that period with different practitioners1. For those who cannot attend during those times, Dr Higson can make special arrangements up to 9pm on weekdays and at weekends (this needs to be arranged in advance and may not apply to every day/weekend ). We have responded to your needs by this extended opening.
CHOICE OF REFERRAL SITE Patients who have needed referral to hospital specialists on the NHS over the last year have been enthusiastic about being able to agree their choice of hospital and appointment time with their GP at the time a referral is made… this saves everyone a lot of concern about when the appointment will be and allows diaries to be planned in advance. This has been welcomed by the Doctors at our medical centres and while it takes a couple of extra minutes to each appointment we believe that patients benefit from this new process which Dr Higson has been promoting nationally with the Department of Health. You are now offered CHOICE of referral hospital CHOICE of date CHOICE of time and the facility to change or alter this by telephone or internet
THE IMPORTANCE OF REGULAR CHECKS While we make the obtaining of repeat prescriptions as easy as possible – any request received by 8pm is ready by 8am the following morning Monday to Friday- by request slip, by post or by internet (www.goodwoodcourt.org) – this sometimes makes it easy for patients to believe that we do not need to see them to monitor their medical condition. It is imperative that patients on medications are monitored on a regular basis – some conditions can change with time and also medicines often have side effects. Changes in Medical Science also suggest different ways of treating illnesses and seeing you gives us chance to review the whole situation. Although we try and call patients in for various checkups, some of the work does need to come from you… hence if you take regular medication for ANY condition, please make sure that you come at least once a year to have a review of your care. For patients with high blood pressure, attendance every four months is advisable. Some medicines also require us to undertake blood tests to check that the medicine is not harming the body… please ask the receptionist when you make an appointment whether you should have a blood test first before seeing the doctor. HOW WE LET YOU BOOK IN ADVANCE Overhearing telephone conversations between patients trying to make an appointment and our receptionists trying to find a time to suit is an interesting experience to say the least! Despite our long hours of opening and flexibility about which practitioners patients can see, there is never the means to suit everyone. I thought it might help if I explained the process by which we allocate appointments. Our appointment software system allows us to prevent certain appointments being pre-booked by variable amounts of time. This allows patients to have appointments which are “not embargoed” up to a month ahead (provided the practitioner has remembered to “open” his book – we sometimes forget) while still retaining appointments that open the day or day before the appointment slot. Friday afternoons are a particular problem as Dr Higson is usually the only practitioner undertaking surgery at that time – we try and retain these appointments for patients who develop illness on that day to allow them to be seen before the weekend. If it looks as if there is going to be a shortage of appointments on any day, then the Doctors and Nurses will either extend their surgeries or fit extra slots into their surgery hours to accommodate need. Thus it is sometimes necessary for our staff to advise patients that it will be a “short appointment” rather than the normal 10 minutes or more. It will help if you are able to be flexible about which doctor or nurse you are prepared to see unless it is a longstanding problem which one practitioner has been helping you with. This allows our staff to fit you into the earliest available slot. With the introduction of internet booking – you will be able to manage this yourself if you have access. We try to be flexible – we don’t restrict specific conditions to specific clinic times apart from patients who require travel vaccinations which are now seen at the end of evening surgery rather than take-up appointments during normal surgery hours increasing access for other patients.
CHECKING IN AND MAKING APPOINTMENTS We have noticed that sometimes queues develop at our “Check-in” desk at Goodwood Court Medical Centre. Regrettably we are unable to change the Reception area owing to pillars holding up the block of flats! However to make life easier for patients we are installing a “TOUCH SCREEN” automated check-in service in the waiting room for patients who wish to use it. This is simple to use and automatically informs us that you have arrived. However, if you prefer to speak with a receptionist – they will still be there to help!
We also hope – subject to software development – to offer Internet access for patients to make or cancel appointments through our website. Once again increasing your convenience and access to our system 24 hours a day!
REGISTRATION POLICIES AND PRACTICE AREA If you are moving accommodation within the town, you will usually be able to remain with the practice provided that your new address (or a “care-of” address) remains in BN3 or parts of BN1 or BN41. We are unable to care for patients who move to BN2 or other postcode areas owing to the time it takes to travel to those areas. Please ask for advice Our list size is currently at a high level and this means that we are trying to find means of limiting new registrations. Although we will take on family members we cannot always guarantee that we will be able to take on everyone who wishes to register with our popular practice.
Just to say… if you would like to be screened for any disease, particularly diabetes or high blood pressure, or you would like your height and weight checked…. Or you want to give up smoking JUST BOOK IN to our Health Care Assistant who would be pleased to help in any way. And finally Just to remind you we offer ¨ Office opening 8am to 8pm (6.30 Friday) ¨ Appointments available throughout the day to 8pm(6.30 Friday) and weekends (by prior arrangement only) ¨ Choice of referral hospital ¨ Choice of appointment time, date & place for hospital appointment at the time of referral by your GP ¨ Self-check in at Reception coming soon ¨ Forthcoming internet access to make your own appointments ¨ Travel vaccination appointments in the evenings ¨ Male and Female Medical Staff ¨ Air conditioned premises fully accessible by disabled
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Send mail to
nigel.higson@nhs.net with
questions or comments about this web site.
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