Dear Patients, 
 
We are now six weeks into our new, fully merged practice and we just wanted to say ‘thank you’ to you all. We very much appreciate your patience as the new systems all bed in.  
 
We also wanted to let you know that we are doing our best to implement some new ideas that we genuinely feel, in the long run, will benefit us all. Inevitably, things will go wrong at times as we find our feet and we are – and will continue – doing our best to fix things and keep striving to improve.  
 
We also want to take this opportunity to dispel a few myths that seem to have started and are being perpetuated, especially on social media.  

Myth 1 – Reasons behind the merger

The aims of the merger were to improve access to care across St Neots and streamline same day access, which in turn would improve routine access and home visits. We hoped that having an acute same day service at the Cedar House site would mean the more unwell people needing to be seen the same day could be fully assessed and wouldn’t impact on the routine and chronic disease management at the Eaton Socon and Dumbleton sites.  

Myth 2 – Telephone issues  

We appreciate how frustrating it has been to reach us on the telephone since the merger. The telephone issues we have experienced were largely down to the lack of training we received from our telephone company. This meant that phone calls were disappearing into a ‘black hole’ which we have now corrected. We have also experienced staff shortages which meant we were often down to one person answering the phones. With more than 1000 calls coming in on busy days (Monday and Friday mornings in particular), you can appreciate that with the best will in the world, there will be a wait. The good news is six new receptionists have now started with us. We have also appointed a new prescription clerk, secretary, nurse and two new doctors who will all start in the coming weeks. We are also hoping to introduce a new service called Doctorlink, which will see patients able to book appointments through an app.  

Myth 3 – ‘Selling out’ and profiteering  

We have not ‘sold out’ to Lakeside. We are still a partnership like we were before. We made this move because general practice is changing hugely. If we hadn’t joined a larger organisation, the danger of one of the sites in St Neots closing completely had become very real. None of the partners have made a profit from the merger. We are all on the same pay as we were several years ago. The decision to merge was not taken lightly and it was done to try to benefit everyone in St Neots in the long run – patients, staff and GPs included. 

Myth 4 – Same day appointments

If you feel you need to be seen TODAY, we will try to facilitate that as much as possible. A clinician (doctor or nurse) will ring you back to talk to you about your complaint. It helps us if you give our reception staff an idea of your issue (it doesn’t have to be detailed) so we know whether to ring you back immediately or if they can add you to the queue. We try to prioritise the most unwell and vulnerable people, such children and the elderly. Sometimes, the doctor or nurse can help over the phone, or they will arrange a same day appointment, often with various tests at the same time. If you feel you need seeing that day, or need an urgent prescription for the same day, then in the main, this will be dealt with at the Cedar House site. This is because this site is now set up for seeing same day, acutely unwell patients and we can do all the tests we need to fully and safely assess the patient and provide treatments there and then. There is, however, provision for vulnerable patients to be seen at the other sites, but this will be decided by the clinician assessing the patient at the time.  

Myth 5 – Prescriptions and sick notes

You can order and collect prescriptions from all sites, just as before. We can send electronic prescriptions to whichever pharmacy provider you want as long as you tell us. If you need an urgent prescription, you need to complete a form at the Cedar House site before 3pm and we endeavour to have it ready to collect from Cedar House at 5pm the same day.  
 
There have been updates to ‘sick notes’. These have been replaced by ‘fit notes’. Your employer cannot demand a fit note until you have self-certified for seven days and even then, they don’t need it immediately. They can be back dated. Please ensure you specify where you would like the note collecting from, as it will need to be printed and processed at that site. When a fit note runs out, you are fit to work, unless you get another fit note. 
 

How can we help each other going forward?

• Sign up to the online service (forms available at all site receptions) so you can book appointments, check your notes and see your results without needing to call the surgery.  
• Keep an eye out for Doctorlink and sign up to that when available.
• We will try to be clearer about which site you need to go to and when.
• We aim to have the routine repeat prescriptions back down to 48 hours ASAP.
• Avoid ringing at our busiest times if possible, Monday and Friday mornings especially.
• If you think you might need a home visit, tell us as soon as you can. Once our visiting team is out and about, it is harder to arrange a new visit.  

Yours sincerely, 
Lakeside @ St Neots Partners 

Lakeside St Neots: 01480 406677

Published: Jul 24, 2019