New St Marys and Mulberry Surgeries community newsletter

Autumn 2024 edition

Welcome to our first newsletter. We aim to publish a newsletter quarterly to update you with information about our services, relevant health campaigns or events and ways you can get involved.

Since April 2024 St Mary’s and Mulberry surgeries have merged. We will continue to offer you services locally but will be increasingly working together as a team across all our sites to help us develop our services for the future.

For more information about the merger please visit this page.

 

Seasonal Health Updates

Autumn is a good time to start preparing for the colder and wetter winter months. Patients who are eligible should ensure they are up to date with relevant vaccinations. In October, we will be offering flu vaccinations for:

  • people over 65's
  • individuals with certain long-term conditions

If you are eligible, we will send you a text encouraging you to book an appointment for a vaccination at the practice. Similarly, COVID autumn boosters will be available in due course for eligible patients and can be accessed at various local pharmacies.

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care

Care Navigation and triage

We are developing our triage and care navigation services to help us decide on the best course of action to meet your health needs. This ensures we can prioritise your care when you need it most and make the best use of all available options.

Our reception team may ask you a few questions to better understand your health needs. For some appointment requests, our reception team will consult with our triage doctors. The triage doctor reviews the information you provide and may check your clinical records. We will then determine the best course of action based on your needs.

Sometimes, we might provide self-care advice, or we may signpost you to a local pharmacy or other services like the Urgent Treatment Centre.
In other cases, we might book you an appointment with a doctor, nurse, paramedic, or another healthcare professional. We will always try to match you with the best care option to meet your needs.

We kindly ask for your patience and cooperation as we develop our triage and care navigation services. Our team are working hard for you, and these arrangements will ensure we are here when you need us. We will try to offer appointments at your usual surgery location, however, if your healthcare needs are urgent and you can travel, we may offer you an appointment at another one of our surgery sites.

 

Health Campaigns

October: Stoptober

Encouraging the nation’s smokers to make a quit attempt for the month of October and beyond.

For more info please visit the NHS website.

November: Movember

Men's Health Awareness Month. Responsible for thousands of moustaches on men’s faces, aiming to raise vital funds and awareness for men's health.

For more info please visit the Movember website.

December: 16 Days of Action Against Domestic Violence

A time to galvanize action to end violence against women and girls.

For more info please visit the Who website.

 

The NHS App

The NHS app allows you to securely access your GP health record with information regarding your current or past prescriptions and book, amend or cancel appointments.

For more information please visit the NHS App website.

the-nhs-app-april2022

 

Getting Involved: Patient Participation Group

We have recently re-established PPG, providing an opportunity for patients who are interested to comment on our services and be involved when we are planning any changes. Our PPG members also help us to share information between the surgery and the community we serve.

If you are interested in joining our PPG, please sign up here.

Published: Sep 20, 2024