BRUNTON PLACE SURGERY 9 BRUNTON PLACE EDINBURGH EH7 5EG DOCTORS Dr Suzanne Waterer MB, ChB, MRCGP, DRCOG, DFFFP Qualified 1982 in Dundee Dr Samuel Watt MB, ChB, MRCGP, BSc Qualified 2005 in Manchester Dr Iona MacCallum MB, BCh, DRCOG, MRCGP Qualified 2008 in Cardiff Dr Faye Porter MB, ChB, BSc (Hons), MRCGP, DRCOG Qualified 2009 in Liverpool Dr Julia Tapsfield MB, ChB (Hons), MRCGP, DFSRH, DTM+H Qualified 2007 in Liverpool TELEPHONE NUMBERS Surgery 0131 557 5545 Facsimile 0131 524 1188 1
INTRODUCTION Welcome to Brunton Place Surgery. Our address is 9 Brunton Place, Edinburgh EH7 5EG, phone number 0131 557 5545. We hold a General Medical Services (GMS) contract with Lothian NHS Board, 2 nd Floor, Waverley Gate, 2-4 Waterloo Place, Edinburgh, EH1 3EG phone number (0131) 536 9000. There has been a doctor practising from this address for over 100 years. The practice has expanded during this time from being single-handed, through a small family practice to our current size. The architect William Playfair, who was responsible for much of Edinburgh s fine architecture, designed the practice building, which is listed. Unfortunately, being listed limits the amount of adaptation we can undertake and therefore, we are unable to provide disabled access. It is the aim of all members of the practice team to provide appropriate health care equally to all our patients with either acute or chronic problems, and to promote good health through lifestyle advice. REGISTRATION If you wish to register as a patient of Brunton Place Surgery you need to be living within the practice boundaries and entitled to register as an NHS patient. Registration forms are available from reception. You would need to complete the form yourself, or have someone complete it on your behalf. All patients who register must provide proof of their address and ID, please refer to the advice sheet provided with your registration form. When the forms are completed please return them to reception. We only accept forms handed in by a prospective patient, so that the forms can be checked by a receptionist in their presence. Once registered as a new patient with the practice, patients are welcome to book an appointment with our Practice Nurse for a new patient health check up and review. If you prefer a particular doctor, e.g. female for a female patient, we will note this and do our best to respect your choice. However, not all the doctors in the practice provide all services and specific doctors may not be immediately available. PRACTICE AREA The practice area includes parts of districts EH1, 6, 7 & 8. Specific details are available at reception. We are unable to accept patients living outside the practice area. 2
SURGERY OPENING HOURS Monday Friday 8.00am 12.00pm & 1.00pm 6.00pm The surgery may occasionally be closed at other times for staff training CONSULTING HOURS 8.30am 10.20am 11.20am onwards Urgent Problem Clinic 1.30am 5.40pm Monday to Friday DOCTORS Dr Samuel Watt - Full Time Dr Suzanne Waterer - Part Time Dr Faye Porter Part Time Dr Iona MacCallum Part Time Dr Julia Tapsfield Part Time PRACTICE STAFF PRACTICE MANAGER ADMINISTRATION RECEPTION PRACTICE NURSES Caroline Houston Gemma, Gwynn and Eileen Helen, Issy, Lorraine, Janis, Heather, Donna & Heather Joanne Veitch RGN, FPCert, Dip in Asthma, Dip in Coronary Heart Disease, Dip in Professional Studies 1. Anne Kilgour - RGN, BA Community Health, FPCert, Dip in Asthma, Dip in COPD and Spirometry, Dip in Coronary Heart Disease, Dip in Diabetes, Dip in District Nursing Dip in Professional Studies, nurse Prescriber. Catriona Henderson RGN, BN Degree HEALTHCARE ASSISTANT Dot McManus SVQ2, SVQ 3 DISTRICT NURSE TEAM HEALTH VISITOR MIDWIFE Shona Battison, Chloe Lodge, Claire Bissett Claire Murphy Susan Simpson 3
MAKING AN APPOINTMENT You may consult any doctor however, you are encouraged to see the same doctor for a particular episode of illness where possible to ensure continuity of care. An appointment can be made by telephone, online or by calling at the surgery during normal working hours. If you prefer to see a male or female doctor, or a particular doctor or nurse, please make this clear when you contact the surgery to make your appointment. You may book an appointment up to 4 weeks in advance, with a doctor or nurse. Appointments are for 10 minutes and you must check in to advise us you have arrived. Please advise the receptionist if the appointment is for a first antenatal check or a postnatal check or if you think that your problem will require a longer consultation. If you feel that you require to be seen urgently, please make this clear to the receptionist who will book you into our Urgent Problem Clinic. If you are unable to keep your appointment please advise the surgery, giving as much notice as possible, so that the appointment may be offered to another patient. If you are more than 10 minutes late for your appointment, the doctor or nurse may not be able to see you and you may be asked to reschedule. ONLINE APPOINTMENTS Doctor s appointments at the surgery can be made or cancelled online via the website www.patient.co.uk 24 hours a day. To register for this service please ask a member of reception staff for details. URGENT PROBLEM