People living in Blackpool are being asked to donate funds to help buy a piece of life-saving equipment. Staff at the Blackpool Urgent Treatment Centre are raising money for a community defibrillator to be put in a busy and under-resourced part of the town.

A defibrillator is a device that gives a high energy electric shock to the heart of someone who is having a heart attack, also known as cardiac arrest.

Dr Peter Smith, GP partner for Bloomfield Medical Ltd said: “For every minute a victim of sudden cardiac arrest does not receive treatment, their chance of survival decreases by 10 per cent.

“If a defibrillator is used within one minute of the victim collapsing, the victim’s survival rate increases to 90 per cent.

“Help us improve the survival rate of those that could collapse nearby by donating today.”

Currently, the nearest community defibrillator is a 20-minute walk away, or four-minute drive from the urgent treatment centre

Community defibrillators are easy to use, easy to carry and they won’t deliver a shock unless it is required. There is no clinical training required to be able to use the machine.

Dr Smith also said: “Defibrillators allow everyday members of the public to become lifesavers by providing the all-important shock before our ambulance crews arrive. Even just two or three minutes earlier can make a huge difference.”

To donate, go to: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/butc

“All GP practices are required to declare the mean earnings (e.g. average pay) for GPs working to deliver NHS services to patients at each practice.
The average pay for GPs working in Ansdell Medical Centre in the last financial year was £70,136 before tax and National Insurance. This is for 2 full time GPs, 4 part time GPs and 1 salaried GP who worked in the practice for more than six months.”

Please be aware that the Surgery is closed on the following dates for staff training:

Wednesday 10/2/2016 from 12:00

Wednesday 2/3/2016 from 10:00

Please be aware that the Surgery Reception will not be open to collect prescriptions after these times.

On both dates, the Surgery will reopen as normal at 08:30 the following day.

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People living on the Fylde Coast are invited to give their views on how NHS money should be spent across the region at a series of events this week.

NHS Blackpool and NHS Fylde and Wyre Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) will work in partnership with the six other CCGs in Lancashire – Lancashire North, East Lancashire, Blackburn with Darwen, West Lancashire, Chorley and South Ribble and Greater Preston – to develop a consistent approach to health commissioning across the county.

In order to ensure polices are consistent and offer a fair approach across the county, a working group consisting of representatives from each of the CCGs, along with Public Health consultants and other health representatives has agreed to review and wherever possible develop joint polices across Lancashire.

Members of the public are invited to attend one of three public forums on Thursday to learn more about the proposals and give their views on them. The forums will take place at:

• 10am to noon, Solaris Centre, New South Promenade, Blackpool, FY4 1RW
• 2pm to 4pm, Thornton Little Theatre, Fleetwood Road, Thornton-Cleveleys, FY5 3SZ
• 6pm to 8pm, The Eco Pod, Queen Elizabeth II Park View Playing Fields, Park View Road, Lytham, FY8 4JE

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All comments received at the forums will be fed back to the CCGs and the working group as part of the development process. The CCGs do not intend to completely change the current policies, but update them to reflect changes to national guidance.

For the majority of patients this will mean little or no change to the services they can access.

Further opportunities for public involvement and feedback, including surveys and additional public forums or focus groups on individual clinical policies will be made available as they are developed and available for discussion.

More information about this work can be found at http://www.fyldeandwyreccg.nhs.uk/get-involved/policy-harmonisation.

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Notes:

• NHS Fylde and Wyre and NHS Blackpool Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) are the organisations responsible for planning and buying health services in their areas to meet patients’ needs. This is known as ‘commissioning’.
• NHS Blackpool CCG is taking part in this consultation process. However, it will be at the discretion of the CCG’s Governing Body to adopt the Lancashire wide Statement of Principles or any resulting clinical policies.

Improvements to our Appointment System from 23/10/2015

Here at The Practice we met with the Patient Participation Group to seek a solution to your concerns with the current appointment system. We want to make changes which will help you. We agreed that using a *Nurse Practitioner should improve things. Requests for urgent appointments will now be dealt with using a *Triage approach. We believe this will make “same day booking” more manageable, and will also increase the number of advanced bookable appointments for GPs.

