for the patients of The Roseland Surgeries 

Forthcoming Bank Holidays:- 

Christmas Eve Tues 24^th Dec – open as usual

Christmas Day Wed 25^th Dec – CLOSED

Boxing Day Thurs 26^th Dec – CLOSED

Friday 27^th Dec – all open as usual 8.30 am

Sat 28^th  Dec/Sun 29^th Dec – closed

Monday 30^th Dec – open as usual 8.30 am

New Year’s Eve Tues 31^st Dec – open as usual

New Year’s Day – Wed 1^st Jan – CLOSED

Thurs 2^nd Jan – open as usual 8.30 am 

If you need a GP for a medical emergency, i.e. chest pain, when the surgery is closed, please call 999.  For medical advice that cannot wait until the surgery opens, please phone NHS111 and they will direct you appropriately.  Please remember to order your medication taking into account the days we are closed over the festive season.  Please do NOT call the emergency services for repeat medication.  Please note though that your local pharmacy will be able to give you an emergency supply if you inadvertently run out of medication. 

‘Flu Clinics for the 2019 Season 

We still have a small number of ‘flu vaccinations available.  If you haven’t yet had your vaccine, please call us as soon as you can to get this done.

Your GP recommends this for patients at risk which include those over the age of 65 years, those with a chronic condition such as diabetes, heart/lung/kidney disease, those who are immunocompromised, pregnant women and those who care for someone.  You do not need to be a paid carer to be eligible for a free vaccination.  You may be the main person looking after an elderly or disabled person, perhaps you are in receipt of Carer’s Allowance, or you’re just helping a relative get dressed each day and/ or manage their medication.  If this applies to you – please get your flu jab.  By doing so, you will not only be protecting yourself, but you’ll be protecting the person you care for.

‘E-Consultations’ 

We are excited to announce that we will soon be launching eConsult for our patients. The service will be accessible via the practice website and will enable patients to access safe and efficient advice for their health conditions as well as request a consultation with their GP. 

Many surgeries across the country are now offering their patients the opportunity to contact the surgery with a very specific ‘e-consult’ form in which the patient identifies what their need is.  This might be that you need an appointment with a doctor but because of work commitments you struggle to ‘phone in, when we are open.  You might want a ‘fit’ note for work to be renewed, or results from investigations recently undertaken at the surgery.   Some of the things that you need from your surgery won’t necessarily mean that you need an appointment with a doctor.  Equally, if you find it difficult to contact us, completing an ‘e-consult’ form at home when it suits you, can be very appealing.

This is NOT a replacement to you seeing a doctor or nurse – but it IS an opportunity for us to help you get the right advice from the right person in the most suitable way.  eConsult has created a video which outlines how the system works:- 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3A0d5apJAmQ 

When we receive your e-consult request, it will be processed by a trained member of our administrative team.  Your request will be signposted to the right person – so if you think you need a GP appointment, a task will be sent to the duty doctor that day.  If you need travel advice, we can email you back with the appropriate forms to complete for the Practice Nurse.  We will get back to you within TWO WORKING DAYS, so this is NOT for urgent clinical problems and you must ‘phone into reception if you think your issue is urgent.

We also want to reassure our patients that the company who provide this service has gone through rigorous accreditation with NHS England and no-one at that organisation has any access to any of your information, medical or demographic.

Appointment times for GPs 

We have slightly altered how we are seeing patients now and as part of that alteration, we have increased the length of the routine GP appointment time from 10 minutes to 15 minutes as standard.   We hope that this will mean greater satisfaction with your consultation. 

Are you a Carer?

Many people in our community care for another person – whether that is a family member, neighbour or friend.  Often care happens informally, i.e. you don’t get paid, but that doesn’t stop you being able to access support and guidance if you need it.

We are aware of an organisation called Kernow Carers Service who support all informal carers in the county and can offer information, advice and guidance/support. They are also commissioned by Adult Social Care to deliver assessments on carers if requested to do so.    Further information can be found here:   https://www.supportincornwall.org.uk/kb5/cornwall/directory/carers.page

You can access them directly by calling 0800 5878191 or 01872 323535, or alternatively, we can refer you to them.  They also run regular forum meetings and you can contact their Forums Administrator, Chris Perry on 01872 243530 or email: chris.perry@cornwallrcc.org.uk or information is on their website.

Medication collected by a representative:

Sometimes it can be difficult to collect your medication yourself.  Sometimes you might need your husband or wife to collect it on your behalf.  With the advent of the very particular rules and regulations covered in the General Data Protection Regulations 2018 (commonly called GDPR) and the stringent confidentiality rules that we must abide to, it is becoming more and more difficult for us to take what could be considered the ‘common sense’ approach.

We are very lucky that as a small practice, we know most of our patients very well.  However, if a new face comes to the desk asking for your medication, we will insist on seeing ID for that person, and we will also have to call you, to make sure that the representative at the desk has your permission to collect your medication.  Please do let that representative know that this may happen.  We do not wish to offend or in any be obstructive.  However, it is YOUR medication, and YOUR personal details (name/address) is on the label on the front of the medication bag.  We have a duty to ensure that your data is safe, and not given to anyone without your express consent to do so.

We must also point out that we are not allowed to give any medication bags to anyone under the age of 16, so please do not ask your son/daughter/grandchildren to pop in for you,  if they are under age.  Many thanks.

Season’ Greetings: 

As this will be the last newsletter of 2019, the doctors, nurses and staff of The Roseland Surgeries would like to wish all of our patients, their families and carers a very happy and healthy Christmas and our warmest wishes for the New Year.

Nicola Davies

Practice Manager 

Dr. Will Hynds   MA  MB  BChir   MRCGP  DRCOG  DCH

Dr. Terese Tubman  BMed   MRCGP  DipFFP

Dr Jonathan Jacoby   MB  BCh  BSc (Hons)   MRCGP

Dr Mark Stephen  MB  BCh BSc MRCGP DRCOG