Deerness Park Patient Newsletter – August 2024

Posted by: Katherine - Posted on:

Welcome to our third edition of our patient newsletter.

APPOINTMENTS-ECONSULT

In February 2023 we introduced a “clinical triage” system (econsult) for appointments to comply with the government’s requirement to improve patient access.  This new system means that however you contact the practice, be that by telephone or using the online econsult, all requests are reviewed by a GP who decides which member of the practice team is the most appropriate to respond to your situation. 

This may mean for example you are offered an appointment with one of the wider team of clinical specialists at the practice which could be a GP, Advanced Nurse Practitioner or Health Care Assistant based upon the GP’s assessment of the information you have provided.

Just a reminder of how the appointment/econsult system works: –

There are several ways you can access the practice for medical help (please use econsult as your first choice when contacting us if you can)

  1. Via econsult online, on the app or via our practice website between the hours of 07:00am and 12:00pm. You do not need to register to use econsult, just click the get started button.
  2. If you are unable to use the econsult in this way, then you should phone the practice between the hours of 08:00am and 12:00pm…. you should find a much smaller call queue these days due to the online facility.
  3. Ask us when you are next in to send the econsult link to you via text- then you have it handy for whenever you may need it.

* If you are unable to use the online service, and you call the practice you will still be asked to provide details of your symptoms to a member of the reception team. This is to ensure the GP reviewing your request has all the information they need to make sure you are seen by the right member of the team.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

There is a GP on duty from 08:00am to 18:00pm who is responsible for reviewing all the requests for medical help that day. This is usually one of our GP Partners- Dr Kisler, Dr Lucas, Dr Samy or Dr Winchester. The GP uses the information provided in the econsult to determine what happens next, at times they may request additional information. They then work with the team to arrange appropriate care.

IN EVERY CASE THE GP MAKES THE DECISION ON THE OUTCOME AND APPOINTMENT. This could be a same day appointment- telephone or face to face with a GP, an advanced nurse practitioner or sometimes they may ask for further investigation from one of the nursing or Healthcare Assistant team ahead of an appointment with the GP or nurse practitioner. It may be that the appropriate appointment is a little further away- but will always be within 2 weeks.

In some instances, the GP may respond via text or may advise a referral into the local pharmacy.

Whatever the next step the GP decides, a member of the team will contact you and inform you of this.

RECENT UPDATES

  1. You will now hear an extra option on the phone line, which enables you to confirm and cancel any upcoming appointments without waiting in a queue.
  2. Since the call back function on the prescription line has proved a success, we have now added this function to the appointment line and lowered the threshold…no more hanging on the line. We will call you back.
  3. NHS England have printed a national blueprint on the total triage system adopted here at Deerness Park. Thank you all for your support in adapting to this change with us.

MEET THE TEAM

Dr N Beckett

Hello. I am a GP with a speciality interest in diabetes. I look after all patients with diabetes alongside Dr Samy here at Deerness Park. In addition to running one of the dedicated diabetes clinics in the practice, I also work as part of the outpatient diabetes team at Sunderland Royal Hospital. I am part of the Sunderland diabetes steering group which aims to support the delivery of improved health outcomes for residents in Sunderland living with diabetes.

You can find me in practice on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and usually work from our Suffolk Street branch in Hendon.

Lisa Osmiolowski

Hi, I am Lisa, your lead nurse here at practice. I oversee the nursing and healthcare team proving clinical supervision and leadership, as well as running my own clinics. I specialise in respiratory clinics- Asthma and COPD.

I have worked at the practice for 2 years now but have many more years’ experience as a registered nurse.

COME SEE US AND SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS

I will be holding further patient drop-in sessions, please come by and have a chat and share your thoughts on the service we are offering, its important to us to hear this.

Deerness Park Medical Group- Tuesday 20th August 10:00am-11:00am and Thursday 22nd August 14:00pm-15:00pm.

Bunnyhill Primary Care Centre- Wednesday 28th August 08:00am-10:00am and Wednesday 4th September 08:00-09:30am.

Thank you, Kirsty and the Deerness Park Team.