SURGERY NEWS

Service Announcement 20.01.25

We are writing to update you, our patients and local community, about the progress that we have made following the flooding in the surgery building.

We are pleased to report that our return to  Honiton Surgery on the 13th January has gone well, and we have been gradually increasing our clinics over the week. Contractors have also been on site this week, to start work on the damaged parts of the building. 

We continue to encourage patients to use our online consultation service as the preferred method for contacting the practice. This is open daily and can be accessed from our website.

If you are unable to use our online service, from Monday the 20th January our phone lines will be open from 8am to 6pm.

Whether you contact us by phone or online, all appointment requests will be triaged and booked by our duty GP team. 

Outside of these hours, please continue to access the relevant service for your needs:

• For non-emergency medical help and advice, please visit 111.nhs.uk or call 111
• If you, or someone you know, experiences a mental health crisis you can access support from 111
• You can also visit your local minor injury unit for certain condition or speak to your local pharmacist
• For life-threatening emergencies (for example if someone is unconscious, not breathing or bleeding heavily), please call 999.

We have restarted a limited number of clinics from Honiton Surgery. However, due to the need to manage the numbers of people within the building, we would ask that patients only attend the surgery if they have an appointment. We will also continue to provide some clinics from Honiton Community Hospital. Please note we are no longer providing services from Sid Valley Practice. 

We are continuing to process prescription requests, which can be made via the NHS App or left in the prescription letter box at the front of Honiton Surgery.

We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude, members of the local community and partner organisations, for the many kind words and offers of help in response to the leak at the surgery. We have been truly overwhelmed by the support we have received.

As work progresses, we will provide further updates over the course of the next few weeks. 

Thank you again for your support, patience and understanding.

 

Service Announcement 10.01.25

We are writing to update you, our patients and local community, about the progress that we have made following the flooding in the surgery building.

As you may be aware, we experienced a leak at the surgery over the weekend of 28th December that has caused significant damage to parts of the building. Although the main surgery building has been closed, with the generous support of our colleagues from the Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and Sid Valley Practice, we have been able to continue to provide some services. 

We are working hard with our insurers to see what we can do to repair the damaged areas. We are waiting for timelines to be confirmed, but based on initial assessments the repair work is likely to take some months. In the meantime, we are working with partner organisations to explore alternative accommodation, so we can provide as many services as quickly and safely as possible.

Due to the damage, we are unfortunately unable to currently offer our full range of services, and we will therefore need to cancel some appointments. Our admin teams are contacting patients to either reschedule appointments or advise of a change of location.

However, following recent visits from our loss adjustor, a building surveyor and specialist cleaning team, we are pleased to announce that we will be able to recommence some services from the unaffected parts of the building. 

From Monday 13 January, we will be offering an urgent care service via our telephone number (01404 548 544) from 9am to 6pm. Our online consultation service will also be open daily and can be accessed from our website, we would encourage patients to use the online service were possible as this will reduce the demand on our phone lines. Whether you contact us by phone or online, all appointment requests will be triaged and booked by our duty GP team. 

Outside of these hours, please continue to access the relevant service for your needs:

        - For non-emergency medical help and advice, please visit 111.nhs.uk or call 111

        - If you, or someone you know, experiences a mental health crisis you can access support from 111

        - You can also visit your local minor injury unit for certain condition or speak to your local pharmacist

        - For life-threatening emergencies (for example if someone is unconscious, not breathing or bleeding heavily), please call 999

In addition to our urgent care service, we will be restarting a limited number of clinics from Honiton Surgery. However, due to the need to manage the numbers of people within the building, we would ask that patients only attend the surgery if they have an appointment.  

We will also continue to provide some clinics from Honiton Community Hospital and Sid Valley Practice. 

We are continuing to process prescription requests, which can be made via the NHS App or left in the prescription letter box at the front of Honiton Surgery.

We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude, members of the local community and partner organisations, for the many kind words and offers of help in response to the leak at the surgery. We have been truly overwhelmed by the support we have received.

As work progresses, we will provide further updates over the course of the next few weeks. 

Thank you again for your support, patience and understanding.

