North Uist Medical Practice

Practice Information

NORTH UIST MEDICAL PRACTICE PATIENT PARTICIPATION GROUP (PPG)

POLICY TOWARDS ABUSIVE BEHAVIOUR

HOURS OF OPENING

Monday – Friday 8:30am – 5:30pm

All consultations are by appointment only

Please phone 01876 500463

MONDAY – 9:00am – 11:00am.

3:30pm – 5:00pm

TUESDAY – 9:00am – 11:00am.

WEDNESDAY – 9:45am – 11:00am.

3:30pm – 5:00pm.

THURSDAY – 9:00am – 11:00am.

FRIDAY – 9:30am – 11:00am.

3:30pm – 5:00pm.

DISTRICT CONSULTING –

CARINISH – TUESDAY 2:10pm – 2:40pm

BERNERAY – WEDNESDAY 10:40am – 11:30am

(Alternate weeks)

BAYHEAD – 1st Thursday of each month at the school. THURSDAY 2:10pm – 2:40pm

USEFUL TELEPHONE NUMBERS

NHS 24
OUT OF HOURS CONTACT (111)

LOCHMADDY HEALTH CENTRE
SURGERY NUMBER (01876 500463)

DISTRICT NURSES (01876 500309)

HEALTH VISITOR (01876 500309)

HOSPITALS

UIST AND BARRA HOSPITAL (01870 603603)

WESTERN ISLES HOSPITAL (01851 704704)

COMMUNITY STAFF

COMMUNITY PSYCHIATRIC NURSE (01870 602918)

SUBSTANCE MISUSE WORKER (01876 603279)

MACMILLAN NURSE (01870 603010)

HEALTH BOARDS

HEALTH BOARD OFFICES-

BENBECULA (01870 602266)

HEALTH BOARD OFFICES –

STORNOWAY (01851 702997)

DENTAL

BENBECULA DENTIST (01870 602178)

MISCELLANEOUS

COUNCIL OFFICES (01870 602425)

TAGSA UIBHIST (01870 602117)

UIST CITIZENS ADVICE BUREAU (01870 602421)

APPOINTMENTS

All surgeries are by appointment. You can make an appointment by phoning 01876 500463 during normal opening hours. Alternatively you can make your appointment online at the new E-Practice page on this website. It will not always be possible to see the Doctor of your choice on a particular day.

Urgent cases will be seen the same day as requested but you may not be able to see the doctor of your choice or be able to attend at the time you prefer.

TELEPHONING THE DOCTOR

If you wish to speak to the doctor personally on the telephone, please call between 11.30 and 12.00. If the doctor is unavailable to take your call, you will be given a time to call back when the doctor should be free.

CANCELLATIONS

If you are unable to keep your appointment, please telephone to cancel it.

HOME VISITS

If you are unable to attend the surgery and require a home visit, this can be arranged by phoning 01876 500333. Please try and phone before 10am as this helps the doctors plan their rounds. The receptionist or nurse may ask for further information, this is to help assess the urgency of your condition and allows us to respond efficiently.

STAFF

Please click here to go meet the staff of North Uist Medical practice.

REPEAT PRESCRIPTIONS

If you require a repeat prescription, please consider using our online ordering facility on the E-Practice page. If you would rather phone then please call before 12:00 on 01876500463. Please allow 2 working days after you order your medication, before you wish to collect your prescription.

SELF REFERRAL FORMS

Please go to this page to download forms to refer yourself to a range of specialties – physiotherapy / OT / dietetics etc.

DISPENSING

Dispensing of prescriptions is done at the surgery as there is no Pharmacist on the Island. If you need simple over the counter medications the local shops may have a supply. If they are unable to help you please phone the practice – we are often able to sort out a prescription for basic items at short notice without necessarily having to make an appointment.

ANTE/POST NATAL CLINIC

Carried out by midwives. Please contact the practice as soon as possible if you think you are/ or are considering becoming pregnant.

CHILD IMMUNISATION CLINIC

Will be organised through the practice – please get in touch.

WELL PERSON CLINICS

By appointment.

ASTHMA, DIABETES AND ISCHAEMIC HEART DISEASE CLINICS

Are run by Practice Nurses and are arranged from time to time. Patients with relevant conditions will be contacted as appropriate. If you think you have been missed out, contact the surgery.

TRAVEL CLINIC

By appointment. Please allow enough time before travel to complete your course of travel immunisations.

CERVICAL SMEARS

When your smear is due, an appointment should automatically be sent to you. If you think that you have been missed, please contact the surgery.

MINOR SURGERY

Certain minor surgery procedures can be carried out in the practice and your doctor will advise you of this.

CONTRACEPTIVE SERVICES

We provide a range of contraceptive services including emergency contraception. Please be aware that emergency contraception works best when given as soon as possible after intercourse. As such you should contact the practice as soon as you are able – any of the doctors or the practice nurse will be able to help. If it is a weekend or bank holiday you would also be able to access contraception at Uist and Barra hospital in Benbecula by first phoning NHS 24 on the national 111 number.

TEMPORARY RESIDENTS

If you are a temporary resident and need medical treatment, you will be advised to register with the Practice on a temporary basis.

CHAPERONES

Any patient having an examination can request a chaperone to be present along with the doctor. Please request this if you have any concerns whatsoever – we would be very happy to accommodate you. As a rule the doctor will ask you if you wish a chaperone for an intimate examination, please be aware that this is a matter of routine practice policy.

