Kings Medical Practice News www.kingmedicalpractice.co.uk

NHS England is about to start a programme of extracting clinical data from GP clinical computer systems in order to increase their understanding of the health of the population and ways in which it can be improved. The information contained on GP clinical computer systems is a huge resource about the health of the people in England and I am sure that interrogating it and searching it will lead to improved understanding of our patients health and what we can do about it. The data is extracted to the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC). Once the data is their it is then anonymised.  The data that NHS England wants to look at includes details about your clinical consultations, medications, investigations and when anonymised it includes postcode, date of birth and sex but during the anonymisation process the data has your name and address stripped from it. The HSCIC is very closely regulated so that the patients can be assured about the anonymisation of this data. For...

The practice is pleased to announce that we are open on Saturday mornings from 8.30 am to 11.30 am to see anyone who feels they have an urgent need for medical attention. We are particularly keen to see patients who would have either contacted 111 or gone to the Emergency Department. The practice is normally closed on a Saturday morning, apart from our pre-booked surgery from 8 am to 11 am and this new service is funded by Wakefield Clinical Commissioning Group until the end of March, 2014, in an attempt to help relieve pressure on patients going to the Emergency Department at Pinderfields or Pontefract. Wakefield CCG had a small amount of money to fund this and we are one of a few number of practices in Wakefield who have decided that we are keen and able to help. If you want to see us on Saturday morning then ring our normal number, 01924 223909, and you will be given an appointment.

The surgery is only closed on the statuary bank holidays (Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Years Day) - we are otherwise open as normal. If you need a doctor when we are closed ring the ring 111 for advice. Our opening times over the Christmas period are: Friday 20/12 - 8.00 am - 6.30 pm Saturday 21/12 -Extended access surgery  8.00 am - 11.00 am. Sunday 22/12 - closed  Monday 23/12 - 8.00 am - 6.30 pm Christmas Eve - 8.00 am - 6.30 pm Christmas Day - closed Boxing Day 26/12 - closed Friday  27/12 - 8.00 am - 6.30 pm Saturday 28/12 -Extended access surgery  8.00 am - 11.00 am. Sunday 29/12 - closed Monday 30/12 - 8.00 am - 6.30 pm Tuesday 31/12 - 8.00 am - 6.30 pm New Years Day - closed Thursday  2/1 - 8.00 am - 6.30 pm Friday 3/1 - 8.00 am - 6.30 pm Saturday  4/1 - Extended access surgery  8.00 am - 11.00 am. Sunday 5/1 - closed Monday 6/1 - 8.00 - 6.30 pm There are other services available when we are closed that might ...

NHS England has published high level indicators about GP practice outcome data. The data is meant to give information about the quality that practices provide. NHS England would like to publish data about patient experience, patient outcomes and patient safety. The data comes from previously confidential data that practices and commissioning groups had access to. The data has been released because NHS England has a commitment to openness and transparency. Click here for a direct link to the information on NHS Choices website about Kings Medical Practice. However there are some real issues with the data that has been published: Some of the data is quite old e.g. the GP patient experience data comes from the 2011 GP Patient Survey The data has no context about it e.g. there is data about the number of referrals to outpatients per 1000 population but no hints as to whether high referrals are good or bad The data is presented in a random way e.g. the first screen you get is the whet...

The practice is participating in the national shingles immunisation programme. 90% of all adults in the UK have had chickenpox. After chickenpox, the virus stays inside your body and can recur as shingles later in life. Even those people who had a mild case of chickenpox as a child, or didn't have any obvious symptoms may still be at risk of developing shingles. Although not everyone develops shingles as we get older our immune system weakens which increases the risk of getting shingles. Unfortunately shingles in older people tends to be more severe than in younger people. This is why the Department of Health has introduced a recommendation that shingles vaccine should be offered to people aged 70 years. They have also introduced a catch-up programme which initially targets people aged 79 years of age. You can find more details about the national programme if you click here . The practice is writing to people who were 70 or 79 on the 1st September to invite them to ring and mak...

The practice is taking part in a new NHS service that will help us to spot whether you need more help to manage your health. The service is called 'risk profiling'. Using information from your health records, a secure NHS computer system will look at any recent treatments you have had in hospital or at the surgery, and any existing health problems that you have, and alert the practice to the likelihood of any possible future hospital admissions. The clinical team at the surgery will use this information to help you get early care and treatment where it is needed. The information will only be seen by practice staff who are bound to keep your information confidential. NHS security systems will protect your health information and guarantee patient confidentiality at all times. If you don't want the information contained in your records to be used in this way then please contact our practice manager who will arrange that your records are not included in this new service. To...

If you use our Online services to make appointments, order repeat prescriptions and send us messages you can now do it via an app for iPhones and iPad. The app is free and can be downloaded from Apples App store. Search for 'SystmOnline' or click here to go direct to the app. Our software supplier says that they are developing an Android version but of course Apple got there first (as usual?).