List size

There is a lot of house building going on in our practice area. We have already seen a big increase in the number of patients registered with the practice. With there being lots of houses still being build we anticipate our list size will continue to grow. There is a lag between our list size increasing and the practice being granted funding to increase staffing levels. So this growth could potentially affect how long people have to wait to get an appointment to see us.

Staffing changes

We are pleased to introduce Deborah Melia, our new practice manager. Here role is to ensure the whole practice runs smoothly and efficiently.

We've had a run of many of our long term staff reaching retirement age. We thank them for the dedication and the service they've given the practice over the years. We also welcome our new enthusiastic and very able team members, to take their places. They are, without exception, lovely people, who bring with them new ways of working, and are all motivated to do their best to help out patients.

Two-week wait target for GP appointments

Working with our neighbouring practices, as part of the Mast Primary Care Network, we are addressing the access to appointments changes that have been imposed on us in the new GP contract. As of the 1st April 2023 we need to be working towards offering patients "an assessment of need, or signposted to an appropriate service, at first contact with the practice". So the changes outlined below will not happen overnight.

The implications of the change are that:

• We will be unable to give GP appointments to patients just because they want or feel they need one
• You will not be able to book a review appointment straight away if it needs to be more than 2 weeks in advance
• You may be offered a very different way to deal with your problem than you have experienced before
• We will stop advising people to phone back another day to try get the service they prefer
• We may have to offer you appointments in advance and not on the day you contact us

This is not the way we would choose to operate. Some doctors feel that this way of working, that has been imposed on us without consultation, may cause irreparable damage General Practice.

We are now required to see those who need to see us within two weeks, and to signpost those who don't to an appropriate service.

Our reception staff will be receiving accredited NHS Care Navigation Training. They may, for example, offer you an appointment with a pharmacist, a physiotherapy or may feel you have a problem that is suitable to be dealt with via an online consultation (using PATCHS).

In most cases, if you use the PATCHS function on our website to submit details of your problem, you will receive a response within 24 hours, and often within a few hours. We encourage patients to use this facility. (It is possible that the outcome will be that we decide we do need to offer you a GP or Advanced Clinical Practitioner appointment).

Though the new way will be very different for both Patients and Practices, it may deliver speedier access to care, and solve the problem of sky rocketing demand for GP appointments.

Check your blood Pressure

It is a good idea for all adults, particularly those over the age of 45, to have their blood pressure checked regularly. Raised blood pressure does not necessarily have any symptoms, but can be a risk factor for developing a range of health problems including heart disease and strokes. We have set up a room at the surgery, where all our patients can pop-in, without an appointment, and check their own blood pressure.

For those who have purchased, or have access to their own home blood pressure monitor, we like to make an assessment of the blood pressure by analysing a weeks worth of home blood pressure readings. We have created a chart to record the readings. When complete these sheets can either be brought into the surgery, or sent to us using PATCHS

• Home Blood Pressure Record

New online consultation and advice service

You can now obtain health advice and access surgery serices via our new online platform, PATCHS.

This replaces the old eCONSULT service that many of our patients have been using since the year 2020. There is a link to the service on every page of this website.

The first time you use the service you will need to create an account. Once you have done this using the service will be very quick and easy. Another advantage of having a PATCHS account is that we will be able to respond to your messages and requests in a more secure manner.

Healthier together is a NHS approved website that gives health advice about children, particularly when they're unwell.

New Long Term condition review process

The practice is streamlining how patients are reviewed for long term conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The plan is to review long term conditions according to the date of birth of patients. For example, if your month of birth is July, you can expect to receive an invite to attend an appointment with a practice nurse, who will review all your long-term conditions during the one appointment.

Prior to your review you may be sent an SMS message asking you to complete a questionnaire, which helps the nurse to prepare for your consultation.

By changing the long-term condition process, it is hoped that it will be easier for patients to remember when their review is due and attending fewer appointments will be more convenient. During the first year there will some overlap as some people may be invited soon after already having had a review. This will only happen during the first year of change.

Please be patient with us as we try to improve our service to you.

New Telephone System

On the 14th and 15th December we are having a new telephone system installed. We are hoping that there will me a minimum of disruption during the installation period. We are changing the system so that we will have far more telephone lines, and so hope to reduce/eliminate the chance of people phoning the surgery getting the engaged tone.

