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“Good Practice” Fleet Medical Centre Newsletter, April 2017 - Where your health is our business

Changes to the GP Team

Thank you to all of our patients and colleagues for your patience while the practice goes through an unprecedented amount of change within our GP team over the next few months.

We welcomed Dr Holly Fletcher as a GP Partner in January this year, taking over the patient list from Dr Alison Cole who has emigrated to Australia. Dr Stella Cartwright has also joined our team part time as a locum to ensure we have enough capacity to meet demand for appointments over the coming months and she is taking over from Dr Nethra Fonseka who has worked with us for some time and will soon be emigrating to Australia.

From mid-April, Dr Rupam Mangat will service Dr Blume’s patient list until her return from maternity leave in February 2018.

Dr Higgins is retiring from Fleet Medical Centre at the end of June this year, followed by the retirement of Dr Tollett at the end of September. Arrangements are currently under way to review our model of care to ensure we have enough resources for the future; as always Fleet Medical Centre will rise to the challenge of recruiting an excellent team despite limited NHS resources and a severe lack of GP and allied professionals in the industry. Continuity of care and maintaining our high standards is our priority. We will advise you as soon as we have the new team in place. We fully intend to continue with our strong ethos of dedicated patient lists and the maintenance of a “family GP” approach to general practice.

In the meantime we ask for all patients to remain on their current GP lists and to work with our GP locum team in the short term; we will contact our patients via as many channels as possible when more information is available about the long term solutions. Thank you to everyone for your support and for your patience during this challenging time for the practice.

Find us at: www.fleetmedicalcentre.co.uk ”Good Practice” Issue Number 24

Welcome to the second edition of our new-look patient newsletter. Packed with lots of information and advice, we hope our newsletter “Good Practice” is useful and easy to read!

TELEPHONE: 01252 613327 or 619000 April 2017

Gastroenteritis is a very common condition that causes diarrhoea and vomiting.

It’s usually caused by a virus or bacterial tummy bug.

It affects people of all ages, but is particularly common in young children.

Most cases in children are caused by a virus called rotavirus. Cases in adults are usually caused by norovirus (the "winter vomiting bug") or bacterial food poisoning. Gastroenteritis can be very unpleasant, but it usually clears up by itself within a week. You can normally look after yourself or your child at home until you're feeling better.

Try to avoid going to your GP, as gastroenteritis can spread to others very easily. Call NHS 111 or your GP if you're concerned or need any advice.

Preventing gastroenteritis It's not always possible to avoid getting gastroenteritis, but following the advice below can help stop it spreading:

Stay off work, school or nursery until at least 48 hours after the symptoms have passed. You or your child should also avoid visiting anyone in hospital during this time.

Ensure you and your child wash your hands frequently and thoroughly with soap and water, particularly after using the toilet and before preparing food. Don't rely on alcohol hand gels, as they're not always effective.

Disinfect any surfaces or objects that could be contaminated. It's best to use a bleach-based household cleaner.

Wash contaminated items of clothing or bedding separately on a hot wash.

Don't share towels, flannels, cutlery or utensils while you or your child is ill.

Flush away any poo or vomit in the toilet or potty and clean the surrounding area.

Practice good food hygiene. Make sure food is properly refrigerated, always cook your food thoroughly, and never eat food that is past its use-by date.

Take extra care when travelling to parts of the world with poor sanitation, as you could pick up a stomach bug. For example, you may need to boil tap water before drinking it.

Young children can have the rotavirus vaccination when they’re two to three months old, which can reduce their risk of develop-ing gastroenteritis.

Make sure you drink plenty and get some sleep as rehydration and rest are of paramount importance for a quick recovery.


