C ombs F ord S urgery

1. Combs Ford Surgery Patient Information Screen June 2016

2. SuffolkInfoLink

3. Haughley Voluntary Service • This is a service to help people of all ages who live in the Haughley area who have no other means of getting to their hospital, medical centre or dental appointments. • Telephone 07594 674009 • Office hours Monday to Friday • 10am -12noon

4. Sexual Health Service The sexual health service is moving out of Blomfield House Health Clinic. Find us at: Abbey View Clinic 9/10 Churchyard Bury St Edmunds Suffolk IP33 1RX There is limited car parking, accessible through the Premier Inn car park. You can also park in the Premier Inn car park - £3 a day.

5. Appointments How we book our appointments: • We have on the day appointments • We have appointments available 1 or 2 days in advance • We also book appointments in days or weeks in advance • We also release our appointments for online booking, Please visit www.combsfordsurgery.org.uk and follow links to book appointment (You will need to register for an online login and password)

6. Checking In Screen If checking in, please use the checking in touch screen. It asks 3 questions: • Month of birth • Day of birth – please select the actual date, not two separate numerals • First letter of your surname This will help to eliminate queues and get you checked in quicker.

7. Punctuality We ask if you could make sure that you are on time for your appointments. If you arrive too late, the clinician may not be able to see you. Late arrival has a knock on effect and will cause the surgery to run behind for the rest of the day.

8. Lost Hours We have recently had a rise in patients not attending appointments. In the past three months, this is how many appointments were missed and how many hours were lost: February = 146 appointments = over 40 hours March = 171 appointments = over 46 hours April = 118 appointments = over 26 hours This is a total of 435 appointments missed in 3 months. A total of 112 hours of appointments lost in 3 months. If you are unable to attend an appointment, please let reception know as soon as possible, so we can then offer the appointment to another patient.

9. Dispensary Dispensary opening hours: 08:00-18:30 We are able to take phone calls between the hours of: 10:30-12:00 and 14:30-16:00 We ask patients to allow 3-4 days for prescriptions to arrive before medication is collected

10. Do You Take It?? Medication – do you take it? Unused prescription medicines cost you and your local NHS £2.4 million every year.

11. Do You Take It?? This money could have purchased: • 2400 more drug treatment courses for Alzheimer's • 648 more hip replacements • 158 more drug treatment courses for breast cancer • 93 more community nurses

12. Help Reduce NHS Waste Do you take it? Only tick it if you need it

13. New Prescription Charges As from the 1st April 2016 the new prescription charge will be £8.40 per item For those needing 4 or more items in three months or 13 or more items in one year it will be more cost effective for you to have a pre-payment certificate. • £29.10 – 3 Months • £104.00 – 12 Months PLEASE ASK DISPENSARY FOR DETAILS The prescription charge is a contribution to the NHS. It is NOT a payment to the Practice. It bears no relationship to the cost of the item.

14. Restricted Medication The Ipswich and East Suffolk CCG are restricting certain medications from being prescribed as they are available to buy on the high street. These include: • Paracetamol • Hay fever tablets • Emollient preparation creams

15. Additional GP Appointments – NHS GP+ Service: weekends, evenings and bank holidays

16. Suffolk GP + This is an NHS service for- • People with a routine need to see a local doctor • People who find it difficult to attend weekday appointments

17. Suffolk GP + Appointments made via the practice, NHS 111 or out of hours service Ipswich GP+ Bury GP+ Riverside Clinic Northgate St Landseer Road Bury St Edmunds IP3 0AZ IP33 1AE

18. Self Help Leaflets Leaflets are available to help you manage a variety of minor problems such as: • Coughs and colds • Indigestion • Constipation • Athlete's foot & fungal nail infections • Vaginal Thrush • Head lice and threadworms

19. Feedback As a surgery we are always trying to improve our services. We have 2 feedback forms near the reception area and on the tables in the waiting room. We would appreciate it if you are able to take the time to fill these in. We would also like to upload these to our website and NHS choices. Thank you for your time.

20. Smoking Cessation Want help quitting but don’t know where to turn? Please speak to reception and they can give you information about our smoking cessation clinic, or visit www.NHS.uk to find other smoking cessation services available.

