Hungerford Surgery
Influenza A H1N1 (Swine flu) update for Hungerford Surgery patients
(As at 14th Feb 2010)
The swine flu pandemic has officially been declared over, as
the number of new cases continues to plummet. We will continue to monitor
the situation however and Chief Medical Officer Sir Liam Donaldson is still
urging the vulnerable to have the jabs. He said ‘when the virus returns
I would very much like to see young children already protected’.
We are now able to offer the swine flu vaccine to children aged over 6 months
and under 5 years old. Parents should have received further information and
a letter of invitation from our Primary Care Trust – NHS Berkshire West – and
should contact the surgery on 01488 682507 if they wish to book an appointment
with a Practice Nurse.
Value your appointment
Patients who fail to keep their appointments is costing the NHS more than £600
million a year, enough to run two medium-size hospitals, data has shown.
At the Hungerford Surgery we value every single appointment as an opportunity
to provide our patients with the best service possible. We hope you share our
view that appointments are precious and you may therefore be surprised to learn
that over 100 people per month fail to turn up for appointments they themselves
have booked.
That is an alarming 1,200 wasted appointments
per year or to put it another way over 200 hours
of wasted time which could be put to better use. Whilst we fully understand
that things don’t always go to plan and that missing an appointment is
sometimes unavoidable, it does not take much effort to pick up the phone to
let us know you are feeling better or to apologise because you will have to
miss an appointment.
Please support our efforts to reduce the number of wasted appointments in 2010.
Extended Hours
A reminder that Hungerford Surgery continues to offer additional appointments
on specific days of the month. Early appointments are available on Tuesday
mornings whilst late evening appointments are available on one Monday evening
every month. We also provide a Saturday morning surgery once a month.
Full details of the dates and times of these appointments can be found on our
website – www.hungerfordsurgery.co.uk
– or by contacting the surgery reception in person or on 01488 682507.
A reminder also that during extended opening hours, and outside of normal opening
hours, all medical emergencies are attended to by the WestCall out of hours
emergency service.
The telephone number for WestCall is: 0118 978 7811
Winter Newsletter
A copy of our winter newsletter can be picked up from reception or downloaded
from our website.
Mike Hall Practice Manager