Marine Lake Medical Practice

Unfortunately we do not have any of our Correspondence team in to answer telephone calls this morning between 10am and 12.30pm. Please can you try them tomorrow or Monday. Thanks!

From Monday 22nd May all services, including all appointments, will be provided from our new building located across the carpark on Orrysdale Road.

Our new address is:

Marine Lake Medical Practice
Marine Lake Health and Wellbeing Centre
Orrysdale Road
West Kirby
CH48 5AA

Our telephone numbers and email addresses remain the same.

We would advise you to continue to use the public carpark located across the road from the practice as space in the new carpark is very limited.

We are hoping the move will go as smoothly as possible but would ask you to please be patient with us while we settle in to our new building.

Please note a change to our usual services this afternoon due to the Primary Care Forum:

1. Econsult will be switched off today at 12pm and will resume at 8am tomorrow
2. Our phone lines will be closed between 12.30 – 5 today.
3. If you require an urgent appointment this afternoon please call Miriam Medical Centre on 0151 652 6077

We apologise in advance for any inconvenience this may cause.

Sunday 12th February will be the last day for Covid vaccinations until later in the year.

Please follow this link to book your vaccination.

NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Offers Final Chances to Get Boosted The NHS is urging those yet to get a covid booster to book one of the thousands of appointments still available next week before the offer ends. 

Unfortunately we have seen an increase in people not attending their booked appointments. Please free up your unwanted appointments to allow those who need them access.

December 2022

Appointments for a GP or prescribing nurse offered: 5486

Appointments for a GP or prescribing nurse not cancelled : 166 (3%)

Did not attend or cancel their blood test appointment: 140 people (10%)

Current wait for a blood test: up to 3 weeks

Phone calls received in 4197 of which 1393 were then helped through E-consults.

E-consults received in 2438.

Please use the NHS App or Patient Access App or their websites to cancel your appointment and allow somebody else to use your appointment.

Focus group - Marine Lake Health and Wellbeing Centre (Community Garden)

The purpose of the focus group is to talk through the plans for the community garden and public spaces at Marine Lake Health and Wellbeing Centre and how people can get involved.

• Tuesday 31 January, 6.30pm - 7.30pm
• Location: West Kirby United Reformed Church, Meols Drive, West Kirby CH48 5DA.

To book your place please email: [email protected] or call 0151 514 2888

Cherry Tree Shopping Centre pop-up clinics return

Dates for January are now available for the Friday pop-up clinic at Cherry Tree Shopping Centre, 6-8 Cherry Square, Liscard, Wallasey.
These pop-up walk-in clinics offer 1st, 2nd dose (ages 5+), booster (ages 16+), and the autumn booster (see eligibility criteria), and take place on the following dates:

• Friday 6 January 10am - 4pm
• Friday 13 January 10am - 4pm
• Friday 20 January 10am - 4pm
• Friday 27 January 10am - 4pm

Appointments are not necessary but if you would like to make an appointment then please call the Clatterbridge Vaccination Centre on 0151 482 7652.

Matalan Bromborough hosts the Living Well Bus for COVID-19 vaccinations and health checks

The Living Well Bus returns to Wirral this weekend offering 1st, 2nd and booster doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, and health checks.

The bus will be at Matalan, Bromborough Village Road, Bromborough from 10.30am until 4pm on Saturday 7 January.

The Living Well Bus supports our communities to live well through:
• COVID-19 vaccination boosters
• Blood pressure
• Pulse checks
• Cholesterol check
• Blood glucose check
• BMI check
• Direct referrals to talking therapies

On occasion, where demand is high, the vaccination service will take priority

Please see attached information about a local Carer's Soup 'n' Support sessions run on 1st Thursday of every month 12-2pm at West Kirby Methodist Church on Westbourne Road.

After a very challenging three years for the NHS, which involved COVID, a national blood bottle shortage and a cost-of-living crisis driving a recruitment crisis in the NHS, we are extremely disappointed to have received a CQC rating of Requires Improvement, despite all the hard work our staff do to care for our patients.