A message from the clinical team

about Gastroenteritis

http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Norovirus/Pages/Introduction.aspx

http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Food-poisoning/Pages/Introduction.aspx

http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/AboutNHSservices/Emergencyandurgentcareservices/Pages/NHS-111.aspx

http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/homehygiene/Pages/how-to-wash-your-hands-properly.aspx

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/vaccinations/Pages/rotavirus-vaccine.aspx

Travel Vaccinations, Immunisations and administrative fees

Find us at: www.fleetmedicalcentre.co.uk

As you know, some requests made to our clinical team are not directly for clinical requirements and so they carry a fee. We also charge for some travel vaccinations that are not supplied to us by the NHS. The fees and charges have recently been reviewed and are listed as follows:

Fleet Medical Centre, Fees for Non-NHS Services

Please allow at least two weeks for forms or reports to be completed Access to medical records summary – minimum fee plus print and copy charges £15.00

Photocopy of Medical Records – minimum fee plus print and copy charges, to be requested in writing £50.00

Certificates – Sickness All charged at: £40.00 or letter for: Free from infection Incapacity International vaccination

University/education/forces/employment Health club/gym membership/ shotgun licence

Certificate or letter for: – Fitness to attend, fitness to drive, fitness to travel £40.00 Claim Form – Private Health Insurance, health claim form, Physiotherapy £40.00 Medical Questionnaire (depending on GP time at £250 per hour or part thereof) From: £62.50 Medical Examination + Report including Taxi/Hackney Carriage £110.00 Student letters/administration £15.00 OFSTED Health Declaration (Childminder) £55.00 Private Patient – Consultation in practice with GP £95.00 Private patient – referral letter £55.00 Private Patient – Consultation in practice with Nurse £30.00 Private Prescription £15.00 Private Patient – Home visit between 08.30-18.30 £150.00 Private Test – ECG + report £55.00 Private Test – Lung function, diagnostic blood test, taking saliva sample (& mailing) £28.00 Targeted Report or form £55.00 GP administrative time is £250 per hour or part thereof Minimum charge from: £62.50 GP report (possible extra fee may apply as above if required) £150.00 Other fees will apply where appropriate – please speak to a receptionist for more details if your requirements are not listed Travel Vaccinations – Non-NHS Services Hepatitis A: Adult and Paediatric 1st vaccine & booster dose = no charge (funded by NHS) Hepatitis B: Adult and Paediatric Holiday/travel= £40 per vaccine Clinical requirement = no charge Hepatitis A&B combined Adult and Paediatric No charge (funded by NHS) Typhoid No charge (funded by NHS) Hepatitis A/Typhoid No charge (funded by NHS) Diptheria/Tetanus/Polio No charge (funded by NHS) Cholera No charge (funded by NHS) Meningitis ACWY Holiday/travel = £45 per vaccine Rabies £55 per vaccine (subject to availability) Japanese Encephalitis £90 vaccine Tick Borne Encephalitis £10 per prescription (carries extra charge at pharmacy) £25 per vaccine administrated Yellow Fever vaccine & certificate £60 per vaccine Malaria prescription £15 per prescription (carries extra charge at pharmacy)

There are no exemptions regarding charges.


ISPACE Dementia Awareness Project


DEMENTIA AWARENESS in Wessex, working with Fleet Medical Centre

A few months ago, we were approached to engage with Dementia Awareness and work towards becoming an accredited “Dementia Friendly Practice” via a project known as ISPACE (Identify, Staff, Partnership, Assessment, Care and Environment). This is a programme of change, developed by Dr Nicola Decker, based in North Hampshire. It has a number of actions designed to enhance patient experience through improvements in care planning, communications and awareness for staff in primary care settings such as general practice.

We are trying to break down the stigma that still surrounds dementia and by working with ISPACE we are working hard to improve signage, the environment, care planning and improve diagnosis and support. This we have achieved with some small changes and staff training. To further support the requirements, we are introducing some new signage to the patient areas so that rooms and services can be found more easily. We are proud to be part of the government’s 5 year forward view, an NHS plan that includes a challenge for 2020 to improve dementia care by reducing risk, improving health and care, post diagnosis support, awareness and social ac-tion and research.

Dementia can be a lonely and isolating condition and carers and families often need support in a variety of different ways too. There are several kinds of dementia and these can affect people in different ways and at all ages. There is a wealth of information available online and we have listed these below. In addition all of these services provide paper leaflets and telephone support if preferred. Website ideas include:

The Alzheimer’s Society; www.alzheimers.org.uk Admiral nursing direct are supported by; www.dementiauk.org The Lewy Body Society; www.lewybody.org The young dementia network; www.youngdementiauk.org TIDE; a carer’s network for a caring future; www.tide.uk.net ISPACE; www.wessexahsn.org.uk

We have staff awareness training booked for April, our toilets have already been redecorated, and we hope to have our new signage project completed and fully installed by the end of May. Thank you to all of our patients and staff for your support with this project.