VIOLENCE OR ABUSIVE BEHAVIOUR

The Practice has a zero tolerance in respect of violence or abuse, whether physical or verbal, to Doctors, staff or other patients. Patients who are violent or abusive may be removed from the Practice list, and will have to then be seen under special arrangements through the Western Isles NHS Board:

GDPR / PRIVACY

North Uist Medical Practice complies with laws re Data Protection and Confidentiality

We will use your data to communicate with you by telephone, email or letter.

We share some of your data with local Out of Hours services and hospitals. You can opt out of this data sharing if you wish – please contact us.

We share medical records with other health and care professionals who are directly involved in your care.

Anonymised data is used by health boards to plan services.

We will never break confidentiality except in very rare cases with regard to serious criminal matters and some driving regulation legislation.

Your data is used to check the quality of care provided by the NHS.

Please ask for a copy of our data sharing policy if you would like to see it.

If you wish to opt out of some data sharing that happens with the health board then contact our practice manager for details about how to do this.

We do not store cookies relating to your visit for personalisation or marketing purposes. Some limited cookies may be used by ‘google analytics’ to register your visit to the web site, but this information is anonymised, not usable by the web site team to track your behaviour and not used for any purposes other than to count traffic.

NEWSLETTERS

Please click here to see the practice newsletters that we have published.

OUT OF HOURS CALLS

Calls outside of normal opening hours will be answered by NHS24. Your call will be answered by a trained operator. NHS24 can be contacted on 111 or at www.nhs24.com

PHYSIOTHERAPY

Physiotherapists come to the surgery once a week to do clinics. Your GP may refer you, or you can self refer by printing out the following form and handing it in to the practice or Uist and Barra hospital.
Self referral forms.

TEXT MESSAGES

We have a system for texting patients reminders for certain clinic appointments / requests to come in for blood tests / smears etc. If you would like to be included in this service you must opt into it by filling in the appropriate consent form in practice. It can be downloaded for you to fill out and sign here if you wish.

TRAINING STUDENTS AND JUNIOR DOCTORS

We have a long history of helping train future doctors. The Practice has established links with several medical schools for the training of medical students. There is a notice about this in the waiting room when Medical Students are here with us.

CONFIDENTIALITY

Other Health Professionals, e.g. District Nurses, Health Visitors, Diabetic Nurse, CPNs etc. will require access to your Medical Records. They are bound by the rules of confidentiality as are all the members of the Practice.

If you wish to view any letters/results in your medical records, you will be required to make an appointment with a Doctor to discuss this.

ACCESSIBILITY

There is one wheelchair at the practice which can be made available on request – please advise us of any special requirements you may have.

SUGGESTIONS

Do you have a suggestion that will improve our service?

Is there a problem with a service we provide?

Do you have a complaint or feel dissatisfied?

We have a procedure to deal with these situations. Please telephone for further information.

We also have a suggestion box in the surgery, please feel free to post any suggestions you feel will improve our service. You can also email a suggestion on the E-Practice section of this website.

The Practice will undertake a patient satisfaction survey on an annual basis. We would be grateful if you would take the time to complete this.

TRAVEL HEALTH

We provide a full travel health service including yellow fever vaccination. Please click here for more information.

TEST RESULTS

Results may be given over the telephone but on occasions, if further explanation is required, you may be advised to talk to the doctor. Results will not normally be given to or discussed with anyone other than the patient. Please phone for results between 11.30am and 12 noon.

NEW PATIENTS

If you wish to register with this Practice you can do so during normal opening hours. When you register with the Practice you will be added to the practice list and not on the list of an individual Doctor. You can be seen by any of the Doctors in the Practice although it will not always be possible to see the Doctor of your choice on a particular day/time. All newly registered patients are asked to complete a health questionnaire and to make an appointment for a health check within one month of joining the practice.

MEDICALS

Insurance or HGV medicals can be done in the practice by private arrangement – these will attract a fee.

NORTH UIST MEDICAL PRACTICE PATIENT PARTICIPATION GROUP (PPG)

This is a group of NUMP patients who meet several times a year in order to help improve communication between the practice and the community. The group could possibly….

1.     Contribute to practice decision-making and will consult on service development and provision.
2.     Provide feedback on patients’ needs, concerns and interests and challenge the practice constructively whenever necessary.
3.     Serve as a ‘safety valve’ for dealing with grumbles and complaints about the practice representing patients but also helping them to understand the practice’s viewpoint.
4.     Assist the practice and its patients by arranging voluntary groups/support within the community.
5.     Communicate information about the community which may affect healthcare.
6.     Give patients a voice in the organisation of their care.
7.     Promote health and higher levels of health literacy by encouraging and supporting activities within the practice and promoting preventive medicine.
8.     Influence the provision of secondary healthcare and social care locally.
9.     Monitor services, eg hospital discharge and support when back in the community.
10.     Give feedback to NHS trusts on consultations.
11.     Fundraise for medical equipment or other facilities to improve the practice and/or fund the activities of the PPG.
12.     Liase with other PPGs in the area

There is a different representative for each of the main North Uist areas. For simplicities sake we have divided the island by its telephone directory codes.

Your representative for each area is….

Peggy MacPhee-Sollas
shonnieshep@hotmail.com
Mrs Theona Morrison—Grimsay
tmorrison@nce-siar.gov.uk
Mr John Maclean—Berneray
mvshipping@hebrides.net

You can contact your local representative to discuss any of these topics. This could be a request for more information / an idea that you would like to implement to help the health of the community / or a suggestion for changes to the way that the practice works.

Please note that the group is not an appropriate forum for complaints – these should be addressed directly to our practice manager Helen Maclean.