Kings Medical Practice News www.kingmedicalpractice.co.uk

The surgery is closed for the August Bank Holiday on Monday 27th August. If you need a doctor when we are closed ring our normal number - 0844 815 1340 - and your call will automatically be transferred to the out of hours service. Our opening times over the Bank Holiday Weekend are: Friday 24th August - 8.00 am - 6.30 pm Saturday 25th August - extended access surgery 8.00 am - 11.00 am. Sunday 26th August - closed Monday 27th August - closed Tuesday 28th August - 8.00 am - 6.30 pm (and extended access surgery 6.30 - 8.00 pm) Wednesday 29th August - 8.00 am - 6.30 pm Thursday 30th August - 8.00 am - 6.30 pm (and extended access surgery 7.00 am -8.00 am) Friday 31st August - 8.00 am - 6.30 pm If you ring our normal telephone number (0844 815 1340) when we are closed you will be automatically transferred to our Out of Hours provider. But there are other services available when we are closed that might be able to help you. LLoyds  Pharmacy at 6-8 High Street openin

Although patients report high levels of satisfaction with contacting the practice by telephone (84% of users were satisfied in the last NHS Annual Survey) the use of an 0844 number to contact the practice has consistently been one of the issues that patients have feedback to us via the Patient Participation Group and also our in-house survey of Patient Satisfaction. Last week I signed a contract with our telephone provider to move to a geographical number. It is likely that the system will be install in September or October of this year. In the meantime if you are concerned about the cost of your call to our 0844 telephone number tell the member of staff and they will ring you back. Our 0844 practice number is going to change - watch this space for the new number!

Its not very often that blogs I write have been prompted by patient encounters but this week I saw a patient who had what sounded like a transient ischaemic attack (TIA) two weeks ago and had waited for a routine appointment to see me. TIAs are mini strokes in which patients have the symptom's of a stroke but then fully recover. The significance of TIAs are there there is a one in chance that those who have had a TIA will experience a full stroke during the four weeks following the TIA. The symptoms of a stroke or TIA are remembered with the mnemonic FAST: F ACE: the face may have dropped to one side A RMS: person may not be able to lift one or both arms and keep them there S PEECH: may slurred or garbled T IME: it is time to dial 999 immediately if you see any of these signs or symptoms A stroke is a medical emergency that requires immediate medical attention. So recognising the signs of stroke and calling 999 for an ambulance is crucial. The sooner somebody who is ha