Introduction |
Welcome to our Newsletter!Here you will find: |
CHOOSE AND BOOK Choose and Book is a new Service that allows you to choose your Hospital/Clinic and book an appointment with a Specialist. This Service is now available at the Surgery, you may have seen the posters and patient leaflets in the Surgery Reception Area, if you have attended recently. When you and your GP agree that you need to see a Specialist (this will apply to routine referrals only at present), you will be able to choose from up to 4 Hospitals/Clinics, you will also be able to choose the date and time of your appointment. What are the benefits of Choose and Book?
The NHS provides information on each of the Hospitals/Clinics on your list so that you can decide which one you would like to use. This information includes local transport details and whether or not the Hospital provides services such as car parking, disabled access, a visitor canteen and shops. There are also star ratings or performance standards. There are a number of ways you can get this information:
By calling the above Choose and Book Appointment Line or using the Healthspace internet address above, book at your GP Practice or call the Hospital Booking Staff at the Hospital/Clinic you want to use. All this information is on you appointment request letter. What happens when my appointment is booked? Once you have booked your appointment, you will receive the details of the Hospital/Clinic, the date and time of your appointment and any special instructions you need to know, such as not taking any food or water before seeing the Specialist. What do I do if I want to change the date or time of my appointment? Call the Choose and Book Appointments Line, use the internet or if when you first made your appointment you had to phone your chosen Hospital, you will need to call them again if you want to change your booking. Can I book all my Hospital appointments through Choose and Book? At first, Choose and Book will only apply to your initial Hospital/Clinic appointment. Will personal information about me be kept safe and secure? Choose and Book has strict security measures in place to make sure your personal information is held and transferred to other people securely. Clinical information about you is only passed to other people involved in your care. Where can I find out more information? For more information and answers to the most commonly asked questions, go to www.nhs.uk/choose and book Choose and Book Website HEALTHSPACE HealthSpace is a secure place on the Internet where you can store all your personal health information. To access HealthSpace go to www.healthspace.nhs.uk. To use the following features you need to create a HealthSpace if you have not logged in before (click on the link ‘create a HealthSpace’).
MMR VACCINE (IMPORTANT INFORMATION) The first measles death in the UK for 14 years occurred in Rochdale in March 2006. The victim was a 13 year old boy who had not received the MMR vaccine. This tragedy brings home how important immunisation is in preventing illness and in some cases deaths. Any parent of a child who has not had the MMR vaccine is invited to make an appointment with a Practice Nurse for the vaccination. It is normally given at around 13 months old and again at around 3 years and 4 months. Even if your child has had single dose vaccines, as they are less well studied and known to be less effective, experts advise that children can and should still have the MMR vaccination. The following links are to a website about the vaccine and a BBC News article about the death. www.mmrthefacts.nhs.uk MMR the facts http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4871728.stm BBC NEWS|England|First measles death for 14 years Newsletter Archive |