We welcome all feedback, as we know we can always learn from it and improve what we do. We are submitting an action plan to the CQC in January and will be asking them to re-inspect us in March, before we move into our new building. We are very confident we will regain our rating of GOOD in these areas. We are pleased that our hard work, during unprecedented times for Primary Care, has been recognised in the feedback and that the ratings in three out of five areas, Responsive, Well Led and Caring were awarded as GOOD.

We are fully engaged with the CQC and pleased that the changes already made during the inspection process were acknowledged by the CQC. We understand that this result may worry some of our patients, however we would like to re-assure our patients we are working extremely hard in the areas highlighted to ensure our services are Safe & Effective in all aspects and to regain our GOOD status.

A copy of the report can be found at

Marine Lake Medical Practice - Care Quality Commission Browser Support We recommend using one of the following browsers: Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari. Any other browser may experience partial or no support.

Don’t forget to arrange your repeat prescription and collect or arrange to have it delivered before the New Year bank holiday. More information here: https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/online-services/how-to-order-a-repeat-prescription/

Hospitals across the North West have issued a plea to people to use 111 online if they run out of their medication over the remainder of the Bank Holiday.

Hospitals, 999 and the 111 call handling service have all seen a significant increase in demand over the past 24 hours, which includes a number of people getting in touch because they have run out of their usual prescription. The 111 online service www.111.nhs.uk is a quick and easy way to put in an urgent request for repeat medication.

Andrew Crawshaw is North West regional director for performance and delivery for NHS England: “We’re really grateful for the support from the public over the past week. It’s important that A&E and other emergency services are kept free for life-threatening emergencies. We need people to continue accessing self-care advice and using 111 online for advice on everyday illnesses - this helps keep urgent and emergency services free for people who need them. High street pharmacies can also provide expert advice and a number are open over the Bank Holiday.”

How to order a repeat prescription Find out how to order repeat prescriptions. You can use your NHS account, another app or service or speak to your GP surgery.

the count down to Christmas has begun.......

Don't leave yourself without your medication over the festive period.

Please order your medications by Monday 19th December at the latest to allow plenty of time for your prescription to be processed.

The Practice will be closed 26th and 27th December for Christmas/Boxing Day and the New Year Bank Holidays.

NHS 111 service will be available during this time for urgent medical help and advice

Cancellation of focus group (Marine Lake Health and Wellbeing Centre) - Wednesday 14 December

Unfortunately due to the current weather and the forecast for this week the Community Trust and ICB have postponed the focus group on Wednesday 14 December.

The team will be rescheduling the focus group for the new year. As soon as a date has been confirmed we will let you know.

In the meantime, if you have any questions about the community garden or the new development please do not hesitate to get in touch - [email protected]

If you are concerned about your child's current symptoms being Strep A or Scarlet Fever please check this advice first before contacting the practice. There is also worsening advice on this link.

Please visit https://alderhey.nhs.uk/symptom-checker/group-a-strep-and-scarlet-fever?q=%2Fsymptom-checker%2Fgroup-a-strep-and-scarlet-fever

We are understandably receiving a high volume of enquiries from worried parents. If your enquiry is about a routine matter could you please consider waiting until next week to contact us. This will allow us the time we need to speak to or see those parents who have sick children. Any clinically urgent matter (cannot wait 24hrs) will still be triaged by the practice in a timely manner as best we can.

Group A Strep and Scarlet Fever :: Alder Hey Children's Hospital Trust Occasionally, a sore throat with fever may be caused by a type of bacteria called Group A Streptococcus (a.k.a Group A Strep or GAS in short). GAS has been around for years, and many children will have been exposed to it already.

If you are concerned about your child's current symptoms being Strep A or Scarlet Fever please check this advice first before contacting the practice.

Please visit https://what0-18.nhs.uk/parentscarers/worried-your-child-unwell/scarlet-fever

We are understandably receiving a high volume of enquiries from worried parents. If your enquiry is about a routine matter could you please consider waiting until next week to contact us. This will allow us the time we need to speak to or see those parents who have sick children. Any clinically urgent matter (cannot wait 24hrs) will still be triaged by the practice in a timely manner as best we can.