Dementia can have several different symptoms. Have you experienced things such as:

Forgetfulness? Losing your words? Struggling to do normal activities? Are you worried about a loved-one who may have dementia?

Speak to your GP as there are treatments that can help slow progression and preserve the person your know and love.

All of these electronic links can be found on our website at: www.fleetmedicalcentre.co.uk

or ask a member of our reception team to print off a leaflet for you

Fleet Medical Centre prides itself on listening to our patients. In response to patient and visitor feedback from a variety of sources, in 2017 Fleet Medical Centre we hope to:

Further improve our Online Access services allowing patients to not only book appointments and order repeat medication but also view a summary of their medical record - you can sign up to these innovations now!

Maintain and further utilize our highly successful patient website, email and text message communication tools

Redesign our car park to improve safety and access, increase capacity and improve security

Install new signage internally to help with mobility and access

We have also recently installed “soft close” systems to our internal doors and enabled our entrance to have both internal entrance doors open independently to improve safety, access and comfort. Thank you for your feedback and support; we will do our very best to obtain permission to undertake new ideas and secure funds and resources as soon as possible.

You Said - We Did...

An update on the “FRIENDS AND FAMILY TEST” and NHS Choices patient feedback

Thank you to all of our patients who have participated in the Friends & Family questionnaire and for your recent comments on the website, NHS Choices. Should you have any concerns, we hope that rather than post negative anonymous comments that you feel able to use our complaints process to enable us to resolve any problems for you directly. We welcome constructive and friendly feedback and prefer to deal with any dissatisfaction directly.

The latest results from our January survey (above) conclude 93% of respondents would recom-mend our practice to friends and family. Comments recently received include:

“Prompt. Professional courteous. Phlebotomist service was excellent”

“...When I went to the surgery they were very thorough, knowledgeable and extremely nice. ... I go back to see them again tomorrow. I really cannot fault the treatment I received from them. Thanks…”

“Everyone I have dealt with at Fleet Medical Centre has been friendly. I have had many con-tacts with a lot of the staff over the years and I have always felt I was treated with respect and courtesy…even if they were very busy.”

Thank you for your kind feedback and will we do our best to sustain our standards and meet demand with the resources available to us - your support is very important to us, thank you.

Find us at: www.fleetmedicalcentre.co.uk us at: www.fleetmedicalcentre.co.uk Find us at: www.fleetmedicalcentre.co.uk ”Good Practice” Issue Number 24


Illuminating numbers!

A short review of our average daily tasks has identified some large numbers regarding the outputs of our won-derful clinical and administrative teams. In the financial year of 2016 to 2017, Fleet Medical Centre completed approximately the following:

1) Over 150,000 incoming phone calls to our reception team 1) Over 40,000 GP appointments 2) Over 32,000 nurse appointments 3) Over 17,000 practitioner appointments 4) Over 5,000 appointments with other clinical staff

including physiotherapists, councillors, midwives and other medical support staff

5) Over 55,000 requests for repeat prescription medication 6) Over 750 home visits by the GP team We are funded for 85% of our patients (12,624 out of 14,692 registered patients) due to national demographic funding allocations; we do our best to achieve what we can with the funds available

This means over 300,000 contacts were made directly with patients in addition to letters, test results and other administrative tasks. A big thank you to our teams and colleagues from across the spectrum of our stakeholders in helping us with this massive achievement and to our patients for working so closely with us to provide the best possible service that we can to our list of nearly 15,000 patients.

We have now been using the new email and text messaging systems to our virtual patient participation group for over 6 months.

We have gathered information on several aspects of the practice and have been able to communicate important matters quickly and efficiently to our 5,000 email members & 8,000 text-message users.

These communications have helped us to obtain vital feedback on the services we provide as well as send out appointment reminders and up-to-the-minute communications about practice news.

Please check with reception that we hold your correct and current email address and mobile telephone number on file and complete the required consent form so that you can join these groups. Please also sign up to online appointments & prescriptions on our website - thank you.