CLINIC After the morning surgery the doctors run a session which is for urgent problems only. If you have a problem which cannot wait for the next available appointment, you should phone before 10.00am and a receptionist will give you a time to attend. You will be asked to provide the health problem for which you need treated urgently. This allows the duty doctor to triage and prioritise appointments based on clinical need. The Urgent Problem Clinic will only deal with the most pressing problem. This allows your problem, and those of other patients waiting, to be dealt with speedily so reducing waiting times and increasing efficiency. This extra session must not be used for obtaining routine sick lines, prescriptions or test results. Adults should realise that many colds, coughs, sore throats and other minor infections will clear by themselves and do not require prescribed medications. Often advice from the pharmacist or symptomatic relief is all that is required. You do not require a doctor s certificate (sick note) unless you have been off work for 7 or more days. SELF CHECK IN Please read all the screens carefully once you have checked yourself in. The screen will advise you where to take a seat as the building has three levels and you may miss your appointment if you are not sitting in the correct waiting area. If you are waiting more than 30 minutes please approach reception. 4
PRE-BOOKABLE TELEPHONE CONSULTATIONS We also have telephone consultations, which can be booked in the same way as faceto face consultations with a doctor. You will be asked for your contact number home, mobile or work, and the doctor will phone you at a specified time about your problem. These are available as part of the doctor s regular surgeries. Occasionally you might be phoned later if the doctor is not running to time. TELEPHONE ADVICE Practice nurses are available for telephone advice between 12.00 and 12.45 by telephoning the surgery number 0131 557 5545. Please give the receptionist as much information as possible about your problem so your call can be prioritised appropriately. We are not able to return calls to a withheld number. HOME VISITS These should only be requested for patients who are too ill or infirm to travel to the surgery. When making a request for a home visit please phone before 10.30am whenever possible. The receptionist will ask you for some details about the problem to help the doctor decide how urgent your request is. You should also give clear instructions, such as address, stair or flat number and telephone number. The duty doctor will review requests for home visits each day and may give advice or suggest surgery attendance if appropriate. There are very few illnesses that could be made worse by a short trip to the surgery. URGENT/EMERGENCY CALL OUTSIDE NORMAL HOURS If you require urgent medical advice outside normal hours a doctor is always available. Out of hours calls are dealt with by Lothian Unscheduled Care Service, between 6pm and 8am Monday to Friday and 6pm Friday to 8am Monday. If you require urgent medical advice outside the surgery s opening hours please telephone NHS 24 on 111 (www.nhs24.com). A receptionist in the emergency call centre will answer your call and take your details. They will either arrange advice from a doctor or a nurse, invite you to attend an emergency centre to be seen or arrange a home visit. Leaflets about this service are available at the surgery. Out of hours is now the responsibility of Lothian NHS Board. Telephone calls to the out of hour s service are recorded. If there is a lifethreatening emergency dial 999 and ask for ambulance services. DISABLED ACCESS If you are a registered patient of the practice, are disabled and unable to access the building, we will visit you at your home as necessary. 5
REPEAT PRESCRIPTIONS If you are on regular treatment you will be given a computer sheet listing your medications. When you require a further supply of medication please tick the items you require on the computer printed list and hand, or post it into the surgery. If you do not have the computer form, please come to the surgery and fill out a medication request form. Or you can order online via the website www.patient.co.uk 24 hours a day. If a child is registered for this service, they will be responsible for their own log in details when they reach the age of 12. Please allow two working days for repeat prescriptions. Only patients who are 80 years old and over, and those who are permanently housebound may request their prescription by telephone. SPECIMENS Specimens should be handed in to the surgery before 2.00pm to ensure collection that day. RESULTS Results will only be given to the patient or parent/guardian. You may be asked to consult the doctor if this is more appropriate. PRACTICE NURSES Joanne Veitch, Anne Kilgour and Catriona Henderson are our Practice Nurses. They work 8.40 5.00 and they are available by making an appointment either at reception or by phone. Their services include: asthma, coronary heart disease, hypertension and diabetes management, health promotion and general advice, travel immunisations, cervical smears and family planning advice, leg ulcer and wound management, ear