We are pleased to announce this new Appointments System – which will begin this Wednesday, 28th October.

The key points:
• You can now ask for a “Pre-bookable Appointment” each day of the week, (rather than only on a Monday). These will be available up to seven days in advance.

• You can still request urgent same day care. The Nurse Practitioner and GPs will *triage these requests

• The Nurse Practitioner (or a GP) will call you back asap to discuss your needs. You will then be seen by the appropriate GP or by the Nurse Practitioner.

• If you see the Nurse Practitioner, but you require GP intervention, a GP will always be available to take over your care at that point.

• By implementing *triage appointments, we will free up extra pre-bookable appointments with GPs. This will improve your chances of choosing which GP you wish to see.

* Triage: the process of assessing patients and deciding how best to meet their needs
* Nurse Practitioner is a Nurse who has undertaken special additional education in order to provide advanced nursing care and prescribing.
**NB – You will still be able to book pre bookable appointments online but will need to telephone for urgent same day care

The Nurse Practitioner is qualified to see people with any of the following conditions:

Bites & Stings
Burns
Cold Sores
Colds, Flu & Nasal Congestion
Conjunctivitis
Constipation
Cough
Mouth Ulcers Ear Ache
Emergency Contraception
Eye Infection
Hay Fever
Head Lice
Heartburn&Indigestion
Impetigo
Cystitis Rash
Scabies
Sinusitis
Sore Throat/Tonsillitis
Vaginal Thrush
Urinary Tract Infections
Oral Thrush

We sincerely hope that these changes will make Appointments easier for you to access. There may well be some initial challenges for us all to cope with, and we ask your support as we deal with any hiccups. Please feel free over the next few weeks, to send us your feedback and comments about the new system. We will be listening.

Dear valued patient,

I would like to take this opportunity to ask for your patience and understanding with our present appointments situation.

We know that booking an appointment is difficult at times and we are doing everything we can to solve the issue for the benefit of you, our patient. We are short of a GP in practice and have advertised over a period of many months for a suitable GP to join our team and we received NO applicants. Unfortunately, this is a nationwide issue that many practices are facing. This is very disheartening for us as we know the impact this has on the availability of appointments for you. This is particularly important to those of you who value continuity of treatment with a specific GP.

We are taking the situation very seriously and are actively recruiting more clinical staff to help alleviate the problems we are having. We aim to have a beneficial system in place as soon as possible for all concerned.

I would like to ask you to consider if you really need to see your GP. There are many other wonderful resources within the community who may be better suited to assist you. As an example, your local pharmacy can help with ailments such as the common cold or hayfever. By taking a moment to think about the other resources available to you, you may be freeing up a valuable appointment slot!

Lastly, please consider the hard task our receptionists face on a daily basis when they have to tell patients that an appointment is not available. They have battled through some tough times and really are here to help you as much as they can under the current restrictions.

Kindest regards,

Yvonne McKean
Practice Manager

You may remember that last year we had a very big problem with the SMS reminder service in place whereby patients were receiving multiple messages to remind them of their appointments.

We have now changed the system that we use for SMS reminders and this is now up and running.

SMS and e-mail will start to be used more often for important Surgery information such as information on unusual Surgery closing times (Bank holidays etc).

With that in mind, please make sure that you update your mobile phone number and e-mail address if you would like to use this service.

We have had reports from patients that they are being contacted by companies regarding their medication. One company has asked patients to be their nominated EPS pharmacy, offering to deliver to patients free of charge (which most Pharmacies tend to do for patients anyway), and another company asked a patient for financial details (credit card details) in exchange for a good deal on medication.

While we cannot recommend where patients choose to take their prescriptions, we would ask that all patients are vigilant when receiving phone calls from companies they have not heard of.

If you are in any doubts, contact the local pharmacy that you use most often for your medication and never give any financial information over the phone when somebody has called you.

