GP receptionists in Fylde and Wyre have been trained to assess patients’ needs by asking for some basic information about why they are calling, to make sure they get the right appointment or treatment.

This may not necessarily be with a GP but could be a practice nurse, health care assistant or community pharmacist. Alternatively, they may be offered a consultation over the phone, or advised to visit a walk in centre.

The system helps identify emergencies and very poorly patients sooner so they can be seen more quickly by the on-call GP rather than waiting for an appointment. It also makes sure practices make the best use of the skills available as not all problems need the skills of a qualified GP.

Practices are also required to have a recorded message of one of their GPs explaining why the person answering the call will ask for details and how this is of benefit to them and the practice.

NHS Fylde and Wyre Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) introduced the requirement for practices to make sure GP time is used to concentrate on the most poorly and make sure patients receive the best possible care in the right place.

Fleetwood GP Dr Adam Janjua, who is also deputy chair of the CCG, said: “In partnership with the CCG, practices across Fylde and Wyre have agreed to train staff to be that first port of call for patients.

“This is great news for patients because the receptionist will make sure they are able to get the right advice or support for their individual needs.

“We need people to understand that when the person who answers the phone at their GP practice asks why they are calling they are not being nosey. This is for a very good reason and will make sure they get the best possible care for their situation.”

Some practices have even created specific ‘healthcare navigator’ or ‘patient advisor’ roles. This person is dedicated solely to ensuring patients are seen by the right person, in the right place at the right time.

The Thornton Practice in Church Road, Thornton-Cleveleys, was one of the first to recruit to a number of ‘patient adviser’ roles.

Practice manager Amy Sissons said: “Our Patient Participation Group assisted in the development of the role and when asking fellow patients for feedback the consensus has been that patients are very accepting of our patient advisers and understand what we are trying to do.

“It has been going really well and the feedback has been positive so far. Our patients are quite happy to use other services that are not always based within the practice where it is appropriate. However we want to reassure patients that the systems in place ensure where it is clinically appropriate patients will get to see a GP.” [/column]

Notes:

• NHS Fylde and Wyre Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is the organisation responsible for planning and buying health services in the area to meet patients’ needs. This is known as ‘commissioning’.
• Led by family doctors (GPs), the CCG currently serves a population of 152,000 people across approximately 320 sq km of coast and countryside. The majority live in the urban towns of Fleetwood, Thornton, Poulton-le-Fylde, Kirkham and Lytham St Annes, but a significant proportion live in rural villages.
• The CCG receives a set amount of money from the government and is committed to spending this wisely for the benefit of local people.
• Giving you more choice is a priority of the modern NHS. More information is available at fyldeandwyreccg.nhs.uk/choice
• The NHS Constitution sets out your rights as an NHS patient: nhs.uk/choiceintheNHS/Rightsandpledges/NHSConstitution/Pages/Overview.aspx
• There are many ways to get involved in health service developments, including joining our Influence membership scheme or your practice’s patient participation group.

A Fleetwood flash mob aimed at putting a smile on the faces of local people will be the highlight of World Mental Health Day on the Fylde coast this year.

Together with Healthier Fleetwood, a community project aimed at improving local health and wellbeing, staff at Mount View GP Practice will be singing in the streets to raise awareness of mental health on Tuesday, 10 October, from 2pm to 4pm.

World Mental Health Day is held on 10 October every year with the aim of raising awareness of mental health issues and supporting work towards better mental health. According to NHS Digital, at any one time a sixth of the population in England aged 16 to 64 has a mental health problem.

This year the Day will focus on mental health in the workplace and to recognise this, Mount View Practice has also arranged a meeting on Monday 9 October bringing local employers together to discuss the promotion of positive mental health with the aim of launching a joint venture again in partnership with Healthier Fleetwood.

Dr Mark Spencer, GP at Mount View who has led the Healthier Fleetwood project, said: “Mental health is one of the biggest challenges we face in Fleetwood so this is a great way for us to promote an important message while having a bit of fun at the same time.

“We hope to work with some of our local employers going forward to do some work on promoting mental health in the workplace and this year’s World Mental Health Day could be a real catalyst for that.”

Also as part of the day, Blackpool Time to Change, which was set up to end mental health discrimination, has arranged a celebration event in the Spanish Hall of the Winter Gardens on Tuesday from 11am to 4pm.

The event aims to reduce mental health discrimination and stigma by highlighting positive mental health and wellbeing messages. The event will showcase the Fylde coast’s network of organisations and individuals that are passionately involved in providing mental wellbeing for all.

The Harbour mental health facility in Windmill Rise, Blackpool, will also host a special day of awareness-raising on Tuesday from 1pm to 7pm, which is open to the public.

