Practice news
Upcoming events, changes to the practice or interesting health related news articles will be posted here. If you would like to see any of the practice newsletters that we have published please click here. There is also a live news feed from the health pages of the BBC on the right, click on any story that interests you for further information.
Late Monday opening.
August 18th, 2016 by Dr Wheeler.Thank you to those who replied to this years practice survey. Everyone here is very grateful for the kind comments received, and the very high satisfaction scores that you have given us.
The survey is also a chance for you to help us improve our service with constructive criticism. One theme that came up (and has come up in previous years) is related to appointment times outside normal work hours.
It is clear from the survey that patients do appreciate the fact that access to a GP or nurse in North Uist is far better than in the vast majority of practices in the rest of the UK. There are however a small number of patients with chronic health issues that need routine reviews – but who find it difficult to co ordinate their appointment with their occupation.
As a result, we have opened up some later slots on alternate Monday evenings to help these people out. Anyone could book one of these later appointments – but we would like to prioritise them for patients in full time employment who have otherwise got access issues. These appointments are not likely to be suitable for urgent queries in a lot of cases. The full range of blood tests may not be available and our nurse won’t be present – but they would be ideal for patients with (for example) hypertension / asthma / regular long term medication needs who just need to check in with us every so often.
Please remember to order repeat prescriptions 48 hours in advance of these appointments if you would like to pick up medicines at the same time.
Car park expansion.
August 18th, 2016 by Dr Wheeler.
You may have noticed the new gate that has been put in at the top of our car park. This was in response to a good idea from John Macdonald. He wondered if the Community council would mind patients from the practice leaving their cars at the hall to help relieve pressure on our limited spaces.
They agreed, and the health board kindly funded the path and gate on a small patch of waste ground to facilitate its use.
Feel free to park in either car park when you visit the practice, and thank you to everyone who worked together to make it happen.
Electronic sharing of your patient records.
February 23rd, 2016 by Dr Wheeler.The Western isles health board is in the process of rolling out 2 large IT projects that have a direct impact on patients locally that I would like to draw your attention to.
Both involve sharing your medical records externally, so you need to be fully aware of how they work in order to make an informed decision about how your data is used.
The first project involves the sharing of partially anonymised data from your records with a number of analysts from public health based in Stornoway. This would be used to help guide the board about disease prevalence / medicine and vaccine usage/ public health issues etc.
Your name and address will not be shared – but other identifiable information will be (your DOB and postcode for example).
There have been posters up in the practice regarding this over the past few weeks and there are leaflets available in the surgery with more detailed information about what is being shared, and why it is being requested.
The second project is called eMRec (electronic medical record).
Th eMRec would share significant parts of your GP records with the records held in the hospital / mental health and community services.
So, for example, if a health professional sees you in a hospital ward or outpatient clinic in the future they would be able to look at up to date information on your history and medications from your GP’s systems that they can’t currently see.
Further information on this can be found on the health board website at http://www.wihb.scot.nhs.uk/your-universal-nhs-western-isles-health-record
Both of these projects are relying on what is called ‘implied consent’. In other words the health board will assume that you are happy for them to share your information in this way unless you specifically ask otherwise.
The public health data sharing is going to happen within the next few weeks – with the eMRec time scale not being so clear.
If you are happy with the situation described above you don’t need to do anything else.
If you have concerns about your data security in any way then you need to formally opt out of one or both of these projects by phoning the practice and asking us to remove you from the lists. You don’t need to speak to a doctor in order to do this – but you may do so if you feel you need more information.
We don’t run the projects however – if you need further information it may be better to ask any questions directly to the ‘Public health intelligence team’ at 01851 708055.
School visit.
October 2nd, 2015 by Dr Wheeler.North Uist medical practice loved seeing the primary 1, 2 and 3 class from Lochmaddy school this week.
They are doing a project about ‘people who help us’.
They were very interested in our models of eyeballs, bones and joints, and seemed very knowledgeable about basic physiology already!
All the children were very well behaved… and several have indicated that they want to be nurses when they grow up!
Physiotherapy self referral
July 21st, 2015 by Dr Wheeler.Did you know that you can refer yourself for physiotherapy without seeing a doctor?
Download the file below. print it out and hand it in to the practice or at Uist and Barra hospital if you want to make use of the service.
We have been very pleased to see our local physio Alana coming to Lochmaddy twice a week to see patients over the past few months – a great service after a long hiatus during which patients had to travel to Benbecula for appointments.
