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Latest News
WINTER 2009
SEASONAL FLU VACCINATIONS
Our Seasonal Flu drop-in clinics have now ended but it is not too late to have your vaccination. If you have received an invitation from us to come for a jab please make an appointment with one of the nurses.
If you are not in one of the 'at-risk' groups and would like to have a jab, we have a list at reception where you can register your name and if we have any vaccine left we will invite you to come in.
Please see our Swine Flu information page.
Swine Influenza
Advice for the Public - click here
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Anaesthesia
Are you waiting for surgery and concerned about the anaesthetic, its risks and side effects?
The Royal College of Anaesthetists has arranged for patients to be able to find information from the RCoA website www.rcoa.ac.uk (click on the link at the top of the page “for patients” then “information for patients” and choose from the list below).
Leaflets available include
- Anaesthesia explained (a detailed general booklet)
- You and your anaesthetic (a shorter version)
- Your anaesthetic for aortic surgery
- Your spinal anaesthetic
- Epidurals for pain relief after surgery
- Local anaesthesia for your eye operation
- Your tonsillectomy as day surgery
- Headache after an epidural or spinal anaesthetic
- Anaesthetic choices for hip or knee replacement
- Your child’s anaesthetic
- Your child’s general anaesthetic for dental treatment
A further range of leaflets gives information about specific risks from ‘Feeling Sick’ to ‘Death and Brain Damage’. There is also a Frequently Asked Questions section for some more common questions.
Private Screening Programmes
The following information has been recently received from Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust. Patients are free to choose whether they take up private health screening but Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust does not recommend such programmes.
When making your decision to be privately screened you should consider the following.
- Is the test effective - will it tell me whether I have a disease or not?
- Is there treatment available that will make a difference?
- Is the test a one-off or will I need to have repeat tests?
- If I need repeat tests will they recall me or do I have to remember to attend?
- Is the information that they are supplying to me correct?
- Will they inform my GP of the results?
- Will I be able to have treatment on the NHS for the condition, if detected?
More and more of these services are being offered and whilst some may be useful, to most patients they are not necessary.
If you would like more information about screening programmes, their effectiveness and why certain programmes are not offered on the NHS visit
http://www.screening.nhs.uk/policies
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Easter period opening hours
The surgery will be closed on Friday, 2 April and Monday, 5 April 2010.
If you need urgent care when we are closed, please ring the surgery 01295/758372 and your call will be diverted to the emergency care doctor service. You may also ring NHS Direct on 0845/4647 (see our Out of Hours page for more information).
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help during a POwer cut for priority users
If you depend on electricity for home medical care, you could register with the Priority Service Register. This service means that your electricity supplier will do everything possible to help during an emergency power cut.
You should register if you are using any medical equipment, particularly any of the following
- Nebuliser
- Heart and lung machine
- Kidney dialysis machine
- Oxygen machine
- Ventilator
- Apnoea monitor
- Any other medical dependencies
To register you can collect a leaflet from the Surgery waiting room or, if you would just like to know, more call the general enquiry line on 0800 096 3080
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YOUR NHS NUMBER IS IMPORTANT
Everyone registered with the NHS in England and Wales has their own unique NHS number which is printed on their medical card. The ten-digit NHS number helps healthcare staff to find your health records.
All letters that come from the surgery will have your NHS number on them and so you might want to record it in a safe place.
Where will I find my number?
If you do not have your NHS number, you can be given it by the Surgery but you may be asked for proof of identity such as a passport or driving licence to protect your privacy. If you are not currently registered with a GP practice the Primary Care Trust will be able to look it up for you. You can find your local PCT by visiting www.nhs.uk/servicedirectories/Pages/ServiceSearch.aspx select ‘NHS Trusts’ and enter your postcode or alternatively call NHS Direct on 0845/4647
What about my Baby?
Babies born in hospital in England and Wales are given an NHS number soon after birth. If your baby was born at home, you will receive an NHS number when you register your baby’s birth.
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Prescription Charges' Rise
Prescription charges will rise on 1 April 2009 to ?7.20 per item. Some patients qualify for exemption from charges and, from 1 April 2009, cancer patients will also be included. The following list give details of others who are exempt.