Incoming calls will be stored in a queuing system, and this should give a fairer access to our appointments. The system will also record all our incoming and outgoing phone calls.

Flu Jabs

As you may have seen in the News, many surgeries and health centres have had their delivery of flu jabs delayed. We have been affected by this. The clinic that was to be held on Saturday 18th September, will now be on Saturday 2nd October. People with appointments to the cancelled clinics just need to turn up at the surgery at their appointment time on the 2nd October instead.

We are hopeful that our delivery will arrive in time so that we don't need to reschedule any other clinics.

The surgery will also have a delivery of "Nasal flu vaccinations", intended for all our 2 and 3 year old patients. (Older children may be offered vaccinations at school). Parents/Guardians of children of 2-3 year old children can now phone the reception team and book a vaccination appointment.

This year we have ordered more flu jabs, so that we can vaccinate all patients aged over 50 and also those under the age of 50 who are in a clinically at risk group.

We plan to host Saturday flu clinics starting in September, and patients can book into these from the middle of August onwards, just phone the surgery.

Covid-19 Vaccination

All three doctors at the surgery have had Covid 19, and though this may afford them some immunity against future coronovirus infection, all three intend to have the Covid 19 vaccination as soon as it is available.

Several of our patients have been severely affected by Covid 19 and we are recommending that all our patients take up an offer of a vaccine when one is available.

The Pfizer BionTech vaccine has now been approved for use and the NHS will be starting to offer this to priority groups as soon as supplies arrive. Initially, it will be only be available at a few hospital hubs where it can be stored safely and it will be offered to those most at risk of Covid-19 first.

When further supplies or alternative vaccines become available, they will be offered from a number of different locations to make sure everyone who needs a vaccine is able to get one. We will share these details with patients as soon as they are confirmed.

Please could we kindly ask you not to contact the practice for information about the vaccine as there is not currently any further information available and it may stop someone who needs urgent medical help getting through to us.
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NHS Diabetes Advice Helpline

NHS England has launched a new helpline in response to disruption to normal diabetes services due to the Covid 19 pandemic. The service is for adults living with diabetes who use insulin to manage their condition and require immediate clinical advice.

Whether you or a member of your household have caught the virus, or routine care has been disrupted, the helpline is available to those needing help and guidance.

The service can be accessed via Diabetes UK support lines on 0345 123 2399 Monday-Friday from 9am-6pm.

Dental services are starting to re-open

Dental surgeries have started to see patients again following the Closure during the lockdown period. They are not doing routine care at the moment, and have changed their way of working to reduce the risk to transmitting the Covid 19 virus to their patients. For more details please see the website of your dental practice or phone the dental surgery and speak to the receptionsts.

Our Online Services

We have lots of different ways we can communicate with our patients. We offer face-to-face, telephone, SMS, video and online consultations.

See the consultations page for more details.

Health at Home

A national campaign has been launched during the Covid 19 pandemic, to help people manage their health at home and easily access NHS services online. The Health at Home webpage gives information on how people can:

• contact their GP
• order repeat prescriptions
• manage long-term conditions
• maintain your mental and physical wellbeing

Coronavirus (Covid19)

During the Coronavirus epidemic you will not be able to book surgery appointments online. We ask all patients to telephone the surgery if they want an appointment. Please be advised that we are not doing any routine work during the epidemic, and only dealing with more urgent problems that will not wait. We are attempting to satisfy as many queries as we can via a telephone call, rather than a face-to-face consultation, in order to reduce the spread of the virus. We have been told to work this way by NHS England.

The symptoms that should make you consider coronavirus are any of:

• a new continuous cough
• a high temperature
• shortness of breath
• a change in your sense of smell or taste

The symptoms are similar to other illnesses that are much more common, such as cold and flu and it does not necessarily mean you have the illness.

Do not go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital.

If you think you have symptoms of the virus, you and everyone in your household should isolate for 14 days. If you have any queries, or are wondering about getting tested you are advised to contact NHS 111 for more advice. They can also issue "self-isolation" sick notes to people affected and family members. NHS 111 is also extremely busy, and they request that those who can, use their online service do so, reserving the telephone service for those with no computer access.

Useful Coronavirus Links:

• Covid 19 (coronavirus) symptom checker
• Get an isolation note for your employer
• NHS Advice for everyone

Charity Fundraising

This year, our coffee morning raised £213 for MacMillan cancer relief.

