News
Carers Rights Day
It is Carers Rights Day on the 21st November.
With the aim of raising awareness of the challenges experienced by carers and to empower them with the information and support they may need.
It is crucial for carers to understand their rights and how they can access the support available. Therefore, we are taking the opportunity to raise awareness of the challenges faced by unpaid carers.
Our TV screens have a short video to try and raise awareness and we welcome all those who are not sure to reach out and discuss the options open to carers.
Our staff are able to signpost any carers to the appropriate support.
Ask yourself, 'Do you help to look after a family member or friend who would struggle without your support because of their illness, frailty, disability, mental health problem or addiction?'
If so, you are a carer and there is support available for you.
Non-urgent advice: UPDATE: A New Future for Park Surgery
As you may be aware, GP practices across the country have been facing a number of challenges over recent years, and this is true for the team here at Park Surgery. We are committed to providing the best possible care for our patients. In order to improve our services and safeguard the surgery for our patients now and for the next generations of local people, the partners realised some time ago that we needed to find new ways of working to secure the future of our surgery.
Over the past 18 months, we have been exploring opportunities to support the surgery so that we can continue to provide high quality NHS services for our patients for the long-term.
To ensure that we can do this, and after much research and consideration, in the coming weeks, we will be entering into a partnership with Operose Health. Our priority is to continue to provide the highest quality care for our patients and a supportive workplace for our valued staff. We believe this partnership will deliver this and enable us to make further improvements and ensure our patients can receive the care they need.
Please note, that you do not need to take any action and there will be no changes to the way you contact or access the surgery. You will remain a registered patient of Park Surgery and you will continue to see the same doctors, nurses and admin team members that you do now. You do not need to re-register with the surgery or register at another GP surgery.
Ultimately, we want to make sure that our GP surgery has a future, and that we can continue to care for our patients in the way that they deserve to be cared for. Without finding new ways of working, the future would have been uncertain.
The partnership will see Operose Health supporting us with the back-office functions and management systems of the surgery whilst we, the partners, continue as GPs and clinical leads.
Operose Health has established and experienced teams of HR, IT, governance and health and safety experts who will help to provide the more ‘behind the scenes’ functions, freeing up the team of GPs and healthcare professionals that you already know, to spend more time with patients. In addition, they will also bring in new technology, which will help the practice to run more smoothly and give patients even more ways to contact and engage with practice staff.
We would also like to offer our thanks to the dedicated members of our Patient Participation Group (PPG), for all their input and feedback.
We appreciate this change may be unsettling, but we are delighted to have secured a positive future for our surgery which allows us to continue to serve our patients and community.
Thank you for your continued understanding and support.
For any questions, please see the FAQ
The Partners
Menopause Cafe
Friends of Park Surgery Coffee Morning - Saturday 28th September
Would you like to join us for coffee and cake on Saturday 28th September between 10 am and 12 noon?
The coffee morning is for Park patients and will be held in the Methodist Hall, London Road. Some of the practice staff will be there and representatives from several local organisations, including Horsham Wellbeing, Community Links, Age UK, Good Neighbours, Health & Independent Living Support and Oliver Tree Cancer Support.
If you would like to come please let us know so we can make sure there is space for you. You can do this by emailing: friends.ofparksurgery@outlook.com with your name and the number of people coming with you.
Further, the Friends of Park Surgery newsletter is now available! Click here or on the next picture to view it.
For more information about Friends of Park Surgery please click here.
eConsult Update
Hello,
Hopefully i bring a useful update for those who find it difficult to contact us for administrative issues.
Our eConsult feature will now accept administrative queries during our opening hours (8am-6:30pm). This has been increased from the previous 1 hour it was open during 8am-9am.
Administrative queries include:
- Sick notes
- GP letters
- Test results
- General enquiries
We will not accept any administrative queries that are regarding an active medical problem!
This feature has only recently been developed by eConsult, and we jumped at this opportunity to make it easier for our patients to access us (previously, we could not split clinical & administrative eConsult's).
