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THURSDAY 27TH FEBRUARY 2020 - Please note that Dr Chandni Radia and Angela Coshell will be doing the Open Surgery at Fairlight Road.

Coronavirus : What you need to know Wuhan poster

“Celebrating culture and diversity"

 “Celebrating Diversity” Event at the Lawn Tennis Centre in Eastbourne on Saturday 29^th February. See the flyer for more information: Celebrating culture

Statement on Little Ridge site

Please see the statement below from Dr Milan Radia and Dr Linda Parker regarding the Little Ridge site:

The Little Ridge site is a temporary satellite site for the Beaconsfield Road Surgery, taken at short notice after the collapse of the Cornwallis Group of Practices. 

It is a substantial distance from our practice area and is only a temporary measure until the new Beaconsfield Surgery is built. 

The reduction in opening hours at Little Ridge Satellite site is compensated for by an increase in opening hours on other sites – there has been no reduction in hours or appointments; in fact, opening hours have increased overall – we now do not close for lunch at either Beaconsfield or Fairlight Road, and are open until 6pm on both sites too. This is in contrast to several other local surgeries. 

The reason for the change is to allow safer working for more junior staff, as well as greater efficiency of administration. This will happen to a larger extent when the new building opens in the Ore Valley, when it is anticipated that all three sites will close for us, and all patients and staff will manage in the new building.

Our service provision at Little Ridge was always a time limited position, until the new building was completed – this was the agreed position effective from November 2017, when we took on the challenges of working there, despite the fact that it is well outside our practice area, after the unfortunate events at the Cornwallis Group.

We deliver high quality service under the challenge of working across 3 sites, and our efforts have been recognised in a “good” rating by the CQC in all their domains individually, as well as overall.

In order to continue to do this, we have recruited new clinical and administrative staff. However, these staff are relatively inexperienced. As a consequence, it has been necessary to use more rooms on other sites, in order to ensure that we can still provide a full complement of services, and that younger or less experienced staff are fully supported. 

Therefore, it’s been necessary to close the Little Ridge site on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

We would clarify that there has actually been NO reduction in number of appointments offered, and point out that there have been no actual clinics held on this site on these days for several months; the site has been open for administrative purposes only.

We still offer ‘Open Surgery’ clinics on Mondays and Fridays at Beaconsfield Road, and Thursdays at Fairlight Road. Patients are guaranteed to be seen if you book in before 10.30am at any open surgery.

Patients can phone at in the morning for ‘book on the day’ appointments; some appointments are also released at 8.30am for the NEXT working day, subject to availability (24 hour access appointments). 

Note that on Open Surgery days, ‘book on the day’ appointments for the afternoon are AVAILABLE after open surgery access ends, from 10.30am. We offer online appointment booking (Patient Access), as well as online consulting through the "Engage Consult" facility; both of these require some registration first.

Extended Access evening slots are offered through the Federation Scheme (booked in advance only) every weekday evening and Saturday mornings - specifically, we take part in this scheme ourselves on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday nights, and monthly Saturdays in a rota system.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

Changes to Surgery opening hours in 2020 (from 6 January 2020)

All calls will be handled at the Beaconsfield Road or Fairlight Road sites only.

TELEPHONE OPTIONS - THE MAIN BEACONSFIELD ROAD SITE IS NOW OPTION 2.

The flu virus can live for many hours on hard surfaces and therefore practising good hand hygiene can limit the spread of germs and transmission of flu. People are advised to catch coughs and sneezes in a tissue, bin it, and then wash their hands afterwards to kill the germs. Practising good hand hygiene and giving eligible people the flu vaccine is the best defence against the virus. 

MESSAGE FROM EAST SUSSEX HEALTHCARE TRUST

Come and join us at the next ESHT public event on the 24 February 2020, 10.00 to 12.30 at Bexhill Health Centre, Hollier's Hill, TN40 2DZ

At the February meeting, we hope to discuss with you our plans and the progress we are making to transform outpatients’ appointments, give people more information about their health and better support people when they leave hospital after an inpatient stay.

Public meeting poster

TEST RESULTS

Please allow 1 week after your test before ringing for results. Please ring 01424 755355 between 11am and 1pm and select option 1 (Monday - Friday only).

Our reception staff are not qualified to comment on results, therefore it is your responsibility to check them and make any necessary follow-up appointment with the doctor.

Please note that we do have a strict policy regarding confidentiality and data protection. In this respect we will only give out results to the person they relate to unless that person has given prior permission for their release or if they are not capable of understanding them.

New - Online Consultations

You can now contact the surgery online to tell us all about your medical problem or ask an admin question.
Completing an Engage Consult questionnaire allows us to quickly and safely decide on the best way to help you, your child or an adult in your care.

If you send us a request within our SAME DAY RESPONSE HOURS you will hear back from us on the day, usually within 7 hours. 
If you create an account for Engage Consult, you can also receive replies online, rather than by phone.
Click on the link below to access our Engage Consult Online Consultation service.

We now have a Facebook page. Simply search for 'Beaconsfield Road Surgery, Hastings' to 'like and follow' our page. We will have regular updates on clinic information and useful tips on healthy living and local community activities.

In-house Physiotherapist

We now have an in-house physiotherapist. He will be based at the Little Ridge site and work all day on a Monday. You can book in directly to see him, no need to see a doctor first! The following criteria apply:

• All soft tissue injuries, sprains,
strains or sports injuries
• Arthritis – any joint
• Possible problems with muscles,
ligaments, tendons or bone,
eg tennis elbow, carpal tunnel
syndrome, ankle sprains
• Spinal pain including lower back
pain, mid-back pain and neck
pain
• Spinal-related pain in arms or
legs, including nerve symptoms,
eg pins and needles or
numbness
• Changes to walking
• Post-orthopaedic surgery

Please note he does not see under 16s.

Please ring 01424 755355 to book to see our Physiotherapist 📞👨‍⚕️

OPEN SURGERY AT FAIRLIGHT ROAD

In the interest of patient safety, please be aware that if Dr Parker is on duty, she cannot see an unlimited number of patients. When there is another clinician available, Dr Parker’s appointments will be capped and then patients will see an alternative clinician.

We are pleased to announce that we are now offering more access in the evenings and on Saturdays.

These appointments are only bookable up to 5 days in advance.

Please note that the Surgery and telephones will not be open routinely on Saturdays.

Access to the Surgery will only be granted to patients who have pre-booked these appointments. The Surgery will not be open for any other business.Improving Access

Cancellations

If you cannot attend an appointment for any reason please inform us as soon as possible in order for us to give the slot to someone else. Due to an increase in the number of wasted appointments through patients failing to attend without informing the surgery it has become necessary to implement the following policy:

If you fail to attend for 3 appointments with a doctor or a nurse you may be removed from the practice list and be requested to find an alternative practice.

206 patients failed to attend their appointments in December 2019 and did not cancel, so these were wasted appointments. Please ensure you cancel your appointment if you no longer need it so that it can be offered to someone who does need it.