It’s been lovely to see the sun recently but hasn’t it been chilly ? Let’s hope that North East wind subsides soon!
Apart from a month of bank holidays, it’s been a busy time for the surgery and for us as patients on the receiving end of the many changes being implemented, from how we check in for our appointments to how we access the medical help and support we all need from time to time. We in the FPS committee are patients of the surgery like you; we’ve all experienced how hard it is to adapt to the changing world, and at times have become very frustrated when things don’t quite work in the way we want it to – certainly I know I have!
Remember that we are there as a link between us, the patients, and the surgery, so we are happy to hear from you about how things are working for you. We are aware of many of the difficulties, probably the most pressing being getting through to the surgery and communication in general, but you’ll see if you read on, there is information about the new process using AccuRx, which may go some way in alleviating some of the difficulties. We’d love to hear your own experiences of using the system – good or not so good.
In the meantime, we’re planning events for the rest of the year, supporting the surgery in any way we can to improve the patient experience – have you seen the video being shown in reception about Patient Access and the new check in sign? Simple things but, we hope, helpful.
We hope you enjoy the bank holiday month in as good health as possible!
Yvonne MetcalfFPS Chair
News from the surgery
One of the top concerns raised by patients is always how difficult it is to get through to the surgery by telephone to ask a query or access same-day triage services.
Like many local surgeries, Parkwood is now using AccuRx, an online system where you can submit an admin query or detail medical symptoms. Patients will have received a text about this at the beginning of April.
The online form asks a series of questions. This will help the doctor to determine how soon you need to be seen, and which service would best fit your needs – whether that be a GP, a nurse, or a pharmacist.
Some patients will be provided with a same-day appointment, if they need to be seen that day. Less urgent cases will be contacted within 48 hours.
This is intended to provide patients with another way of contacting the surgery, other than the lengthy telephone calls many have voiced their concerns about. It should then also leave the lines open for those less able to use online services, as these will still be available.
You can find out more about the system, including a helpful video guide, from the surgery website.
Routine appointments will continue to be booked in the usual way.
Check out the minutes of our meetings
The minutes from FPS’ monthly meetings are now available here. We hope this will improve the transparency for patients so you can see your concerns and queries are being raised.
Health Matters Webinars: accessing past sessions
We’ve had requests from patients who have missed a webinar or wanted to see parts of it again. These have been collated here and include talks on 11 different subjects, including heart health, liver health and prostate issues.
Supporting you with Patient Access
As the surgery moves to using Patient Access as the primary way of ordering repeat prescriptions, we’ve produced this guide to help you register and use this website. This now includes new videos.
HWEDSG Webinar: Diabetes Complications – Kidney and Heart
The next Herts and West Essex Diabetes Support Group webinar focuses upon the impact diabetes can have upon the kidneys and heart. It takes place on Monday 15th May from 7.00-8.00pm, and you can register for free here.
Health Matters Webinar: Love Your Heart
The next Health Matters webinar is on heart health on Tuesday 23rd May 2023 from 6.30pm – 7.30pm. You can register on EventBrite here for free.
Want to stay up to date?
One easy way to keep up to date with FPS’ events is to follow us on our Facebook page. Every time we update the website, we’ll post a link there!
Unsubscribe from FPS communications
From 19th September 2022, the surgery took over communications on FPS’ behalf, in order to reach a wider number of patients. You can find out more about this on the surgery’s website, including how to unsubscribe if you would like to stop receiving communications from FPS.