Communications and information

Appointment rules Please be reminded that your allocated time for face to face appointments with a GP is 10 minutes long; and in this time the GP also has to complete the notes onto our administrative system. Please make sure you come to your appointments prepared and clear with what needs to be discussed where possible.

We would also like to remind our patients that we will only try twice to make contact for telephone appointments; we cannot keep calling back due to high demand on clinical time. Should you fail to answer both calls then it will be noted on the system as a “did not attend” and no further attempts will be made and you will need to contact us to rebook your appointment, thank you.

Communications and information Appointments access and the Urgent Care Team (UCT)

Our urgent care team has now been in operation for about 8 months incorporating a Duty GP, Nurse Practitioner and Paramedic Practitioner to see all requests for on-the-day appointments. In December alone we had an increase of 31% in the number of for on-the-day appointments available and an increase of routine pre-booked appointments of 22%. Nearly 95% of patients taking part in a recent survey said that they had every confidence in the advice given by the Nurse and Paramedic practitioner team with almost 98% rating the service offered as Good or Excellent.

Our ongoing review of our appointment system has identified a seasonal requirement for changes to be made for example with more demand for on-the-day appointments over the Winter months and the need for more capacity for pre-booked appointments during the Summer time. We have had a request for more telephone consultations and we have also increased capacity for extended hours appointments on Monday evenings and Saturdays with nurses and GPs offering a variety of appointment types. We are doing our best to get the balance of access right within the resources available to us and appreciate your support while we trial different ideas and incorporate feedback from patients and staff.

Home visits Policy 2017

No other country has adopted the visiting habits of British General Practice so as demand increases & capacity for health service decreases, it is important to ensure those who can attend the GP surgery do so to allow appropriate time & capacity for those who absolutely cannot attend (e.g. bedbound patients).

General Practice is NOT an emergency service.

It is not a Doctors job to arrange transport to the surgery & assistance with transport should be sought from family/friends/taxi firms/local organisations such as Communicare or Fleet Link. Indeed the General Medical Services Contract states: “...it is for the doctor to decide based on the doctor’s reasonable opinion as to whether the patient should attend a doctors premises or be visited at home...”.

EXAMPLES OF APPROPRIATE REQUESTS FOR HOME VISITS:

1. Terminally ill & in need of End of Life Care 2. Truly bedbound (please note a housebound patient may be able to attend the surgery given adequate

assistance of a carer) 3. Following clinician triage of home visit request if deemed that travelling to the surgery would cause

deterioration/unacceptable discomfort 4. Patients who are less able to travel due to illness 5. Safeguarding issues where it is not clear that appropriate care is being given nor clinicians instructions

followed.

REQUESTS FOR HOME VISITS:

I. To be made before 12.30pm via reception II. Requests may be subject to triage by an appropriate clinician and declined if deemed unnecessary.

Alternative arrangements for review will be discussed. III. Timing of the home visit cannot be specified. IV. The clinician attending cannot be specified but ideally the usual GP will attend when available or a member

of the Urgent Care Team.

Your compliance with the above guidance is requested. Recent reviews suggest that Fleet Medical Centre has a 50-75% higher rate of home visits that other practices in town. As of the 1st of April 2017 ALL requests for home visits will be triaged by the urgent care team.

The GP Partners, FLEET MEDICAL CENTRE


Find us at: www.fleetmedicalcentre.co.uk Find us at: www.fleetmedicalcentre.co.uk ”Good Practice” Issue Number 24

Fleet Medical Centre welcomes ”Hearology”

As of the start of the year, Fleet Medical Centre was left with no alternative but to withdraw our ear syringing service to prioritise our limited nursing resources for the clinical treatment of more chronic and urgent conditions and we advised our patients of these changes with as much notice as possible.

Patients were then needing to travel fairly long distances to obtain private ear syringing services; so with this in mind we have arranged for Hearology to hold a weekly private clinic here at Fleet Medical Centre. Please note that Fleet Medical Centre DOES NOT endorse or recommend any particular service and makes no financial gain from Hearology. We are simply doing our best to increase patient access and improve patient choice and to use our resources carefully while still providing the best possible service. Appointments can be made directly with Hearology or via main reception and all financial arrangements with their patients and clinical treatment is the responsibility of Hearology. The other local providers are of course also still available.

