Patient Newletter
Winter 2011
Fallodon Way Medical Centre
aspires to be a professional, friendly
organisation dedicated to providing high quality
personalised medical care to all members of the
practice community
Message from the Practice Manager
With the winter months upon us the importance
of keeping well during this time is as essential
as ever. Please see details across the page on
how to keep well and keep warm this winter.
Patients over 65 or in a clinical at risk
category can have a free flu vaccination. If you
have not had your vaccination and are not booked
into one of the last sessions in November please
book today.
We are looking forward to an exciting new
phase for Fallodon Way Medical Centre by
becoming a training practice. Our new F2 doctor
(junior doctor), Dr Karen Grewal will be with us
from the 7th December and she will be seeing
patients in slightly longer appointments. She
will be mentored by Dr Smith and Dr Callow
during her 4 months with us. Our second F2, Dr
Daniel Towie will be joining us on the 6th
April.
Many thanks to those patients in the Patient
Participation Group who kindly completed the
patient satisfaction survey. Results will be
shared with everyone early in the new year. If
you would like to become a member of the group
to help with surveys etc please ask at reception
for a sign up sheet. Most correspondence is sent
via email however good old Royal Mail can be
used where necessary.
If you have any comments, suggestions or
ideas for the practice please feel free to
contact me (Debbie Cook – 0117 9624692 or email
fwmc.feedback@nhs.net )
Mobile Telephone Numbers
We are hoping to increase the number of
patient’s mobile phone numbers we have on our
system. Sending out text reminders for
appointment has reduced the number of missed
appointments and we can also use the text alerts
to send out health check reminders and much
more. Please give your current mobile number to
our receptionist and keep us informed if you
change your number.
RSVP
A special thank you to all the volunteer
drivers who do such a great job getting our less
mobile patients to and from their surgery
appointments. It is very much appreciated by the
patients and the surgery. If you own a car and
would be interested in becoming a volunteer
driver please contact Janet Drew on 0117
3735681. Please note we don’t expect you to use
your own fuel and mileage usage should be
monitored in order to claim back the cost of
fuel.
Keep well. Keep warm.
Top five tips for keeping warm and well this
winter:-
- Heat your home well
- Get financial support – There are
grants, benefits and sources of advice
available.
- Eat Well – Food helps to keep your body
warm. Try to make sure you have hot meals
and drinks regularly
- Get a flu jab – Free to over 65s and
those in the “At Risk” groups
- Look after yourself and others – wrap up
warm if you go outside and look out for
older neighbours or relatives
For more information go to the Department of
Health website
www.dh.gov.uk and search under keep well
keep warm.
New computer system
We have plans to upgrade our current clinical
system which is used to record patient data, for
booking appointments and to record information
either from a face to face consultation or from
outside the surgery.
The change will bring us up to date with the
latest technology and will help to continue to
support us in giving you the best possible care.
There will of course be a period of
adjustment and staff will need time to learn the
new system. We hope that this will cause little
disruption to services however if there are any
problems as a result please be patient with us
during this time.
Hearing Aid batteries
A number of our patients have asked if we
could stock hearing aid batteries to reduce the
need to go to Southmead Hospital to collect
them.
The good news is that we now hold stock of
the most popular hearing aid batteries and they
can be collected at the reception desk. We will
ask for some information so that we can keep
records which will help to identify the most
popular ones and to allow us to keep adequate
levels in stock.
Thank you for your comments and suggestions –
without them we can not develop new ways to help
improve our service and the patient experience
Spotlight on the Nursing Team
We have a well established and very experienced
Nursing Team. The team consists of three
Practice Nurses who run busy and well equipped
treatment rooms. They carry out a wide variety
of procedures as well as offering chronic
disease management appointments to help patients
control their illness/disease.
In addition we have two Health Care
Assistants/Phlebotomists who carry out a range
of procedures.
The team:-
- Sister Sue Sanders – Practice Nurse
- Sister Sue Essex – Practice Nurse
- Sister Shirley Chant – Practice Nurse
- Claire Britton – HCA/Phlebotomist
- Karen Thorne – HCA/Phlebotomist
In order to book you with the most appropriate
member of the team the receptionist will need to
ask the reason for the appointment. This will
also help to allocate the correct amount of time
needed for your appointment.
Please note that the Nursing Team make every
effort to run to time however there will be
occasions where you may be kept waiting to be
seen. There are times that the doctors ask for
urgent procedures to be carried out which will
often result in disruption to the planned
session. The Nursing Team carry out a wide
variety of procedures and will ensure that each
patient is given the time they require to
address their individual needs.
Practice Website
The Practice website
www.fwmc.org.uk
contains a great deal of information including
“Breaking News” section for the latest news and
information.
Charity Cycle Ride
In September, Dr Smith cycled from London to
Paris, on a charity cycle ride. He was raising
funds for a new hospital that has been set up in
Zanzibar, by doctors from the South West. More
information on the charity can be found at
www.makunduchiproject.com . The staff at
Fallodon Way were keen to support Dr Smith and
helped meet the target of raising £1500 for the
project.
Newsletter Winter 2011 V1 correct at time of
publication October 2011
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