- Children under 16 years of age
- Full time students aged 16, 17 or 18
- Anyone aged 60 or over
- War pensioners with a valid certificate
- Anyone in receipt of Income Support or income-based Jobseekers Allowance
- Anyone with a partner in receipt of Pension Credit Guarantee Credit
- Anyone with one of a range of exemption certificates
- From 1 April 2009 patients with cancer will be entitled to exemption from charges. If this applies to you, please ask for the forms at the surgery and apply for your exemption certificate after 1 February.
- Certain other medical conditions also entitle a patient to exemption.
Discounts are available for patients requiring longer courses of medicines, via "Prepayment Certificates".
For more information visit the Department of Health website.
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Chlamydia Screening
You may not know that you have it. You don't have to be examined and the test is simple, painless, totally voluntary. It is available to anyone who is a patient of the practice, sexually active and under 25 years old.
The test is available now in the practice so ask the receptionist, doctor or nurse for a testing kit and they will tell you what to do.
Year 8 girls must have their vaccine in school; it is not available from GP surgeries as the doses of HPV have been given to the school nurses. Any girls in year 8 who are not in school on the day of their vaccine session will be picked up in the 'mop up' clinics run by school nurses.
If you want to know more about chlamydia or the test go to www.chlamydiascreening.nhs.uk/index.htm
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Arm against cervical cancer
From September 2008, the HPV vaccine will be offered routinely to 12- to 13-year-old girls (school year 8). Over the next three years there will also be a catch-up programme for older girls aged 13-18 starting with 17- to 18-year-olds this autumn. Oxfordshire PCT has decided to deliver the vaccine via a school-based programme for the 12 to 13 year-old girls.
For more information follow this link
http://www.immunisation.nhs.uk/Vaccines/HPV
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ANNUAL PATIENTS' Survey
The Department of Health has published the results of its patients? survey based on questionnaires issued to a sample of the population. The results and more information about the survey can be found online at
http://www.gp-patient.co.uk/results
Thank you all those patients who took the time to complete and return the questionnaires which gave such positive responses to our services.
Please let us know how you think we can improve our services further by emailing Cropredy.surgery@nhs.net or writing to Lynne Jones, Practice Manager, Cropredy Surgery, Claydon Road, Cropredy, Banbury OX17 1FB
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NEW HEALTH CENTRE FOR BANBURY
The Banbury Health Centre is the name of the new GP-led or Darzi Centre which opened at 58 Bridge Street, Banbury on 15 October. Oxfordshire Primary Care Trust is also in the process of developing an NHS dental suite on the ground floor of the Centre and is considering suggestions for other services in the same building.
The contract to provide the new GP led Health Centre in Banbury has been awarded to Principal Medical Limited (PML), a limited company set up by a group of Oxfordshire GPs in 2004 and currently managing the out-of-hours GP on-call service for Banbury. It also provides a range of primary and community services for the NHS during the day operating from the Horton General Hospital.
Who can use the Centre?
Registered patients: people living within a five mile radius of Banbury Cross may register to use the service.
Non-registered patients: anyone can use the walk-in service including visitors and commuters to the area. Appointments can be booked or you can drop in and wait to be seen.
What are the opening times?
8.00 am ? 8.00 pm every day
What difference will it make to Cropredy Surgery?
Patients living within a five mile radius of Banbury Cross may register as patients with the practice. That could include some of our current patients if they live in Oxfordshire. Patients from counties on the Oxfordshire border will not be accepted as registered patients at the new centre. Patients frequently using the walk-in centre, and who live in the catchment area, may be invited to register there to ensure that they have continuity of care.
More information is available from Oxfordshire PCT on www.oxfordshirepct.nhs.uk you can email newhealthcentre@oxfordshirepct.nhs.uk ring 01865/336800 or write to Sarah Adair, Freepost RRRK-BZBT-ASXU, Oxfordshire PCT, Jubilee House, 5510 John Smith Drive, Oxford Business Park South, Cowley, Oxford OX4 2LH
You may find out more from the BMA site at http://www.supportyoursurgery.org.uk/index.php
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Extended opening hours
Extended opening hours for GPs has received much media coverage and debate. In deciding whether to increase the hours that we open we have considered the responses from our patients in last year?s survey.
There were 200 respondents to the survey and 85% of our patients said that they were satisfied or very satisfied with our opening hours 8.00 am to 6.30 pm Monday to Friday.
The extended opening would be one hour a week for a surgery of this size requiring a doctor, a nurse, a receptionist and a dispenser to open for that time. Since we have only two GPs working here, when one of them was away it would be extremely difficult for the other to run an effective practice.