Book your appointment now

at

reception, or call 0203-747-

4615

Book your appointment direct on 020 3747 4615

Come along and: Create an Emergency Plan;

Access Carer support and information Access other organisations and professionals

Meet other carers in the area.

Cared for are also warmly welcomed.

The Function Room, The Harlington, 236 Fleet Road, Fleet GU51 4BY.

(Please note there is a small charge for parking)

The Princess Royal Trust for

Carers in Hampshire

Charity No 1040518 Company No 2955846

The Hub will run on the following Mondays, between 10am and 2pm:

Monday 15th May

Monday 19th June Monday 17th July

For further information, please call 01264 835246/835205 or email: [email protected]

FLEET CARERS HUB


FIRST HAND SPORTS THERAPY

Now available at Fleet Medical Centre

Injury assessment and treatment and Sports Massage.

Call us today! 07557 040319

Guildford Diocese Hearing Aid Drop-in Clinics

Venue Contact Day & Time Dates

Town Centre Pastoral Team table

The Wellington Centre

Union Street Entrance

Aldershot

GU11 1DB

Jan Neilsen

[email protected]

01252 333499

Thursday

10.30 am -

12.30 pm

27th April

25th May

29th June

Church on the Heath

The Key

Elvetham Heath

Fleet

GU51 1HA

Stephen Turner

[email protected]

01252 810852

Trevena Whitbread

Wednesday

12.30 -

1.30 pm

12th April

10th May

14th June

12th July

Royal British Legion

Frensham House

Shortfield Common Road

Frensham

Farnham

GU10 3BJ

Morag James

[email protected]

01252 793133

Wednesday

12 noon –

2.00 pm

24th May

28th June

Do you need help with you Hearing Aid? Make contact with your local centre for more advice.

If you have any questions call 01983 898700 or check out the new website www.desphiow.co.uk

Diabetes is the second largest cause of preventable blindness in adults, so don’t lose sight of your

screening appointment

A new Hampshire & Isle of Wight Diabetic Eye Screening Programme (DESP)

will be formed on the 1st April 2017. All patients who use the

Diabetic Eye Screening Service, will be contacted inviting them to

attend their next screening appointment.

If you use this service, you do not need to take any specific actions

NHS England will ensure that your individual data and screening history is held

securely and only accessible by the healthcare professionals directly involved in

your care. Health Intelligence will only access information that is relevant to your

individual healthcare. The information will not be used for any other purpose.


If bowel cancer is detected at an early stage, before symptoms appear, it's easier to treat.

To detect cases of bowel cancer sooner, the NHS offers bowel cancer screening in England for men and women aged 60-74 who are registered with a GP to carry out a faecal occult blood (FOB) test. Every two years, this group is sent a home test kit, which is used to collect a stool sample. If you're 75 or over, you can ask for this test by calling the free-phone helpline on 0800 707 60 60. Taking part in bowel cancer screening reduces your chances of dying from bowel cancer, and removing polyps in bowel scope screening can prevent cancer. However, all screening involves a balance of potential harms, as well as benefits. It's up to you to decide if you want to have it. What does the FOB screening test involve?

The home testing kit is used to collect tiny stool samples on a special card. The card is then sealed in a hygienic freepost envelope and sent to the screening laboratory. It will be checked for traces of blood that may not be visible to the naked eye, but could be an early sign of bowel cancer. Your results - You'll receive the results of your FOB test within two weeks of sending in the test kit. Most people will have a normal result. Rarely, the test will find cancer. There are three types of result: Most people will have a normal result – no further tests are needed and you'll be

invited to take part in screening again in two years (if you're still aged 60-74). A few people will have an unclear result – you'll be asked to repeat the FOB test up to

twice more. A few people will have an abnormal result – you'll be offered an appointment to

discuss colonoscopy at a local screening centre.

People aged 75 and older can still be screened for bowel cancer. They can request an FOB screening kit by calling the free-phone helpline on 0800 707 60 60. People younger than 60 aren't eligible for the FOB screening test, but can have bowel scope screening (see below). If you have symptoms, are worried about a family history of bowel cancer, or are worried about your bowel health in any way, speak to your GP. What are the risks?

