News | Parklands Surgery

We were delighted to welcome Her Grace The Duchess of Richmond to open the
surgery extension on the 5th July 2008. The new rooms are now in full use and
new equipment has been provided throughout. Other rooms in the building have
been refurbished and we are pleased to have had many positive comments from
patients regarding the extension. If you have any comments relating to the new
waiting room or how we could improve facilities please use the suggestion box in
the waiting room.

Staff News

Two new receptionists have joined the practice team, Janice Moore and Pauline
Allaway. We welcome Janice and Pauline as new members of staff. You will be
pleased to know that Staff Nurse Ellie Dudman had a lovely baby girl in August.
Mother and baby are doing well and we are hoping to see Ellie back in the New
Year.

Our GP Registrar, Arabella Sargent, who has been with us for past 20 months will
be leaving in December. We will all miss her and are grateful for the hard work
and interest she has shown whilst at the practice. There will be a gap before there
is another Registrar (GP trainee) at Parklands Surgery but in the meantime we are
helping train medical students from Brighton Medical School. Dr Eric Clarke is
the lead doctor for teaching medical students. Medical students will be sitting in
with Dr Clarke and some of the other doctors on a regular basis. We welcome the
students and hope that they enjoy their time at Parklands Surgery. If you would
prefer not to have a medical student sitting in on your consultations please let the
Doctor know. We are grateful to all patients who are happy to be involved with
teaching future doctors.

Vaccinations

We have been holding regular Flu Vaccination Clinics. If you have missed these
and are eligible for a flu vaccine please phone up the surgery and the practice
nurses will carry out the vaccination for you. People aged over 65, Carers, and
those with a chronic disease are all eligible for a flu vaccination. You may also
be due for a pneumonia vaccine which is a “one off” vaccine and is available to
everybody over 65 or in the above mentioned cases. Please ask at the surgery if
you think you are eligible for a pneumonia vaccination. The doctors at the surgery
fully support this vaccination programme and hope that you will take up the offer.
There have been an increasing number of cases of measles and mumps in
teenagers and college students. It is therefore very important that children have
the MMR vaccine to avoid complications from these two potentially serious
illnesses. If you are a student or teenager and think you have not been vaccinated
please ask us to review your records. If you are a parent and you are not sure if
your child had the MMR vaccine please enquire and your child can always have a
catch up vaccine. If you have any concerns about this vaccine (which has had bad
publicity) please speak to one of the doctors or to a health visitor.

Website

The new website was launched to coincide with the opening of the extension to the
surgery. Please look at this and be aware that you can now obtain your repeat
medications via e-mail. The website is continuously updated so please have the
address on your favourites list. The website address is: www.parklandssurgery.
org.uk

Extended Hours

We offer two early morning surgeries on a Wednesday and a Thursday which start
at 7.00am. We also open on Saturdays from 8.30-11.15am for pre-booked
appointments only. We would like these surgeries to be used by patients who
cannot get to the surgery in normal working hours. The surgery is not generally
open for appointments with nurses, phlebotomists or health care assistants during
this time

How to beat the queue at reception

If you only need to book in for your appointment and do not need reception for
any other purpose, please feel free to use the electronic touch screen “check in”
machine in the reception area. It is easy to use but our staff are more than happy
to show you how to use the screen.

Suggestions Box

As mentioned above, there is a Suggestions Box in the waiting room. Please add
any comments you may have about the practice. We welcome feedback from
patients (preferably of a positive nature!). All members of the Parklands Team are
anxious to improve our service to you and we welcome all feedback.
Additionally, if you have any other comments and you would like to speak to
someone personally, please contact our Practice Manager, Mrs Hazel Wellcome.

Thank you for taking the time to read this newsletter.

All the Staff would like to wish you a very Happy Christmas and New Year

Posted in General News |

Patient Group to Reform

September 10th, 2008

In the past we have had a very active and successful Patient Participation Group, and despite it having been ‘dormant ‘ for a year or two, we hope to re-launch a patients’ group very soon.

If anyone would like to be involved in a ‘Patients’ Advisory Group’ please do contact us via the website or at the Practice via myself, Hazel Wellcome or Sue Cristofoli.

Some people have found this to be a very rewarding way to be involved with the Practice and the NHS, and the time commitment can be as much or as little as you like. We really do value our patients’ input into improving our services and thus we would be very grateful for any help in re-establishing this important patients’ initiative.

Many thanks in anticipation.

Dr Jim Price

Posted in General News |