SURGERY NEWS
Online Consultation Service
We are pleased to launch our online consultation tool AccuRx Patient triage.
This new online consultation tool is a great way for you to contact our practice for non-urgent medical or admin requests. The character count is limited on the form so please try to give specific information in a concise way.
Please note we may take up to 3 days to respond to these requests.
This facility should NOT be used for prescription requests.
You should continue to request repeat prescriptions either in via repeat slip, SystmOnline, NHS App or other approved patient facing services apps, this reduces work for our admin team which means they can focus on completing other tasks for you.
You must be fully registered with Honiton Surgery to use this service.
If you do not have access to the internet or find it difficult to use a computer or smartphone you can always call our Patient Service Advisors instead.
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.
Industrial Action
On days where there is industrial action, patients should only call 999 if it is a life threatening medical or mental health emergency. Information for the public on the industrial action can be accessed here.
Surgery Announcement
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. 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.
Group A strep and scarlet fever
Scarlet fever is usually a mild illness, but it is highly infectious. Therefore, look out for symptoms in your child, which include a sore throat, headache, and fever, along with a fine, pinkish or red body rash with a sandpapery feel. On darker skin, the rash can be more difficult to detect visually but will have a sandpapery feel. A white coating can also appear on the tongue. This peels, leaving the tongue red, swollen and covered in little bumps (called "strawberry tongue").
Contact NHS 111 or your GP if you suspect your child has scarlet fever, because early treatment of scarlet fever with antibiotics is important to reduce the risk of complications such as pneumonia or a bloodstream infection. If your child has scarlet fever, keep them at home until at least 24 hours after the start of antibiotic treatment to avoid spreading the infection to others.
Call 999 or go to A&E if:
- your child is having difficulty breathing – you may notice grunting noises or their tummy sucking under their ribs
- there are pauses when your child breathes
- your child’s skin, tongue or lips are blue
- your child is floppy and will not wake up or stay awake
Good hand and respiratory hygiene are important for stopping the spread of many bugs. By teaching your child how to wash their hands properly with soap for 20 seconds, using a tissue to catch coughs and sneezes, and keeping away from others when feeling unwell, they will be able to reduce the risk of picking up or spreading infections.
More useful information can be found on this UKHSA blog for Group A Strep.
Patient Scams
The NHS will not ask for bank details, so please be aware of suspicious emails or text messages.
Find out more about scam emails, texts and phone calls from the nscs.gov phishing information page.
Health & Wellbeing Apps Library
The Clinical Commisioning Group in partnership with the Organisation for the Review of Care and Health Apps (ORCHA), have launched a new publicly available health and wellbeing apps library. You can search for any health app you require to get the support and guidance you need. To start your search and find the app you have been looking for.
Prescriptions
We do not take repeat prescriptions over the phone.
Repeat prescriptions take 72 hours to process; please bear this in mind when ordering your repeat medication. This is standard communication from all GP Practices.
Urgent prescriptions can take up to 24 hours: please bear this in mind when ordering, we will contact you once the prescription has been sent to the pharmacist or the paper prescription has been signed.
The definition for Urgent prescription is that they are lifesaving medications only.
NHS England have made it clear that we do not prescribe over the counter medications.
We do not prescribe Hay fever medication that are included as over the counter medications.
Cancelling Appointments
If you no longer need or can no longer attend your appointment please cancel so that this appointment can be offered to someone else.
You can cancel your appointment using the following options:
- Using the cancel function from the link attached to your SMS appointment reminder.
- Logging on to your ‘online services’
- Using the ‘NHS App’ (more information on NHS app).
If you are unable to cancel your appointment using one of these options then you can contact the surgery by phone.
Patient consent form for third party access to medical records
Please see this attached form to complete if you wish to give consent for another person to access your medical records, or for the surgery to share information about you with the person specified.
Evening and Weekend GP and Nurse Appointments (Improving Access)
We do offer some appointments up to 8:00pm on some evenings, which are outside of normal surgery hours of 8:00am to 6:30pm. We are also open some Saturdays and Sundays. These are primarily aimed at patients who are unable to make an appointment between these normal working hours. If you would like one of these early or late appointments please contact the surgery on our normal telephone number. Please be aware you will not necessarily be able to see your own GP as there are a limited number of these appointments available.
Research Trials & Studies
Medical research has been conducted at the Honiton Surgery for over 20 years. These studies cover all aspects of health care including diabetes care, early diagnosis of cancer, assessing dressings and wound care, post flu vaccine surveillance and assessment of new medicines. Please see our Training and Research page for more information.
Medical Students
As a training practice we are involved in the teaching and training of medical students in different stages of their careers. We currently have a number Medical Students present in the surgery.
You may be asked if you would agree to have a medical student sitting in your consultation with you, we very much hope you will participate in the student teaching programme but understand that on some occasions you would rather not have a student present – please let us know if that is what you would prefer.
Call Monitoring
Please be aware all our incoming and outgoing telephone calls are recorded; On contacting the surgery the initial message will inform you of this. These calls will be kept for approximately 6 months.
Under normal circumstances a call will not be retrieved or monitored unless:
· It is necessary to investigate a complaint;
· It is part of a management 'spot check' that patient service standards are being met;
· There is a threat to the health and safety of staff or visitors or for the prevention or detection of crime;
· It is necessary to check compliance with regulatory procedures; or
· It will aid standards in call handling through use in training and coaching our staff.
Self Help
Self help information can be found by clicking the self help and tools page, or speak to one of our local pharmacists who are highly skilled practitioners and may be able to offer advice. MIU at Honiton Hospital can also treat minor problems up to 48 hours old such as female urine infections, throat infections, sprains, strains, cuts, grazes, wounds, burns, nose bleeds, foreign bodies in the eye.
Useful information from the NHS Independent Living Service on aids for making life easier at home and where to seek advice.
Reading Well for Long Term Conditions - Libraries across Devon hold collections of nationally accredited books for adults and young people to access. A new list for long term conditions has been added offering 28 titles on various long term conditions.
See this handy leaflet to assist you when managing infections.
Devon Single Point of Access (SPA)
The new Devon Single Point of Access (SPA) is a country-wide doorway into Devon's services for all enquiries, requests for advice and access (referrals) to the following services for children and young people:
Children and Young People's Children and Young People’s Mental Health Services (CAMHS), Children’s Learning Disability Team, Palliative Care, Children’s Community Nursing (CCCN), Specialist Children’s Assessment Centres (under 5s) and Social Care for Children with Additional Needs.
