NEWSLETTER SPRING 2023

STAFF UPDATE

We are sad to say farewell to Dr Rosie Atterton who is leaving us for pastures new. However, we welcome Dr Dan Petrie who has joined us from Stamford. He is a welcome addition to our clinical team. This is what Dr Petrie’s says……..

Hello, it’s been great to have such a warm welcome from the team. I’ve been a local for 17 years since moving to the area after medical school in Sheffield. I completed my junior doctor and GP training whilst serving in the RAF and then worked as a NHS GP in Corby and Stamford for the most recent 10 years. I met my wife at medical school and we now have 4 children age 13 down to 3. In my spare time I enjoy catching up with friends, cycling, paddleboarding and helping to run a small group in our Church.

My main clinical interest is Mental health and personalisation, making sure the patient and their community is at the centre of their care. I founded the local charity MindSpace Stamford to help support the social aspect of support for those struggling with their wellbeing.

On my journey as a human I have become increasingly aware of the importance of listening, being more present to those around me and community and I look forward to making new friends here in this new chapter of my life.

We also welcome Dr Sophie Reiter who joined the team earlier this month. Here is what she says…..

Hello and thank you all for welcoming me so warmly to the surgery.  

I have recently moved to the local area from Cambridge with my husband, 2 young girls and our Rough Collie, in order to pursue our outdoor hobbies such as hiking, cycling and running, and to settle into family life. In my quiet moments, I enjoy knitting and crochet, a hobby which I started during my first maternity leave, going on to make a complete set of play fruits and vegetables! 

My main clinical interests are Women’s Health and Contraception, alongside quality improvement and teaching, and I am looking forward to making a positive impact in the surgery. 

PRACTICE LIST SIZE

Our list size has grown considerably over the last 3-4 years. We now have almost 10,000 patients. We have therefore closed our list to out of area new registrations. Existing patients who move outside our boundary will need to register with another GP Practice. You can check your address on our website here https://www.wansfordsurgery.co.uk/practice-information/new-patients/catchment-area/

We have taken on more clinical and administrative staff to accommodate our increasing patient numbers.

Zero Tolerance

We have noticed an increase in verbal abuse to our reception staff. They are doing a very difficult job and they do so within the parameters of what we have to offer. They do not block you from seeing a doctor, they work within strict guidelines set down by the partners and doctors at the surgery. They will often signpost to the most appropriate service or clinician, this is not always a GP. They are trained to ask the nature of the ailment in order to do this. They adhere to our strict confidentiality policy and will not divulge any information to third parties. In addition they will not give any patient information to anyone other than the patient themselves unless we have written agreement to do so.

BLOOD PRESSURE UPDATE

As the NHS is busy we are always finding alternate ways of managing appointments and conditions but still provide the best service we can. We have been looking at how we manage blood pressures in particular.

We have a number of different health professionals working in and across the surgery and pharmacy so utilising these clinicians is one way of providing a quicker and better service when it comes to looking after your blood pressure.

As a patient we may ask you to take your blood pressure using one of our blood pressure monitors located in each entrance to the surgery at Wansford and at our branch surgery in Kings Cliffe. If you have never had blood pressure problems and your reading is above 140/90 we will then sign post you to the pharmacy team at Wansford.  Here the Pharmacist  Gareth or Sanjay will repeat it and then will offer you a blood pressure machine to wear over several hours to get an average BP.

This is what we call the ‘GOLD STANDARD’ in diagnosing hypertension (high blood pressure). If the average reading is above the 140/90 our clinical pharmacist will call you and chat about medication and lifestyle changes which can help.

If you already have blood pressure issues and you’re on medication already we will ask you to do a blood pressure in the surgery and if this above 135/85 will ask you to do a blood pressure diary. This involves taking your own blood pressure twice daily for 7 days and hand it in to reception.

If the average from these recording are above the 135/85, we will again ask our clinical pharmacist to call you and discuss adjusting any medication we feel may be needed.

The blood pressure protocol is now used across the surgery and if reception or a clinician ask you to follow this criteria please understand why they are asking  this.  

COMMUNICARE

(Wansford & Kings Cliffe Practice Patient Participation Group)

41st ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

will be held on

Wednesday 29th March 2023

   In the reception area of Wansford Surgery

at 5.30pm

All patients are invited to attend this open meeting.

Along with the Chairman and Treasurer’s reports there will be an

update from the Practice partners and (re)election of officials.

Anyone wishing to take an active role in the Group is welcome

to stand for this election.

Wansford Research Update:

The team have several new studies in the pipeline for the year ahead and more details will be released in due course.

 We choose to participate in studies if we think it’s the right study that would benefit our local population and it enhances medical research to find potential new treatments for diseases. Some of the studies we’ve been previously been involved in are Cardiovascular studies, Respiratory studies, Covid19 vaccines, Dermatology and Diabetes studies to name a few

Each study that we express our interest in has lots of regulatory approvals to go through in the UK which can often mean we have several months before we actually hear if we have been selected or not to be able to run the study. As soon as we know we have been selected we can then release some details and look for enthusiastic recruits to join us!

Over the coming months we may be sending out some information via text messages or email if we think you may be suitable to join a study. Please do message us back if you are interested. Its purely voluntary

In the meantime if you would like to register your name at our site on a general level to be added to a waiting list for interest in research studies then please do that now. You can email: [email protected] or you can phone and leave a message on 01780 781623