The event, which will be opened by Mayor and Mayoress of Blackpool, Ian and Mavis Coleman, will feature information and activities including mindfulness, carer awareness sessions and the health and wellbeing resilience roadshow.

[column]

People living across the Fylde coast are to benefit from changes to the way NHS urgent care services are provided in the area.

From Monday, 2 October, Fleetwood Same Day Health Centre will offer both walk-in appointments and pre-booked appointments between 8am and 8pm, seven days a week. 

There are also plans in place to introduce bookable appointments at Blackpool Walk-In Centre in Whitegate Drive in the coming months.

Urgent care services will work as a network across the Fylde coast. If one centre is particularly busy, patients will be directed to an alternative service where they can be seen quicker.

[/column][column]

Patients will also be given alternative options if it is thought a different service would better suit their healthcare needs.

Dr Tony Naughton, clinical chief officer at NHS Fylde and Wyre Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and a GP in Thornton, said: “The services in Fleetwood and Whitegate Drive are open every day and can treat people of all ages. They can deal with many of the most common problems people often go to A&E for.

“People who have non-life-threatening ailments – such as strains or sprains, suspected broken limbs, minor head injuries, cuts and grazes, bites and stings – should go to one of these services if they are unable to make an appointment with their GP. If they are unsure they should call the free NHS111 helpline for advice.”

Further details of the urgent care services available can be found at www.whyaande.nhs.uk/urgentcare 

People living across the Fylde coast can now see a GP, nurse or other healthcare professional seven days a week thanks to a new service.

Anybody registered with a Blackpool, Fylde or Wyre doctor is now able to make an appointment in the evening and at weekends.

These additional appointment times are booked by calling your GP practice as usual. The appointments will be at Whitegate Health Centre for people registered with GPs in Blackpool and Cleveleys and, for people living in Fylde and Wyre, at either Fleetwood Health and Wellbeing Centre or Freckleton Health Centre.

This will mean that while people will most likely not see their regular GP they will still have access to an appointment at a more convenient time. All health professionals providing the appointment will have access to a patient’s medical record and therefore be able to update accordingly as required meaning that a patients usual GP will be kept up-to date.

These routine, non-urgent appointments can be booked up to a week in advance.

NHS Blackpool and NHS Fylde and Wyre Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), the organisations that plan and buy health services to meet the needs of local people, have worked with GP practices in the area to provide the additional appointments at more convenient times.

Many people struggle to attend appointments within the usual working hours for a number of reasons. This could be due to work commitments, parental responsibilities or reliance on a carer for travel and support at an appointment.

Dr Amanda Doyle, a Blackpool GP and Chief Clinical Officer at NHS Blackpool CCG, said: “Weekend and evening appointments will provide extra flexibility for people living across the Fylde coast.

“With the winter not too far away, these extra appointments will also hopefully help to relieve some of the pressure on other services.

“Patients may not see their usual GP but the service will ask for permission to access medical information so they are fully aware of the patient’s needs. The details of the appointment will be shared back with the patient’s regular GP so there is continuity of care.”

The organisations responsible for planning and  buying health services for people living on the Fylde coast are rated ‘good’ by NHS England. (more…)

Do you ever get out of breath doing the things you used to be able to do?

If the answer is ‘yes’, health professionals on the Fylde coast say it could be a sign of lung disease, heart disease or even cancer.

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A revolutionary local healthcare service is celebrating two years in operation.

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The cyber-attack that took down hundreds of electronic systems across the Fylde coast earlier this month has officially ended, NHS bosses have confirmed.

Many computers and other electronic systems used by the NHS across Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre were shut down after the ransomware attack – which began on 12 May – caused problems across the whole of the UK.

The hard work of NHS staff and IT colleagues meant services continued as normally as possible in both hospitals and doctors surgeries, with minimal appointments having to be cancelled.

There were 1,217 computers affected across the Fylde coast – 996 of which were at the hospital.

IT staff visited GP practices throughout the weekend to make sure they all had access to clinical systems to reopen on the Monday morning.

Seven days after the outbreak – Friday 19 May – 95 per cent of computers had been fixed, and all affected machines on the Fylde coast were back online by Monday 22 May, just 10 days after the cyber-attack began.

And NHS managers at NHS Fylde and Wyre and NHS Blackpool Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) and Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, who worked in partnership to deal with the effects of the cyber-attack, have now closed the incident.

In a joint statement, Tony Naughton, clinical chief officer at Fylde and Wyre CCG, Amanda Doyle, chief clinical officer at Blackpool CCG, and Wendy Swift, chief executive of Blackpool Teaching Hospitals, said: “We are pleased to report that we have now closed down the cyber-attack incident on the Fylde coast.