syringing, blood pressure checks, blood tests (mornings only). Dorothy McManus our Healthcare Assistant runs blood clinics on a Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday morning. DISTRICT NURSES District nurses provide home based nursing care for housebound patients who have acute and chronic needs. If you wish to contact a District Nurse please telephone 0131 454 2133 and leave a message on the answer phone. Our District Nurses work from 8.00am until 4.30pm Monday to Friday. Out-with these hours there is an emergency service and details about how to contact this service are left on the answer machine message. HEALTH VISITOR Claire Murphy is the practice Health Visitor. Her remit is in health promotion for pre school children and antenatal mothers. All consultations are confidential however, she shares a responsibility to disclose information to the relevant authorities should she have concerns about the welfare of a child. The health visitor can be contacted directly by phone. The telephone number is 0131 553 2526. This machine has a voicemail facility where messages can be left. The Health Visiting Service works Monday to Friday. 6
SERVICES PROVIDED INCLUDE All GP practices are contracted to provide essential services, that is basic treatment of ill people. We also provide the following additional services: CHILD HEALTHCARE CLINIC This is held on Wednesday afternoons with the Doctor conducting development checks. This system is run by appointment. BABY CLINIC You should contact the Health Visitors directly on 0131 553 2526 to discuss details of this clinic. CHILD IMMUNISATION CLINIC This is held on Wednesday afternoons and is run by appointment only. The appointments are sent out directly from the Child Health Department. CONTRACEPTIVE ADVICE All of the doctors and both practice nurses provide advice on all forms of contraception and emergency contraception. Contraceptive implants can be inserted at the practice by Drs Waterer, MacCallum and Porter. Coils can be fitted by Drs Waterer and Tapsfield. TRAVEL IMMUNISATION Our practice nurse will advise on travel immunisation and boosters. Please book at least 6 weeks before your intended date of departure. Please note the NHS does not cover certain immunisations and a fee will be charged. RESPIRATORY CLINIC Our practice nurse runs a respiratory clinic for the monitoring of patients with asthma and chronic obstructive airways disease. Please book with nurse Anne Kilgour MINOR SURGERY Our doctors can undertake a variety of minor surgical procedures including excision, biopsies and joint injections. These appointments can be booked with Drs Watt and Porter. MATERNITY SERVICES The Community Midwife Joan MacDonald runs a weekly clinic at the surgery on a Tuesday afternoon. This is by appointment only. NEW PATIENT CHECKS All patients between the ages of 5 and 75, who are new to the practice, can request a registration check, which is provided by our practice nurses. CERVICAL SMEARS It is important that all women aged 25-64 who are eligible for smears present for this examination as regular smears do detect cervical cancer. A letter will be sent to you directly from Lothian Health Board when your smear is due. Once you receive this please make an appointment with our practice. 7
PSYCHIATRIC CLINIC/PSYCHIATRIC NURSES We have close co-operation with our psychiatric colleagues. We have access to Community Psychiatric Nursing, who provide a service of continuing care and support in the community for those with mental illness. ADDITIONAL SERVICES We also hold contracts with Lothian NHS Board for the following enhanced services: - an annual flu immunisation programme to protect the elderly and patients at risk regular monitoring, by blood and urine tests, for patients on a range of drugs for arthritis and bowel problems annual comprehensive reviews for patients with heart disease, diabetes and stroke minor surgery including joint injections review monitoring for patients with drug abuse problems. SICKNESS CERTIFICATES You do not require a doctor s sickness certificate for any illness lasting 7 days or less. However, your employer may require you to complete a self-certificate form (SC1), which is available from your employer. For any illness lasting more than 7 days, you will need to see a doctor for a fit note and for any subsequent renewal of this certificate. INTERPRETING SERVICES There is an interpreting service available, which is provided by NHS Lothian. Please inform reception if you require an interpreter for you appointment. LEAFLETS The Practice has written information about various illnesses and conditions in the main reception area. If you need information on something not on display please ask our practice nurse for further information. CHANGE OF ADDRESS OR TELEPHONE NUMBER It is very important to advise us of any change of address or telephone number as failure to do so could cause unnecessary delay in an emergency. Failure to keep us informed may also result in Lothian Health Board removing your name from our practice list without your knowledge and this will also cause unnecessary delay in re-registration and obtaining your medical records. If you move out-with the practice area you must register with another doctor. We can provide information about how to find a new practice. 8