The benefits should be felt for everyone,
a) pateints able to use eConsult for administrative requests will no longer have to phone in to the surgery.
b) patients unable to use eConsult should find they are not competing with as many people for that phone call, reducing wait times.
We're excited about this change, and hope you find it useful. Please, if you can, try and use the eConsult feature for your next administrative request and see how easy it is!
Kind regards,
Elliott Makey
Data Manager
Friends of Park Surgery Newsletter!
Hello!
Following on from another great Coffee Morning organised by the Friends of Park Surgery (FOPS) - keep your ear to the ground for the next one later this year. We are happy to publish the latest newsletter!
View our latest Newsletter here!
If you'd like to receive our newsletters automatically you can sign up to our mailing list and you'll receive it by email next time.
Click here to join our mailing list!
Friends of Park Surgery Coffee Morning
Would you like to join us for coffee and cake on Saturday 27th April between 10 am and 12 noon?
The coffee morning is for Park patients and will be in the Methodist Hall, London Road. Some of the practice staff will be there and representatives from several local organisations, including Age UK, Community Link, Horsham Carers Support Group, the Community Fridge, RVS and Social Prescribers from the PCN.
If you would like to come please let us know so we can make sure there is space for you. You can do this by emailing: friends.ofparksurgery@nhs.net with your name and the number of people coming with you.
FOPS needs a new Secretary
An exciting opportunity to join the Friends of Park Surgery and have your voice heard:
FOPS needs a new Secretary
Can you spare a few hours every couple of months to help with the Friends of Park Surgery? Due to other commitments our Secretary has had to stand down. The role would initially involve sending out agendas and taking minutes, but could evolve to include more. If you might be interested, please contact us friends.ofparksurgery@nhs.net with your telephone number and our Chair will ring you to explain more of what is involved.
Thank you
Think Measles!
E-Consult Changes
Hello,
This news bulletin will hopefully alleve any concerns our patients may have about the E-Consult service.
Previously, the E-Consult forms would be sent to a 'eHub' set up by the Alliance for Better Care. However, this has now ended.
Park Surgery will now manage these forms in-house. However, due to capacity, you'll only be able to access the E-Consult form between 8am to 9am (previously 8am to 10am). This is to help with the phone load during the morning 'rush'.
We are looking at ways of expanding this service as it provides so much flexibility for you, the patient. We'll update you when we are able to do this.
There was a period of time between the ending of the 'eHub' and Park Surgery taking on this service. Unfortunately, there have been a number of E-Consults that were not actioned, for this we apologise and can reassure you that the issue is resolved and the service is back running as expected.
Warm Wishes,
Elliott Makey
Data Manager
Friends of Park Surgery Newsletter
The latest Practice Newsletter has been produced with the help of the Friends of Park Surgery and is available here
Letter to Patients
Implementation of the British Medical Association's Safe Working Guidance
We are writing to let you know that Park Surgery has implemented the BMA’s Safe Working Guidance over the last few months. This will mean the number of patient contacts each General Practitioner will complete over a working day will be capped at 25.
The practice will also be introducing an average 15-minute appointment schedule, based on each individual patients’ clinical needs. These changes are designed to create a safer environment for you, our patients, who are our priority, and also for all our clinical teams.
Recent surveys have shown GPs across the nation are facing an unmanageable workload, which at times is affecting their ability to provide safe care. General Practitioners are also retiring early, reducing their NHS commitments, or deciding to leave the profession. This is an unsustainable situation which must be addressed, and the BMA’s Safe Working Guidance is designed to help both you, as a patient, to receive better care, and your GP to provide it.
You will also continue to receive care from other clinical colleagues working at the practice. You may also be asked, depending on your medical symptoms, to contact NHS 111 or attend other local NHS services.
Kind regards,
David Holwell
Senior Partner
NHS population screening: information for trans and non-binary people
Coffee Mornings
