GHR & Eaglebridge Primary Care Network: Provision of our services outside the normal practice hours.
As you may be aware NHS England (who commission our practices services) have set out a requirement that practices work together to ensure that patients are able to access services outside our normal hours of work (8.00am to 6.30pm Monday to Friday).
GHR and Eaglebridge Primary Care Networks cover the following practices:
Grosvenor Medical Centre
Hungerford Medical Centre
Rope Green Medical Centre
Millcroft Medical Centre
Earnswood Medical Centre
GHR and Eaglebridge PCNs have produced a plan based on services being provided from the individual practices and from a local practice-based Hub on Friday and Saturday.
This way of working is not new to us, we have been providing so called Extended Access services for the last five years, including the ability for our patients to access services locally on Saturdays.
The times we provide extended access services from our practice bases have been determined by analysing the preferences of our patients over the last five years, in particular we have been keen to offer services to enable patients who work a distance away from the practice to access services.
Each practice is currently publicising when services are available and we are proposing to add further services to our existing provision, from October 2022.
In addition to the services provided from each practice we are working with our neighbouring practices to offer appointments across the week and on Saturdays. As always, the availability of appointments will be dependent on our capacity, however, please ask the practice receptionist if you would ideally like an appointment outside the normal core hours. It is important to stress that the number of appointments offered outside the normal hours will only be a small proportion of our total appointments, as it is important that we do not undermine our normal level of service particularly given the current high levels of demand and our workforce challenges.
As we have stated we are sure that the time our practices provide services (outside of core hours) reflects the preferences of our patients, but we would be pleased to hear your views so that we can continue to evaluate the best times to offer services.
Happy Hearts – Together we can reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke during Covid-19
Health services, local authorities, charities and other partners across Cheshire and Merseyside are working together to prevent heart attacks and strokes.
The Cheshire and Merseyside Happy Hearts website is aimed at helping you to reduce your risk of stroke and heart attack by giving you lots of information and tips on keeping your heart happy. The website shares local, practical information on:
- how to live healthily and stay well
- conditions that increase the chances of having a heart attack or stroke, such as
- atrial fibrillation
- high blood pressure
- high cholesterol
- how and where you can get your numbers checked
- how you can help to manage and control these conditions to lower your CVD risk
Visit the Cheshire and Merseyside Happy Hearts website to find out more.
Serious Shortage Protocol for HRT gels
The NHSBSA have released new Serious Shortage Protocols (SSPs) for HRT products.
The SSPs apply to Oestrogel pump gel, Sandrena 0.5mg and 1mg gel sachets and Lenzetto spray.
Pharmacies are now allowed to switch patients to patches if they are unable to obtain a supply of the gels.
Pharmacies are also allowed to restrict the quantities to 3 months’ supply without contacting the prescriber.
Local pharmacies have been contacted to ensure they are aware of the SSPs.
Please note that you do not need to contact your GP, your Pharmacist will be able to look into this for you.
Online Mental Health Tool Available to South Cheshire and Vale Royal Patients Praised by BBC
Bright Sparks, a website produced by BBC Global News Ltd, a commercial company owned by the BBC has praised Big White Wall, a free online mental health support tool, available to patients in South Cheshire and Vale Royal, in an article about good uses of social media.
The article stated, “One website that has been praised by leading psychologists is Big White Wall, which is available in Canada, New Zealand and the UK. Inspired by the early days of social networking, it’s a peer support community and now has partnerships with the NHS in keeping with best practice and the latest evidence.
They also personalise suggestions to you of how to help you feel better based on your interests. The Big White Wall gave me the testimony of one case study, who said: “I found it almost impossible to discuss with my parents and I was a bit frightened of disclosing it to my friends. Being able to talk online to other people about that was really, really useful. Otherwise, I would have kept it all bottled up.”
People, aged 16 +, living in South Cheshire and Vale Royal, who are going through a tough time or struggling with mental health issues and require some much needed support, can access a free online mental health support tool.
Big White Wall is a safe, anonymous online community of people who can help each other as well as having the benefit of trained professionals who ensure the safety and anonymity of all members. It also hosts a range of wellbeing tools to help with self-management.
70% of members reported feeling better as a result of joining Big White Wall, and 46% shared something for the first time with the community.
If you think Big White Wall can help you, just visit www.bigwhitewall.com and enter your postcode.
The full article can be found on Bright Sparks.
