Noticeboard

PRESCRIPTIONS:
The cost of prescriptions is increasing by 30p from 1st April 2023 to £9.65.
The cost of prescription pre-payment certificates (PPCs) will also be increased.  See Prescriptions tab for further information about costs.
Please note that all Prescriptions are taking 5-7 working days due to high demand and delays with deliveries from drug companies.   Please do not include weekends or bank holidays.
The practice will be closed on Monday 1st, 8th and 29th May for the bank holidays.
 

Our dispensary is closed between 1pm - 3pm from Monday to Friday.

Remove labelling prior to disposal of empty medicine bottles/boxes

Identity theft can have serious and lasting consequences for victims, so it is important for individuals to take proper steps to protect themselves wherever possible. By managing your personal information carefully and understanding its importance, you can reduce the likelihood of it impacting you.

  • Remove all personal and surgery labelling from medicines packets and bottles prior to disposal
  • Shred or destroy your personal information
  • Help the environment by recycling your bottles and cardboard packets

Registering at the Practice

We are receiving a lot of enquiries to join our Practice from patients living out of our practice area. To save disappointment please use our postcode checker which is located in the New Patient section of our website, this will clearly tell you whether you reside within our area.  We do not take patients who are not in our area.  If you wish to ring the surgery to enquire then please ring after 10:00am.

Appointments can be booked by telephone (calls may be recorded), on-line or face to face.  If you cannot attend your appointment then please let us know.  Appointment text reminders are being used for those patients who provide a mobile number.  If you do not wish to receive these reminders then please inform us. 

Did Not Attend (DNA)

What is a DNA?Did not attend

This is an appointment that a patient has booked either in advance or on the day but not attended or cancelled.

If you’ve been into Quay Lane Surgery recently, you may have noticed the white-board behind the receptionist’s desk. This shows the number of minutes of appointment time lost during the month when patients have failed to turn up or cancel their appointment. The Quay Lane Surgery Patient Participation Group have actively been highlighting this issue in their newsletters.

The vast majority of our patients attend their appointments or let us know if they cannot attend or no longer need them. We really appreciate this as it means we can free those appointments up to be used by other patients. However, a small but significant number of patients miss their appointments without cancelling them. This means the doctor or nurse is waiting for the patient to arrive, when they could have been seeing another patient. All DNA’s are documented on patient records and patients may be asked to explain to the GP/Nurse/Practice why they failed to cancel their unwanted appointment when they next attend.

What can we do to help?

  • We offer an appointment text reminder service (let us know your mobile number using the link below)
  • We write appointments down for patients who attend in person
  • We read the appointment back for those made over the telephone

What can you do to help?

Everyone can help! One of the most important ways you can help is by making sure you cancel your appointment if it is no longer needed.

Your appointment can then be given to someone else.

The Practice Manager says: "The fact that some patients make appointments and then don't attend is a constant concern. A person who does not attend is blocking appointments for other patients, which is having a detrimental effect on waiting times. While there can be many reasons for patients failing to attend appointments including feeling better, transportation problems or being unable to get through to the surgery to cancel, the most common reason is that they simply forget. The receptionists often have difficult conversations with disgruntled patients who can’t get an appointment of their choice. We want to encourage patients to cancel their unwanted appointments in a timely manner so that we can offer that appointment to another patient

We therefore ask that if you cannot attend please contact us by telephone anytime from 8.30am to 6pm Monday to Friday. If you booked your appointment on-line then you can also cancel it on-line or by letting us know. Please let us know if you can’t attend within 24 hours of your appointment so that we can offer it to someone else.

When you make an appointment please set yourself a little reminder so you are less likely to forget. Help us to help you remember the next time you require an appointment you may get one of those cancelled slots! Thank you.

You can register to receive information by text message on your phone regarding appointments and health care. 

If you wish to register for this messaging service please fill out the consent form.

Relevant links:

 

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/hospital-activity/quarterly-hospital-activity/

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17298612

 

 



 
Call 111 when you need medical help fast but it’s not a 999 emergencyNHS ChoicesThis site is brought to you by My Surgery Website