PRIVATE MEDICAL FEES A number of services are not available by the NHS and a fee will be charged prior to completion of the work for these. These include certain medical examinations such as HGV, sports, pre-employment, private sick notes, certain travel immunisations and certain insurance forms. A list of the fees is available at reception. GP s are not obliged to provide these services. Please note doctors do not complete passport application forms SUGGESTIONS, COMMENTS AND COMPLAINTS We make every effort to give the best service possible to everyone who attends our practice. The doctors and staff welcome any suggestions from patients, which will enhance the standard of care at the surgery. Suggestions can be made verbally or in writing to the Practice Manager. However, we are aware that things can go wrong resulting in a patient feeling that they have cause for complaint. If this were so, we would wish the matter to be settled as quickly and amicably as possible. Should any patient have reason to make a complaint it should be addressed to the Practice Manager in writing in the first instance, who will deal with the matter promptly in conjunction with the doctors. Complaints are handled within the practice using a system which meets NHS criteria. Further written information about the complaints procedure is available from reception. VIOLENCE If a patient acts in a violent or abusive manner towards any doctor, staff member or other person on the practice premises they may be removed from the practice s medical list, and will be required to register elsewhere. There is a special GP practice in the city to which violent patients may be referred. CONFIDENTIALITY We will respect patient s confidentiality at all times. All of the practice staff are bound by this duty and any breach of this duty would be treated extremely seriously. We aim to treat everyone with courtesy and respect, irrespective of ethnic origin, gender, religion, sexuality, age, disability or medical condition. We expect to be treated in exactly the same way. CONSENT TO THE TREATMENT OF CHILDREN The practice has a policy for consent to the treatment of children under the age of 16 that conforms to the current Children s Act. STUDENTS Nursing students attend the Practice from time to time. We hope that you will cooperate with us and help the students learn about general practice. You will be informed of their presence in advance, and if you do not wish a student present at a consultation your wishes will be respected. This will not affect your treatment in any way. 9
PATIENTS RIGHTS & RESPONSIBILITIES Patients have the right to: Receive treatment from a General Practitioner (GP Service) Have the treatment explained to you. Have a relative or friend with you. Decline to be treated in the presence of students or to be involved in medical trials. Have a chaperone e.g. when you are having an intimate examination we will try to arrange this for you. Have access to an interpreter or signer. Confidentiality. Have access to emergency medical care between 6 p.m. and 8 a.m. during the week, from 6 p.m. Fridays to 8 a.m. Mondays and on some public holidays, this service is for emergency medical conditions only and is provided by Lothian Unscheduled Care Service LUCS). Complain without discrimination. Receive treatment regardless of age, race, gender, social class, religion, sexual orientation, appearance, disability or medical condition. Have access to your medical records under the Access to Medical Records Act of 1990. You must apply on writing to the Practice Manager. PATIENTS RESPONSIBILITIES Be on time for appointments. Inform the surgery if you cannot keep an appointment. Inform the surgery or any hospital department or clinic you are attending if you have moved home or changed your telephone number. Use emergency services responsibly. Treat all health care staff politely. NON ATTENDANCE Brunton Place Surgery has a non attender policy. Should patients fail to attend 3 appointments within any 6 month period we will ask NHS Lothian to remove them from our patient list. If you cannot attend your appointment, please contact us in good time to inform us. If you do this we can usually offer the appointment to another patient. 10
INFORMATION SHARING/DATA PROTECTION The Practice complies with the Data Protection and Access to Medical Records legislation. Patients have a right of access to their medical records. If you wish to see your records you must submit a written request to us, and a fee may be payable. Identifiable information about you will be shared in the following circumstances: - - to provide further medical treatment for you, e.g. from District Nurse and hospital services - to help you get other services, e.g. from the Social Work Department. This requires your consent. - when we have a duty to others, e.g. in child protection cases. Anonymised patient information will also be used at a local and national level to help the Health Board and Government to plan services. If you do not wish anonymous information about you to be used in such a way, please let us know. 11-10-2017 11