Please be aware that the Surgery is now active for “EPS”. This means that if you have nominated a Pharmacy for a prescription to go electronically, it will now go through without the need for a printed prescription. Please contact your local Pharmacy for further information and to sign up to the service if you would like to.

Anybody not nominated to a Pharmacy can continue to collect their Prescriptions without problem

“Think! Why A&E?” That is the question patients across the Fylde coast are being asked as part of a new campaign.

To raise awareness of healthcare services, the campaign featuring six highly identifiable cartoon characters, has been devised by NHS Blackpool Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), NHS Fylde and Wyre CCG and Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to encourage people to choose the right NHS service for them and their families according to their symptoms.

It will reinforce the crucial message that A&E is for emergencies and life-threatening illnesses only, such as:

• Suspected heart attack
• Chest pain
• Unconsciousness
• Heavy blood loss
• Suspected broken bones
• Deep wounds such as stab wounds
• Severe breathing difficulties
• Head injuries

If someone is seriously ill or injured, and their life is at risk then 999 should be called.

Many people attend emergency service departments with minor ailments which could be better treated elsewhere. This puts extra demands on already pressured emergency departments, particularly during the winter period.

Coughs colds, sore throats, vomiting and other minor ailments such as sprains, do not necessarily require a trip to see a health professional. There is a range of alternative and more appropriate treatment options, such as:

1. Self care – Minor illnesses, ailments and injuries can be treated at home. Coughs, colds, sore throats, upset stomachs and aches and pains can be treated with a well-stocked medicine cabinet and plenty of rest.
2. Pharmacy – Pharmacists offer a range of health services. As well as dispensing prescriptions and other medicines, your pharmacy can provide free confidential expert advice and treatment for a variety of common illnesses and complaints, without having to book a GP appointment. You can find your nearest pharmacy by visiting the ‘services near you’ section of nhs.uk.
3. NHS 111 – This is a free telephone service, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You should call 111 if you urgently need medical help or information, but your situation is not life-threatening. When you dial 111, you will be directed to the best local services to make sure you get fast and effective treatment.
4. Walk-in or same day centres – These centres provide consultations, guidance and treatment for minor injuries and illnesses, as well as emergency contraception and sexual health advice. There are two centres on the Fylde coast, (locations can be found at www.whyaande.nhs.uk) both operating seven days a week from 8am onwards.
5. GP surgery – If you have an illness or injury that won’t go away, make an appointment with your GP. They provide a range of services by appointment, and when absolutely essential, can make home visits. If you need to see a GP outside of the surgery’s normal opening hours, telephone the surgery and your call will be forwarded to the GP out-of-hours service.

Blackpool GP and chief clinical officer of NHS Blackpool CCG, Dr Amanda Doyle, said: “There are often more appropriate alternatives which can help people get the right treatment more easily and quicker.

“We aren’t telling people who are in need of urgent medical attention not to attend our emergency departments but ask people to consider whether they actually need to go or could be seen and treated elsewhere.

“Pharmacists and the NHS 111 service are excellent alternatives that people can contact should they need any advice on minor ailments.”

Dr Tony Naughton, Thornton GP and clinical chief officer of NHS Fylde and Wyre CCG, said: “With people’s help we can reduce the pressure on busy emergency departments and ensure those who do need it are treated quickly.

“We want people to be better aware of the alternative services on offer to them and assess whether they actually need immediate urgent care before seeking it.”

Prof Mark O’Donnell, medical director at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “For the past few years we have seen a year on year increase in the number of people using emergency NHS services. We are asking people for their support, to make sure that we can give urgent and emergency care to those people who need it.

“Every minute that an A&E doctor spends treating very minor problems reduces the time they can spend attending to those who have suffered heart attacks, strokes and life-threatening injuries.”

Residents can now also visit the specially designed www.whyaande.nhs.uk website for information and advice on what to do if they, or a loved one, falls ill or gets injured.

ENDS

For further information please contact the media team on 01772 214213.