Scarlet Fever :: Healthier Together There are currently high rates of scarlet fever in the UK. Scarlet fever is much more common in children than in adults and it is important that children with scarlet fever are seen by their GP so that they can be started on antibiotics

The NHS is understandably seeing high levels of very worried parents enquiring about their child's symptoms due to the increased levels of Group A Strep circulating.

If your child is unwell, and you're not sure if you need to seek medical help, start with the Healthier Together App or this website https://what0-18.nhs.uk

This will help you decide whether your child needs medical help or you can safely treat at home.

The Out of Hours Service has received very high levels of calls over the weekend from parents and we expect to see high levels of eConsults & phone calls throughout the week.

You can download the App from their website.

Make sure you speak to a health professional if your child is getting worse after a a bout of scarlet fever, a sore throat or a respiratory infection.

Home :: Healthier Together The Healthier Together programme relies upon patients and healthcare professionals working together to improve how local healthcare is delivered. The website provides advice for parents, young people and pregnant women, and clinical resources to support healthcare professionals – which means that ...

We operate a triage first system which allows those who have the greatest clinical need, not want, to be given an appropriate appointment. An appropriate appointment is considered to be with the most appropriate clinician (GP, ANP, Physicians Associate, Practice Nurse or Pharmacist) for the issues shared with our team at the time of requesting care. This allows us to prioritise patients just as A&E does. Those with the least clinical need (as assessed by a clinically led triage team) will wait longer to receive an appointment or care. It is therefore important to ensure you give accurate information on your eConsult or on the phone to our team.

Wirral InfoBank is Wirral's directory of community groups, services, and activities that can support your health and wellbeing. Follow this link to look at what services are available to help you https://www.wirralinfobank.co.uk/

Did you know? .............All babies may benefit from protection from RSV infection (respiratory syncytial virus). Newborn babies to babies 12 months old may be eligible to participate in a research study. Learn more at

https://alderhey.nhs.uk/contact-us/press-office/latest-news/search-new-study-opens-north-west-coast-tackle-burden-rsv-infection

and you can also sign up directly at

https://rsvharmoniestudy.com/en-gb

The study has also been covered by the BBC
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-63572228

Over the last few months we have developed a Mission Statement for the practice, which we feel explains what we do and what we want to achieve.


MISSION STATEMENT

“We aim to provide the best possible medical care and the highest quality of service, that is efficient, courteous and without discrimination.”

VISION

We will endeavour to provide compassionate care which is of the highest quality. We will be innovative; a leader in primary care research and strive to constantly develop what we do, to meet our patient's needs.

We will be an exemplary teaching practice, where undergraduate and postgraduate nursing and medical students learn to practice with compassion and develop their clinical skills and values including professionalism, altruism, team working, integrity, excellence and social justice.

We will support all our staff through appropriate training, learning and development, to realise their potential and provide the best quality care for our patients, and to feel proud of the organisation that they work in. We will have a working environment where our staff are valued and feel valued, where creativity is encouraged and where staff are happy to come to work.

We value the diversity of our staff and our patients and believe that this diversity is integral to the quality of care that we provide.


VALUES

Our values apply to the provision of services to patients as well as in the workplace.

Excellence
• We take pride in our work and the services we deliver to patients and each other.
• We follow good practice and provide evidence-based care.
• We ensure we are up-to-date with procedures and knowledge.
• We understand and follow practice systems, to ensure good teamwork and safe, effective working.

Improvement
• We are open about incidents and see them as opportunities for learning, taking a ‘no blame’ approach wherever possible.
• We report any concerns, incidents, near misses or examples of good practice, to ensure follow up and learning.
• We help each other to improve and put forward constructive suggestions.
• Bad practice or poor performance is addressed.

Respect
• We listen before coming to a conclusion.
• We value ideas and contributions from everyone and incorporate them where possible.
• We protect confidential information.


