September 2011.

PATIENT GROUP NEWS

Dear Patients,

Sadly for us I have to inform you that Dr Peter Thomson will be leaving the practice after 21 years. We will be holding a "farewell" session for anyone wishing to come along and wish him well on Thursday 13th October at 1.30pm. Please do not book an appointment just to say goodbye as this will deprive someone who needs it medically. We will provide light refreshments and look forward to seeing you.

Dr Jonathan Christopher will be joining the practice on 26th October 2011.

From 2nd November 2011 we will no longer close at all on Wednesday afternoons and the phones will remain open all day. We hope this change will give patients a better service and more flexibility when booking appointments. The website will be updated shortly with details of which days the clinicians will be working however in the meantime there will be notices in the surgery to advise you.

If you are interested in joining the patient group - either virtually or in person please email greyswoodpatientforum@nhs.net and I will reply with details of meeting dates and what is involved.

All patients - even if you do not want to join the group we are still interested in your views. We are planning to run a patient survey during October or November and would like to know what sort of questions you think we should be asking. Are there any services you think we could provide? Are there any clinics/services from Secondary Care you would like to have provided in the practice - please be realistic. Do you have any questions on procedures/appointments/staff - clinical and non-clinical - that you think should be included? We would like to keep the survey as concise as possible but also reflect your views. All suggestions to the above email address please. Thank you - Bev Atkins Practice Manager. NB this email address is only for patient group business or your views on the survey. All other queries should be processed in the usual way. The inbox is only checked weekly so please do not send any urgent queries to this address. Thank you.

BREAKING NEWS

• Dr Scott is now on maternity leave - Dr Louise Millington will be her locum until she returns.
• if you prefer to request your repeat prescription by fax please use - 020 8696 5569 - as the fax number

 Can we please ask that all patients inform us of new landline/mobile numbers. Also if you have email then we can record this too.

OUR EXTENDED HOURS ARE NOW AVAILABLE ON MONDAY  & WEDNESDAY FROM 6.30-8.30p.m.; AND ON  SATURDAY MORNINGs FROM 8.30-11.30a.m.. ALL OF THESE APPOINTMENTS ARE PRE-BOOKABLE AND ARE AVAILABLE ON OUR WEBLINK UP TO TWO WEEKS IN ADVANCE AND BY PHONE UP TO 48 HOURS IN ADVANCE. TO REGISTER TO BE ABLE TO ACCESS THIS SERVICE ONLINE PLEASE CONTACT RECEPTION. YOU WILL NEED TO COME TO THE PRACTICE WITH PHOTO ID IN ORDER TO GET YOUR REGISTRATION DOCUMENTS.  DURING THESE EXTENDED HOURS SURGERY OUR PHONES WILL REMAIN CLOSED AND ONLY PATIENTS WITH AN APPOINTMENT CAN GAIN ACCESS TO THE BUILDING. PLEASE DO NOT COME TO THE SURGERY FOR ANYTHING ELSE AS YOU WILL NOT BE GIVEN ACCESS.

IF YOU HAVE AN URGENT MEDICAL PROBELM PLEASE CONTINUE TO RING OUR OUT OF HOURS PROVIDER HARMONI - 0845 602 6292

WE WILL ALSO NOW OPEN ON WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON 4.30-6.30p.m. FOR PRESCRIPTION COLLECTION AND BOOKING AT THE DESK. SOME PATIENTS WHO RING IN THE MORNING FOR AN ON THE DAY APPOINTMENT MAY BE ASKED TO COME DURING THIS PERIOD. ONLY THOSE PATIENTS WITH A BOOKED APPOINTMENT WILL BE SEEN.THE SURGERY PHONES WILL AGAIN BE CLOSED AND ANYONE WITH AN URGENT MEDICAL EMERGENCY MUST RING THE OUT OF HOURS PROVIDER - 0845 602 6292

  Doctors evening/afternoon appointments are booked one week in advance
Please note we do not book appointments at reception until after 9a.m.


You can now order your prescriptions on-line - follow the simple instructions. We will not reply to the email but in the event of a query we will contact you by telephone if necessary so please enter your contact number where requested.