We will be closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Years Day—please remember to allow plenty of time to order and collect your repeat prescriptions.  We do not usually have afternoon surgeries on Christmas Eve and New years Eve unless you need to be seen that day.  If you have a medical emergency whilst we are closed, there will be a message on the surgery answer machine with details of who to contact.  The telephone number for the Out of Hours service is 08452 26 26 26, you should only contact them if your problem will not wait until we reopen and you should always telephone them before making your way down.

We’re on the web—www.kiddrowlanedoctors.co.uk 

Repeat Prescriptions

It would help our reception staff greatly if, when you order your repeat prescriptions, you would use the list on the right hand side of your prescription and order in that order—Thank you!

Drs Barsby & Kallarackel

Patient Newsletter

www.kiddrowlanedoctors.co.uk

4TH Quarter 2007

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 4

Flu Vaccinations

If you are over 65 or are entitled to a flu vaccination for any other reason (please ask us if you are unsure), please make your appointment now.  We give around 1200 vaccinations each year and obviously it makes our job much easier if you can contact us to make your appointment.

Staff Changes

Our receptionist Lisa Cole has regretfully recently left us.  This will mean that we will be short staffed for some time and we ask that you bear with us during this time, and until our new recruits are fully trained.

The GP patient survey:  Your doctor, your experience, your say

You may be aware through the press, TV, radio and internet that the government has published details of a survey it organised into patients’ experience of GP services.  Our results were:

· 99% of our patients reported that they were satisfied with their ability to get through to the surgery on the phone  (compared with 88% nationally)

· 98% of our patients who tried to get a quick appointment with a GP said they were able to do so within 48 hours (compared with 86% nationally)

· 58%of our patients  who wanted to book ahead for an appointment with a doctor reported that they were able to do so (compared with 75% nationally)

· 95% of our patients who wanted an appointment with a particular doctor thought they could do this  (compared with 88% nationally)

We were pleased with these results which we feel reflect the attempts of our staff to accommodate patients as much as we our able within the confines of our opening hours and being a small practice.  We scored relatively low on our booking ahead due to the limited availability of our advance booking appointments as we try to ensure that we always have appointments available for those who are ill on the day.  If you have a particular reason for needing to book in advance, please tell our receptionists who will do their best to oblige.  We have just conducted our own in house annual patient survey and these results will be passed on.

Choose & Book

Our practice has recently achieved 100% usage of the Choose and Book system, a national system for making hospital referrals and appointments.  Thanks are due to our doctors and staff for embracing the new technology and to our patients for bearing with us, as it has slowed down our clinical computer system somewhat.

Christmas and New year

We would like to encourage our patients to take more responsibility for their own health – if you think you may be due for a smear, blood test or any other check up, please telephone us to make an appointment.