Kindness
• We show empathy and sympathy.
• We try to see things from others’ perspectives.
• We consider the impact on individuals of our words and decisions and address disagreement constructively.
• We provide a friendly welcome.

Inclusion
• We ensure equal and fair treatment of everyone, regardless of their personal characteristics and qualities.
• We value the differences between us and aspire to understand each other better.
• We provide extra support to those who need it, where feasible.

Partnership
• We work in partnership with patients to improve their health.
• We welcome feedback and use it to improve.
• We participate in our local community.
• We work constructively with other organisations to improve health and wellbeing

On Sunday 4th December 2022 Marine Lake Practice staff will be helping to raise money by running /walking in the West Kirby Santa Dash with all proceeds going to local charities. The event is limited to 500 participants including adults and children so we encourage everyone to register as soon as possible. You can run it, walk it or stroll it. There is a great atmosphere at the event with many people bringing along their dogs in fabulous matching costumes. You can register at West Kirby Concourse and the Oval. Entry costs £5 cash per adult, £2 per child and under fives are free! For further information please contact Fiona Hanik on 07769 674718.

Appointment data for October 2022

Appointments for a GP or prescribing nurse offered: 5794

Appointments for a GP or prescribing nurse not cancelled : 161 (3%)

Blood test appointments not cancelled: 86 (8%)

Current wait for a blood test: up to 3 weeks

Phone calls received 4569 of which 1646 were then helped through E-consults.

E-consults received in 2510.

Please use the NHS App or Patient Access App or their websites to cancel your appointment. This will avoid waiting on the phone and allow somebody else to have your appointment.

Access free, safe & anonymous support whenever you need it, 365 days a year commissioned by Wirral ICB (previously Wirral CCG).

Sign up now on Kooth.com (11-25s) or Qwell.io (26+) to access online
counselling, self-help resources and peer support.

What is a Patient Participation Group (PPG)?

Patient Participation Group Definition
A Patient Participation Group (PPG) is a group of patients, carers and GP practice staff who meet to discuss practice issues and patient experience to improve the service.

Purpose of a PPG:

To give patients and practice staff the opportunity to meet and discuss topics of mutual interest.

To provide a means for patients to become more involved and make suggestions about the healthcare services they receive.

To explore issues from patient complaints and patient surveys, contribute to actions plans and help monitor improvements.

To contribute feedback to the practice on National Patient Survey results and Friends and Family Test feedback to propose developments or change.

To support health awareness and patient education.

We are in the process of re-establishing our Patient Participation Group (PPG) after COVID. Please read the PPGs Terms of Reference before expressing your interest in joining the group. These can be found on our website on the PPG page.

If you are interested in becoming part of the PPG then please email [email protected] detailing the reason you would like to be involved.

Once you have expressed interest we will be in touch about the next steps to setting up our face to face PPG and our Virtual PPG. We look forward to working with you in the future.

We are seeing an increasing number of patients telling us they have not ordered their medication, they have run out and they must have it today. This is an unrealistic expectation, particularly with the current workload demands in General Practice.

Please remember to order your medication responsibly up to 10 days before it runs out. It cannot be ordered prior to this due to prescribing safety. The best way to order your medication is through the NHS App or their website , or any other online provider, which goes straight to the GP's inbox.

It usually takes us up to 3 days to process prescriptions, although can take longer. If pharmacies do not routinely stock your medication, they might need 2-3 days to order your medication once they have received your prescription.

Did you know?.........When a consultant tells you that they will be prescribing new medication or altering your current medication through your GP, this is considered non-urgent medication. This means that the medication does not need to be started within seven days of being prescribed. Any medication considered to be urgent will be prescribed by the consultant at the time of seeing the patient and will need to be started within seven days of being prescribed.

Sometimes prescription requests from hospitals can take up to seven days to reach us, sometimes even longer. It can then take us up to 4 days to prescribe that medication, depending on how busy we are. We currently issue over 2000 prescriptions a week to our patients.