“The effects of this attack were felt across all of our organisations and we must pay tribute to our staff who have worked tirelessly to make sure services have continued to run effectively and safely for our patients.

“We also reiterate our thanks to people living across the Fylde coast who have shown a great deal of understanding during this time of difficulty.”

Regardless of the cyber-attack, people across the area are asked to consider thinking carefully about whether they need to access emergency health services in the area.

If you have a non-emergency health issue there are a number of services, such as walk-in centres and local pharmacies that can help

If you are unsure what to do, call NHS 111 or visit www.whyaande.nhs.uk

As May Bank holiday means more people will be out and about enjoying the extra free time in the garden, park or beach, health officials are reminding people to stay safe and make sure they use the correct medical services if they need them.

Bank holidays are notoriously busy for health services as GP practices are closed for the day and people aren’t sure where to turn to if they need advice. However, there are a number of options available and people are being urged to use the most appropriate service and not automatically go to A&E.

You should call 999 or go to A&E if it is a serious or life-threatening emergency. If you’re not sure you can call NHS 111 and they will be able to advise you where to go.

For less serious injuries or health concerns, you can visit the Walk-in Centre on Whitegate Drive in Blackpool or the Same Day Health Centre on Dock Street in Fleetwood which are both open as normal throughout the bank holiday.

Pharmacies are an excellent place to seek medical advice for minor ailments. Pharmacists are trained professionals with a wealth of knowledge on how to treat all sorts of conditions. Though some may be closed over the bank holiday below is a list of those that are open.

To view opening times during the bank holiday, click here

People living in Fylde and Wyre have been invited to join an influential panel that helps shape health services across the area.

The NHS Fylde and Wyre Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) ‘Influence Panel’ is looking to grow its membership to offer people in the area a real say in how their local NHS services operate.

The Panel has been running for two years and has so far helped the CCG as it looks to ensure the best possible services are being commissioned for patients across its area.

Over the past year, Influence Panel members have helped the CCG in the development of strategies around cancer, self-care and end of life care, Pharmacy+ Clinics, antibiotics awareness campaigns and public engagement.

Nick Milne, from St Annes, has been a member of the Panel for two years and has acted as chair at a number of meetings.

Mr Milne said: “Our local CCG, to its credit, places a real emphasis on public engagement and it has been really pleasing to see them truly embracing some of the suggestions and observations we have made during the panel meetings.

“They are a great way to keep up-to-date with all that is going on in the local NHS and it is a way for members of the public to make sure their voices are heard when key decisions are made.

“We will all need to use our local health services at some point in our lives and I would urge everybody to register an interest in joining the Influence Panel.”

Kevin Toole, CCG Governing Body lay member for patient and public engagement, said: “The Influence Panel has already been instrumental in helping us to design new and innovative services that are now benefitting the people of Fylde and Wyre.

“It has been very pleasing to see this group of people come together and give us some great feedback, suggestions for changes and observations on planned services.

“We really appreciate the work of our existing Influence Panel members but to ensure we have as broad a spectrum of people helping to shape our services we would love to bring in some new faces.

“We would really like to have more input from younger people, especially young mums, as these are really valuable voices that so often go unheard.”

Anyone wishing to join the Influence Panel must be a member of the CCG’s Influence membership scheme.

The Influence membership scheme is free to join and helps the CCG to stay in touch with local people.

Those who register receive occasional email messages and news releases about new services and other developments in local healthcare, as well as an opportunity to have your say by receiving invites to take part in surveys or focus groups.

To sign up, visit www.fyldeandwyreccg.nhs.uk/influence or for more information email [email protected]

Notes:

• NHS Fylde and Wyre Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is the organisation responsible for planning and buying health services in the area to meet patients’ needs. This is known as ‘commissioning’.
• Led by family doctors (GPs), the CCG currently serves a population of 152,000 people across approximately 320 sq km of coast and countryside. The majority live in the urban towns of Fleetwood, Thornton, Poulton-le-Fylde, Kirkham and Lytham St Annes, but a significant proportion live in rural villages.
• The CCG receives a set amount of money from the government and is committed to spending this wisely for the benefit of local people.
• Giving you more choice is a priority of the modern NHS. More information is available at fyldeandwyreccg.nhs.uk/choice
• The NHS Constitution sets out your rights as an NHS patient: nhs.uk/choiceintheNHS/Rightsandpledges/NHSConstitution/Pages/Overview.aspx
• There are many ways to get involved in health service developments, including joining our Influence membership scheme or your practice’s patient participation group.