The other ?behind the scenes? work done by the GPs such as writing referral letters, visiting patients and reviewing laboratory results, still have to be completed even when there is only one GP here covering the work of two.
The cost of extending the hours for this surgery in staff time, additional utility bills and security on top of the practical difficulties, has led us to decide not to open for longer hours at present. If this changes at some future point then we will of course let you know.
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The NHS Spine
One thing that is always consistent in the development of the NHS computer system is that it is constantly changing. In our previous newsletter we explained that patients who do not want their personal information to be added to the national system, may opt-out by writing to the practice manager. There are now discussions underway as to whether the system should be changed to patients opting-in so that each patient has to give his or her consent before details are uploaded.
For more information about the system please visit http://www.connectingforhealth.nhs.uk/
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NHS Constitution
The Government is proposing to introduce a set of principles and values that should guide everything that is done in the NHS. It includes a commitment to providing a comprehensive service, available to all without discrimination, and based on clinical need not the ability to pay. This is what has been described as the Constitution. There is a consultation period that ends on 17 October after which the Constitution will be finalised.
Some of the main points for patients contained in the proposed Constitution are as follows:
- Your right to drugs approved for use if recommended by your doctor, and to an explanation of all decisions made about funding your treatment
- Your right to make choices about your NHS care and to be given the information that you need to do so
- Your right to have your say in the planning and development of local services
You can find out more from www.dh.gov.uk/consultations obtain copies from www.orderline.dh.gov.uk by email from dh@prolog.uk.com, by ringing 0300 123 1002, or by post from PO Box 777 London SE1 6XH
Comments are invited to nhsconstitution@dh.gsi.gov.uk or by post to NHS Constitution Room 611aRichmond House79 WhitehallLondon SW1A 2NS
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Decided to give up smoking in 2009?
If you are thinking that this is the time to give up smoking we can help. We have three smoking cessation advisers who can give you information on the free support that you can have from the NHS.
Janet, Sue and Siobhan are our trained smoking cessation advisers at the surgery and they will be able to support you. Nicotine replacement therapy is also available on prescription.
So call 01295 758372 or ask at reception for more information.
You can also call 0800 169 0 169, visit http://gosmokefree.nhs.uk/ or www.smokefreeoxfordshire.nhs.uk to get unhooked.
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Accessing our Services Online
EMIS Access is a new way of ordering prescriptions, booking routine appointments with the doctor, phlebotomist (for blood samples) or the dispensary manager for reviews of the use of medicines (DRUMs). You can also let us know if you change your address or other contact details.
Click here to read more on this service.
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Beating the DRUM for patients' medicines
As part of our dispensing service we are offering a Dispensing Review of Use of
Medicines (DRUM) to some of our patients.
This review is a face-to-face meeting with Kate our dispensary manager and is an opportunity better to understand your medicines and their uses.
You may be invited in when you collect your medicines or you could make an
appointment with Kate at a time to suit you.
This is an extra service that we offer and not a replacement for seeing the
doctor or the nurse so you should still come along for your regular
appointments.
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Do you have a Hospital Appointment?
Patients who do not keep their hospital appointments and who do not call to
cancel, cost the Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals up to ?1/2million or around 37,000
appointments a year.
In an effort to contain the problem, from 1 January 2007 a new policy is to be
introduced. If a patient does not attend their appointment and does not contact
the Hospital to let them know, they will be given seven days to call to arrange
another appointment. If they do not make contact within the seven days, they and their GP will be told that the patient has been removed from the waiting list.
This will not apply to cancer patients and other urgent referrals.
Maternity cases will be offered one further appointment.
There are many appointments within the surgery that are also lost because people do not let us know that they are not coming. If we do know, it allows us to offer the appointment to someone else and cuts down the time people have to wait to see the doctor or nurse.
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Childhood Immunisations
There were important changes to the childhood immunisations schedule in 2007 intended to give young children the best protection against serious, vaccine-preventable diseases.
One significant change is the introduction of a new vaccine to protect against
pneumococcal infection. All children born after 4 September 2006 will be invited
to the surgery to receive the immunisation.
Those children who are born before 4 September are being offered the
vaccinations through our 'catch-up' system.
If you would like more details on the changes or the catch-up campaign, leaflets
are available at the surgery.
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