We realise that you want to start your medication as soon as possible once prescribed by the hospital. However please remember that if it has been sent to the GP to prescribe, it is not considered clinically urgent and can wait up to 14 days. If you have not received your prescription after 14 days then please do let us know.

Just a reminder that we have a planned practice closure for staff training this week.

Marine Lake Medical Practice will be closed on the following afternoon for staff training. This is part of a Wirral wide scheme for GP practices to be able to provide time for Continuous Professional Development of their teams.

Please call 111 for any medical issues that cannot wait until Friday. Call 999 in an emergency.

Thursday 20th October 2022 12.30pm until 6.30pm. (Reception will re-open at 5pm until 6.30pm for admin queries only).

Patients often ask us what is an Advanced Nurse Practitioner (ANP)?

A nurse practitioner is an experienced nurse, with additional specialist training. They are qualified to diagnose illness, decide on treatment and issue prescriptions. They usually see people with new illness and do not normally see people with complex ongoing problems. Our triage GP will decide whether your issue is suitable to be seen by an ANP, therefore freeing up our GPs to see more complex issues.

We operate a triage first system which allows those who have the greatest clinical need, not want, to be given an appropriate appointment. An appropriate appointment is considered to be with the most appropriate clinician (GP, ANP, Physicians Associate, Practice Nurse or Pharmacist) for the issues shared with our team at the time of requesting care. This allows us to prioritise patients just as A&E does. Those with the least clinical need (as assessed by a clinically led triage team) will wait longer to receive an appointment or care. It is therefore important to ensure you give accurate information on your Econsult or on the phone to our team.

This approach has been developed over the last 18 months. The figures below show our system is working better than it was last year, as more patients are being given an appointment on the day of contact. This depends on availability of appointments and the clinical need presented.

In September 5747 appointments were booked. Unfortunately 180 people decided not to inform us they no longer needed their appointment. Please let us know if you cannot attend your appointment so it can be given to somebody else in need. The easiest way to do this is through the NHS App or Patient Access App or whichever App you might be signed up to.

In September, 101 Phlebotomy (blood test) appointments were not attended. We currently have a 3 week wait for blood tests. Please attend your appointments or cancel them if you are not going to attend. The best way to cancel appointments is on the NHS App or Patient Access App or their website version.

You can call us from 8am-12.30pm and 1.30pm to 6.30pm Monday to Friday. Phone calls received in September 4952 of which 1722 were then helped through Econsults.

You can also access the practice by completing an Econsult on the NHS App or website or via our website. Econsults received in September 2431.

September 2022

We apologise for the inconvenience caused yesterday. Our clinical computer system froze and it took our supplier 1.5hrs to resolve the issue. During this time we were unable to offer patients appointments as we were unable to access our appointment book and patient medical records. This has now been resolved.

Our new Engage arrival screens have finally been delivered! Installation should be completed tomorrow making for a smoother arrivals process at the practice. These will be coming with us to the new build, which we are still expecting to open in April/May 2023.

Thank you to all our GPs, nurses and clerical staff who worked extra hours this weekend running our flu clinic at Marine Lake Medical Practice. They vaccinated over 1600 of our patients against flu across Saturday and Sunday. More flu clinics are running throughout October. If you are eligible to be vaccinated you will receive a text message or a phone call, inviting you to the next available clinic.

A coat was left at the practice during our flu clinic this weekend. If it is yours, then please do let us know at reception and tell us what colour it is. Many thanks.

Autumn Covid Booster Vaccinations

Our Primary Care Network – Healthier West Wirral are currently contacting patients aged 75 years and over for their Autumn Covid Booster Vaccinations.

You will be contacted directly to arrange your appointment.

These vaccinations are taking place at Greasby Library. Please do not call the practice to enquire when you will be contacted as we are not managing this program from the practice.

Thank you to all our GPs, nurses and clerical staff who worked extra hours this weekend running our over 65s flu clinic at Marine Lake Medical Practice. They vaccinated over 2000 of our patients against flu across Saturday and Sunday. More flu clinics are running throughout October. If you are eligible to be vaccinated you will receive a text message inviting you to the next available clinic.