 

Service Announcement

Unfortunately, there has been extensive flooding at the surgery which has caused significant damage to the building and infrastructure. The building is currently closed until we can assess the damage and it is safe to return. We are implementing measures to resume our services but currently the service we can provide is significantly restricted. We are currently only able to provide an urgent service. If you have an acute issue, please call the surgery or complete an online consult between 9am and 12pm, where you will be triaged by our on-call team.

If you have an existing appointment, you may be contacted about a change of location for your appointment or we might need to reschedule your appointment to a later date.

We are experiencing a significant event that is completely out of our control. Our Staff and team are working incredibly hard to navigate through this. We ask our patients to please be polite and courteous to our staff at this time, as they try to work with the limited services and resources available to them.

We will continue to offer a prescription service. Where possible we encourage patients to order their medication online via the NHS App. However, if patients are unable to order online, please speak to your nominated pharmacy about prescription ordering services they may be able to provide, or continue to drop your paper prescription request to the surgery and we will continue to collect and process these.

- For any medical emergencies call 999
- If you need to seek non-emergency medical advice during this time call 111
- You can also attend the MIU for a variety of things or speak to your local pharmacist for advice

Update 6.1.25 

We would like to express our heartfelt gratitude to all our patients, members of the local community, and partner organisations for the outpouring of kind words and offers of assistance following the recent flood at the surgery. We have been genuinely touched and overwhelmed by the support we’ve received during this difficult time.

Although the main surgery building remains closed, with the generous support of our colleagues from the Royal Devon NHS Foundation Trust and Sid Valley Practice, we have been able to continue providing some services this week.

Please rest assured that we are working hard behind the scenes with our insurers to see what we can do to repair the damage and are in close discussions with partner organisations to explore alternative accommodation options in the meantime.

We will continue to provide updates over the course of the coming week.

Once again, thank you for your patience, understanding, and unwavering support. It truly means a great deal to all of us.

 

Leaving Partners 

We are very sad to announce the departure of two of our GP Partners. Dr Rampersad and Dr Ingram. We hope you join us in wishing them both well in their future adventures and thank them for their incredible hard work over their time at Honiton Surgery. You will be greatly missed by all.

Please see speical announcement made by GPs below. 

Dr D Rampersad

I will be leaving Honiton Surgery at the end of August 2024, having been a GP here since May 2000. I think Honiton and its people make this a great place to live and work but it’s time for a new challenge. I feel that I have been very lucky to have been able to work with such a great team here to offer services as a family doctor. It has been a privilege to get to know my patients- (some for the whole 24 years, from being born to having their own children!) and work with them through health difficulties and in happier times to share in their joy. It has taught me a lot about life and people, and I thank you all for that. I’m so pleased that I leave behind a hardworking competent group of people at the practice to continue the work and wish all of my patients the best for the future.

Dr S Ingram

It’s hard to believe 18 years working in Honiton surgery is coming to an end . David and I are planning for some adventure before we retire. Initially  trialing working in New Zealand for 6months before perhaps more challenging places.

Reflecting on my time at the surgery I realise our role  has transformed over the years.

Back in 2006 we had 14000 patients ( now 18000 ) we ran the community hospital ward, covered the dementia and minor injury units and  covered the 5 local care homes. There were no telephone appointments or econsults.  All our patients were seen in person.

The primary care team has also expanded to now include nurse practitioners, pharmacists, physios and mental health professionals.Despite  these changes the job seems busier than ever I think primarily due to advancements in medicine we are living longer with more complex conditions.

 I’ve always found working as a GP challenging and interesting. I’ve met so many caring and lovely people. I’ve  been humbled to hear about the difficulties and challenges so many people face in their lives but some how pull through.

Getting to know patients over the years seeing familiar faces who know and trust me has been one of the joys of working in Honiton

I sincerely thank our practice staff, receptionists, nurses, administration  team, cleaners and  prescribing team  for their immense support over the years  without whom the practice could not function .

I’m very pleased to know I’m leaving a great team going forward.

 

Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) Vaccination

RSV is an infectious disease of the airways and lungs. This is a new vaccination that NHSE have made available to pregnant women at week 28 or later and everyone aged 75 to 79 or turning 75 years old on or after 1 September 2024. 