No screening test is 100% reliable. There's a chance a cancer can be missed if it wasn't bleeding when the screening test was taken. This means you might be falsely reassured. Bowel scope screening is usually safe, but in rare cases it can cause harm to the bowel. If you get an abnormal result, you'll be offered a colonoscopy. Although rare, there are risks associated with having this investigation. Most people who have a colonoscopy will not have cancer. For more information please go to www.nhs.net

If you are worried, please see your GP.

Bowel Cancer Screening


http://www.nhs.uk/Tools/Pages/Bowel-cancer-self-assessment.aspx

Our car park; and update of possible changes

Further to our article in the last edition of our newsletter about car parking, we have had further meetings with our building owners and the Clinical Commissioning Group about trying to extend our car park.

We are currently in talks about design and layout and hope to secure funding in the next few months, although as yet this is far from guaranteed. If successful however, we hope to complete the following tasks within our car park and grounds:

1. Increase our disabled parking spaces from one space to two spaces 2. Maintain/relocate the motorbike parking area which has proved popular 3. Find a suitable location for a secure bicycle rack at the front of the building 4. Repaint the car park to make the lines and signage more clear 5. Install a zebra crossing across our main entrance to improve safety 6. Relocate our clinical and commercial waste storage area to impact less on car parking

facilities and improve delivery access

Thank you to all of our patients who contributed to these ideas.

Did you know….?

There is a car park at the end of Church Road- 0.4 miles away opposite Sunrise? We have asked the local council if we can have some parking permits for this car park but in the meantime please consider using this car park in future if you are able to walk as this will free up parking spaces for those with physical disabilities. Please do your best to walk to the practice rather than drive whenever possible including using the footbridge from Elvetham Heath.

Fleet Link Bus & Taxi Share are also ways of accessing the local area. We have asked the council to investigate if the bus route could be diverted nearer to FMC in future- please ask at Reception if you would like a leaflet for these services.

BIKE SHED access is available to the rear of the building so please help yourselves to use this area - for more information please ask at reception.

Please be patient and considerate when using our car park and allow plenty of time to park prior to your appointment. Please DO NOT block delivery access or the staff car park, and try to avoid parking in local residential areas as we have received reports of driveways being blocked and traffic becoming disruptive at times. Thank you.


See how we make a positive difference - visit www.happyhealthyathome.org

1 February 2017 • Issue 9

The Happy, Healthy, at Home programme vision is that local people are supported to improve their own health and wellbeing, and that when people are ill or need help, they receive the best possible joined up care. Organisations providing health and social care services in North East Hampshire and Farnham have committed to work together, and with local people, to address challenges and improve the health of area citizens and health care services for the community.

Before the Prime Minister visited our adults’ safe haven in January, our two Junior Ambassadors Philip Bibawy and Georgia Brown visited the Young Persons Safe Haven in Aldershot. They found out about the project and how it has so far helped over 120 local young people and their parents, with their men-tal health and emotional wellbeing.

The project came about because schools asked for help to support them with their attainment and attendance levels. The project was co-designed by young people, with 50 students from 3 local schools helping to create a survey asking students what support they needed to help them with their emotional wellbeing. The survey was then completed by almost 1400 students, with the main outcome being the creation of ‘a safe place to go away from school, where they could talk’. The centre opened on 10 May 2016 at North Barn, 4 Hillside Road, Aldershot.

Judi Page from Just Wellbeing, who run the Safe Haven said, “We are passionate about this service and know it has saved lives. Early intervention, prevention and education is key to this service and appears to be working well. Sometimes young people just need to talk and we can provide just that. Our volunteers are young people who themselves have experienced some kind of mental illness thus providing invaluable peer support.” Philip Bibawy, Junior Ambassador, said, “I found our visit to the safe haven very interesting and useful. The place is very relaxed and it creates an atmosphere which encourages people to talk, as opposed to a clinical environment which feels like a doctor’s appointment. It was also a great experience meeting the staff who work there, who are very passionate about their job and have a genuine desire to help and connect with people on their level. All in all it was a great experience and we irrefutably need a way of letting more people know that places like this exist.” The centre is open Sun, Tues, Weds, Thurs, Fri 6.30pm - 8.30pm, excluding Bank Holidays. They also provide a free phone number 0800 061 4132, which is available during opening times.