21. Consent Informed, implied or express consent will be obtained before any procedure or examination is carried out. • An explanation will be given to the patient sufficient to understand the procedure. • Should the procedure carry a risk that the patient is likely to consider as being substantial, express consent (written or verbal) will be obtained. • Copies of the consent policy are available on request.

22. Care Quality Commission GPs can now expect to receive an inspection from the CQC every 2 years The inspectors will give 2 weeks notice and will focus on standard areas Their role is to make sure that the care provided meets national standards of quality and safety

23. Care Quality Commission How do they do this? • Ask people about their experiences of receiving care in the Practice • Talk to Practice staff • Check that the correct systems and processes are in place • Look for evidence that care is meeting national standards

24. Care Quality Commission • Patients will be advised when an inspection is taking place • The Partners would encourage you to speak to the inspectors about your experiences • Following an inspection, a report is published on the CQC website. • For more information go to www.cqc.org.uk

25. Outside Normal Working Hours Evenings and weekends For urgent advice and treatment Call the usual surgery number and you will be given the number to use – 111

26. Training, Education and Development We have training afternoons booked on: Wednesday 22nd June Thursday 14th July This means the surgery will be closed between 13:00 and 18:30. We will however be open for extended hours from 18:30-19:45 on Wednesday 22nd June

27. Online Blood Test Booking You can now book your next blood appointment online for the following: • West Suffolk Hospital and • Sudbury Health Centre If you are unable to book online please call 0333 103 2220  Call Centre bookings available from 8am to 8pm Mon to Fri.  Walk In patient access remains available too.

28. Self Referral Service For Physiotherapy • Online and telephone access Contact them on 01473 770066, or visit www.ahpsuffolk.co.uk/referral • NHS funded • Initial contact within 1 week • Treatment is given according to individuals needs • Contact us directly or via your GP

29. Telephone Extensions When telephoning the surgery, please listen carefully to select the correct extension number: • Automated system to book or check an appointment • Reception • Secretaries • Dispensary • Accounts/Medical reports 9. Emergency line

30. Telephone Appointments If you have a telephone appointment, please be aware that when the GP/Nurse Practitioner calls you, it will be from a withheld number.

31. Contact Details It is important that we have the correct, up to date contact details for you, in case you request a telephone consultation. Also we may need to contact you with test results, and we also send text confirmations and reminders about appointments If you have changed your contact details, please inform reception, or complete a change of contact details card found in the reception area.

32. Contact Details – TEENAGERS! Please check that we have the correct contact details for you on our system. We may have the telephone number of your home address and/or your parent’s mobile number. As you are getting older and taking more responsibility for yourself you may want us to have your personal contact details instead. To check or change your contact details, please speak to reception.

33. Change Of Address If you have moved house, please ask at reception for a change of address form. It is important we have your up to date address for any correspondence, and in case you require a home visit. If you have moved away from the Stowmarket area, you will need to register with a local surgery.

34. Online Booking To register for online services you will need to bring two forms of identification to reception. We require one photo ID (e.g. Driving licence or Passport) AND One address ID (e.g. Utility bill, Bank statement) Once registered you will be able to order repeat prescriptions and book appointments online.

35. Detailed Coded Access As of the 31st March 2016 you may request access to your detailed coded record. You will be able to view: Blood Pressure, Recalls, Care Plans, Diagnoses, Drugs, Drug Sensitivities, Pathology Report Information, Pathology Requests, Problem Headers, Referral Ins/Outs, Repeat Drugs and Vaccinations. To access this service you will need to: 1 Be registered for the online service 2 Make a request via the online service. Access may be granted after GP approval. Further details are available on our website.

36. Courtesy and Politeness Our reception staff strive to remain polite and courteous under often difficult circumstances. The doctors expect their patients to do the same Rude or abusive behaviour will not be tolerated and could result in immediate removal from our list.

37. List Closure We are currently not taking on any new patients. This will be the case until the beginning of July 2016. Sorry for any inconvenience caused.

38. Waiting Times Please be a patient patient – in future it may be you requiring a longer appointment with the doctor