We hope to have RSV clinics in place at Honiton surgery in November (Date TBC). 

 

HeidiHealth 

Our clinicans use an AI transcribing software in the practice. This software is a helpful tool that allows your doctor to focus entirely on you during your visit while still allowing them to accurately capture medical information, ensuring a comprehensive and precise record of your care. Heidi transcribes clinical encounters (both telephone and face-to-face) and streams them via desktop microphone to a transcription service, that is shown on the PC in form of a clinical note.

Please understand that your information will be handled with the utmost care, and using this software is aimed solely at improving your healthcare experience at the surgery.

 

Long Term Condition Annual Reviews

We are making some changes to long-term condition annual review appointments. We are asking our patients to provide us with information prior to their review appointment. This means we will be either asking you to complete a pre-appointment health questionnaire via SMS or asking you to come in and use our self-check kiosks in the main waiting area before your appointment. This is so we can utilise the software and systems we have in place at the surgery, to give our clinicians more time to capture missing information and completed necessary checks before you are reviewed. Patients will ideally still be seen for their annual reviews in their month of birth.

If you have any problems with links you cannot open or you do not wish to receive links or questionnaires, you can inform a member of our team and they can add you to a group to be contacted directly.

 

Digital First

CLINICAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE QUERIES SHOULD BE SENT TO US VIA OUR ONLINE CONSULTATION TOOL.

For a medical issue or for booking an appointment Accurx online consultation tool will be available from 7:30am - 3:30pm Monday - Friday. If you complete an online consultation for medical issue before 3:30pm, we aim to contact you on same working day. 

For other queries (for example sick note, results, or prescription requests) the online tool will be available from 8am - 6pm Monday-Friday and we will respond within three working days. 

We have listened to patients about the challenges you are experiencing with regards to increasing need for services, available staff and the length of time queuing on the phones. We believe that Accurx online consultation is the most effective way that we can sustain a safe and accessible service for our patients. Your online consultation will be reviewed, and an appropriate course of action will be taken. This is to ensure that your request is addressed by the right person at the right time, making this a better and more efficient experience for you. 

We would like to ask everyone to please be patient with our staff. We encourage anyone who is able to go online to complete an online consultation for themselves to please do so. You can also complete requests on behalf of someone else, such as a child, or someone you care for. Co-operating in this way will free up the phone lines for patients who simply cannot get online to do this themselves. Please be assured that we are continually striving to provide an excellent service despite significant pressures on the whole NHS at this time. 

Digital First Frequently Asked Questions

Please see Accurx website for additional patient support and How to submit an online consultation to your practice 

Videos links:

Patient Guide to Accurx Online Consultations: How to Submit a Medical Request

Patient Guide to Accurx Online Consultations : How to submit an admin request

 

Health Kiosks

Our new self-check health kiosks are located in the corner of our main waiting area and available to use from 8:00-17:00 Monday-Friday. Patients can perform own checks without clinical supervision or submit some simple lifestyle questionnaires. Readings and information are then instantaneously updated into your medical record and can be immediately viewed by clinicians. The health kiosks allow you to perform simple checks at your own convenience, without making an appointment. You may wish to do your BP before you go in to see clinician or you can come in at your own convenience to use.

What you can do on the health kiosks:-

• Take your blood pressure
• Check your height and weight to calculate your BMI
• Enter information regarding your lifestyle i.e. smoking, alcohol, exercise, ethnicity and diet
• They are very simple to use and on-screen instructions take you through the process.  However, if you do have difficulty, you can ask a member of the reception team who would be happy to help you.

We kindly ask that patients with mobility difficulties do not use the kiosks.

 

'Usual GP' or 'Named GP'

Due to several changes in our GP Team over the last 24 months and the significant pressures we still face in primary care, we are currently unable to accommodate requests to change your allocated GP, as all of ours GPs list are currently full. We may change your 'Usual GP' due to practice and staff developments, we are currently unable to notify patients individually of these changes. Having an allocated GP does not prevent you seeing any other doctor in the practice, please ask reception when booking if you wish to do so.