Junior Ambassadors find a Safe Haven

Happy, Healthy, at Home Programme Newsletter

Recognition for Community Ambassador role

One of our Community Ambassadors, Sue Gadsby, has been presented with a volunteer recognition award from Rushmoor Voluntary Services, to thank her for her continued support and commitment.

Sue commented on her experiences, “Two years ago I attended a regular CCG meeting and listened to a discussion about the Vanguard project. I found the idea of professionals working with members of the public to co-produce services exciting and really interesting. A short time later I saw an advert in the newspaper for Vanguard Ambassadors and applied; that was about 18 months ago. I joined the Engagement and

Co-Production workstream and have been involved in a variety of activities, ranging from being part of an interview panel, to attending meetings. I have helped to look at documents to ensure they were understandable to the public, facilitated groups of other Ambassadors, and helped at patient forums to ensure their views were heard. In the future I would appreciate being part of a piece of work or workstream where I can continue through the whole process to evaluation.

I have hugely enjoyed working together with a team of professionals and other ambassadors in a respectful environ-ment where everyone has a view that counts, ensuring that true engagement takes place. I believe that the Ambassador role is key to co-production of services which are meaningful to the pa-tients who receive the service.

Sue (right) receiving her award from the Mayor of Rushmoor.

This month saw the first in a series of evaluation events being hosted by Academic Health Science Network and the Centre for Implementation Science, who are working as independent evaluators for the Happy, Healthy, at Home Vanguard programme. The symposium offered the chance to share find-ings and learning from our evaluation work. This session focussed on the prevention workstream, with presentations being made by the Recovery College and Making Connections services.

Workshops were also held to discuss methodolo-gies and some early findings from other evaluations. The event was attended by over 70 people, representing a wide-range of organisa-tions and services based both locally and nationally, who are interested in seeing how our vanguard programme is making changes to the local health system and how we are recording and measuring that impact.

Evaluating the success of our programmes of work is vital as we start the process of moving into business as usual over the coming year and these nationally recognised events are a key way to reflect that. The presentations from the day are available from http://wessexahsn.org.uk/projects/137/evaluation-of-happy-healthy-at-home-north-east-hampshire-and-farnham-vanguard


http://wessexahsn.org.uk/projects/137/evaluation-of-happy-healthy-at-home-north-east-hampshire-and-farnham-vanguard

http://wessexahsn.org.uk/projects/137/evaluation-of-happy-healthy-at-home-north-east-hampshire-and-farnham-vanguard

Missed appointments

In March there was a total of 95 missed appointments which were not cancelled (this is 16 hours of GP and nurse time) . You could be the next person who could have had an ap-pointment if it had been made available by someone else cancelling rather than failing to attend. Please help us avoid waste and help others to get the appointment they need.

KEEP IT OR CANCEL IT!!

Pharmacy opening hours: The Fleet Medical Centre Lloyds Pharmacy:

Mon to Thurs 8.30 to 6.30, Fri 8.30 to 6.00 & Sat 8.30 to 12 Tel: 01252 612613 Boots, The Chemist, Fleet High Street

Mon/Tues 8.30 to 6.30, Wed 9.00 to 6.30, Thurs/Fri 8.30 to 6.30, Sat 8.30 to 5.30, Sun10 to 4.00 Tel: 01252 613698

Morrison's Pharmacy, Elvetham Heath Mon to Fri 8.30 to 8.00, Sat 8.00 to 8.00, Sun 10.00 to 4.00 Tel: 01252 786050


Join our Patient Participation Group (PPG) TODAY!

Our Fleet Medical Centre PPG meets about 5 or 6 times per year and has an active virtual communication dialogue comprising numerous areas that support the practice and its involvement in our local community. Our aim is to support the practice to improve services and access to them and promote and help with patient and practice communications. We welcome new members of all ages and backgrounds - to join please contact the Practice Director James Perrin, and he will put you in touch with our Chairman. Please help us to make a real difference to real people. We look forward to hearing from you.

The Fleet Medical Centre PPG

hanges to the gp team - fleet medical centrefleetmedicalcentre.co.uk/website/j82110/files/newsletter...

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