How are we doing?

We are continuing striving to make our service as good as possible. Health Watch is an organisation that is interested in gathering patient's views.

Telephone Repeat Prescription ordering service to stop

Except in extreme circumstances from particularly vulnerable patients, the surgery only accepts telephone requests for prescriptions between the hours of 9am and 1pm. But from the 1st of December 2019, the surgery will cease to accept requests for repeat prescriptions over the phone
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Extra support available

Do you know about Kirklees council's Community plus service? Community Plus works with people in our communities. It's all about helping and supporting people and families who might be struggling to lead a better life by connecting them with local resources, groups and individuals. Follow the link for more information.

Youth Health Talk is an organistion that concentrates on the needs of young people.

Thriving Kirklees is there to offer support for children, young people and families.

Charity fundraising - our "book and cake" "day

On the 12th April 2019 the surgery's patient participation group ran an event to raised money for the Forget me Not childrens hospice. We raised £130.30 altogether. Thank you to everyone who contributed.

Saturday Morning Flu Clinic

On the morning of Saturday 6th October 2018, the surgery ran its annual flu imunisation clinic for eligible patients. During the session 369 people were vaccinated.

Please see our flu page for more information on flu jabs and eligibility for a free NHS flu tab.

Website update

This website is continuously kept upto date. The most frequent changes are on this "News" page. Some updates (for example updates as a result of the new GDPR regulations, on the privacy page) are made without anouncement.

This anouncement is to inform you about new feaures that have been added to the surgery website. On the Contents page, for example, there is now a search box to make it easier to find the content you're looking for. We've also added a handy pregnancy calculator to the Pregnancy page, and height and weight related calculators to the how to lose weight page.

NHS Birthday

On the 5th July, 70 years ago, the National Health Service was launched in England. To find out more about how this occasion is being marked, click the logo.

In-house pharmacist

A clinical pharmacist has joined the clinical team at Shepley Health Centre.

As part of the team, he can see and consult with patients directly (either over the phone or at a face-to-face appointment at the surgery), is able to prescribe, review and even alter repeat prescriptions. It is expected that his influence will improve the care of some patients with long-term conditions, give patients an extra place to seek advice, and improve the availability for GP's to to see patients to do what they do best, to diagnose and treat complex conditions.

Patient Wi-fi at the surgery

We're pleased to announce that we offer free wi-fi internet access to all visitors to Shepley Health Centre. Set up is quick and easy. Please see the posters in the waiting room.

Charity Flu Clinic

On Saturday 30^th October the surgery opened its doors to do a flu clinic. We administered 371 vaccines that day. We'd like to encourage eligible patient who did not attend that session to contact the receptionist to get booked in for their vaccination.

Our patient Participation Group wanted to use the occasion to try raise money for McMillan cancer relief. And so, they hosted a coffee and cake morning. We managed to raised £422. Thank you to all who contributed and all those who gave up their time to help.

The truth about the state of General Practice

The NHS is currently under tremendous pressure. We are concerned that the media and the government are portraying general practice in a very negative way. The Ivy Grove Practice in Derbyshire have created a short video about the present state of the NHS. To view the video click here.

Travel Vaccinations

Nowadays people are jetting off to more and more exotic locations. The surgery is happy to offer general travel advice, and through our travel immunisations service, we're happy to offer common vaccinations (such as typhoid, hepatitis A, tetanus) and preventative treatment against catching malaria. However, there are some more exotic vaccinations that we cannot offer, such as to rabies, yellow-fever and Japanese-encephalitis.
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Wasted Appointments

In the Month of July 2019,there were 54 appointments where the patient failed to show up, (this was a typical number). This amounts to over 12 hours of wasted doctor and nurse time. We understand that sometimes conditions get better, or other engagements crop up and people cannot attend their appointment, but if this occurs we ask that you cancel the appointment with as much notice as you can give so that the appointment can be offered to other waiting patients.

Elective Surgery

The C.C.G. has decided to restrict or postpone elective surgery for smokers and overweight patients until they have stopped smoking or lost weight.

This is because the anaesthetic risks and the risks of complications are so much greater in these groups of patients. The long-term outcomes have been shown to be so much better in people who successfully stop smoking and lose weight.

Patients affected will be given a target and a timescale in which to achieve it.

Learn more about how to lose weight and services to aid quitting smoking.