Welcome to The Park Surgery
Welcome to our surgery website where we hope you will quickly benefit from a user friendly layout and a wealth of information about our healthcare services.
We provide a comprehensive medical service to residents of Driffield and its surrounding villages from two surgeries. Our main surgery is situated in the middle of Driffield and is located within a new, purpose-built modern building . We also have a branch surgery situated at 22a High Street, Nafferton which primarily serves the people living there.
We are happy to see our patients at either of our surgeries during opening hours.
FACE COVERING/MASKS
We respectively request that patients wear some form of face mask/covering when attending the surgery. This is in the interests of safety and to try and reduce the potential transmission of Covid-19 within the practice. Unfortunately we are unable to provide face coverings for you. Any help you can give is hugely appreciated.
STEROID INJECTIONS
Please note that we are not currently providing this service. All use of steroid in this format has been suspended until further notice.
USE OF YOUR DATA DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
The way your data is used has changed
due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Please see the supplementary privacy notice below.
CORONAVIRUS
Stay at home
- Only go outside for food, health reasons or work (where this absolutely cannot be done from home)
- Stay 2 metres (6ft) away from other people
- Wash your hands as soon as you get home
PLEASE DO NOT COME INTO THE SURGERY OR GO TO A HOSPITAL OR PHARMACY.
Help us to keep Coronavirus out of the surgery and slow down infection.
CHANGES TO DISPENSARY AT PARK SURGERY, DRIFFIELD (during Coronavirus pandemic)
We understand there is some confusion so we aim to make things clear below:
Ordering of repeat medication - you need to order your medicines with the practice. We would prefer you to do this online using NHS App or Patient Access. If you cannot do this, please telephone on the dispensary's direct line which is (01377) 272900. We know there can be a wait for the phone to be answered but we are working on improving this. We would rather you did not turn up at the surgery to order your medicines at this current time as we are trying to reduce the number of people coming to the surgery and in turn, reduce queuing time.
We are pleased to advise we have returned to the 3 working days we need to process your repeat prescription.
Please do not order more than 10 days earlier than the issue date of the previous month's prescription. We have been asked by the NHS to ensure that we adhere strictly to a 28-day repeat prescription policy. This is to try and ensure there is minimal disruption to the national supply chain. We do not want a repeat of the toilet roll situation!
If you live in Driffield and get a paper prescription, when ordering, tell us which pharmacy you want us to send it to and we will get it there for you as soon as we can. This will mean only one journey is necessary, to your chosen pharmacy, to collect.
If you collect your medication from us, be aware that the queue is outside the building so if the weather is bad, please dress accordingly. We are looking at ways of moving the 'paper prescriptions' away from the dispensary to try and improve queuing times. If you collect medication from us, due to availability of some products, it would help if you can give us slightly longer to process your request (4-5 working days), this should ensure that we have fully processed your order and that it is ready and waiting for you to collect when you come. This, again, should reduce queuing times.
The dispensary is currently open the same hours that it has been for a number of years: 8.00 am - 12.30 pm and 1.30 pm - 6.30 pm, Monday - Friday. We will try and maintain this as long as staffing levels allow. If we have a number of staff who need to self-isolate, this will be reviewed, but we will publicise any changes.
Telephone lines for the Driffield dispensary are open 10.00 am - 12.30 pm and 1.30 pm - 4.00 pm.
Thank you for your patience and understanding during this time. It is difficult for everyone and we are trying our utmost to process things as quickly as possible.
APPOINTMENT SYSTEM CHANGES DUE TO CORONAVIRUS
Due to the fast changing situation with Coronavirus, we have suspended the following services:
- all online access to face-to-face appointments. Telephone consultations can be booked online.
- all book in advance appointments with GPs. GPs will triage every patient who requests an appointment.
- walk in blood service. Appointments are available to pre-book but only for certain criterias of patient. Reception will be able to help with this.
From Monday 16 March 2020 we changed to a full GP triage system which means you will need to speak to a GP before being given an appointment. GPs will only ask you to come into the surgery if there is no alternative. We want to reduce the risk to you, our other patients and our staff as much as possible.
We endeavour to screen every patient who wants to come into the practice for an appointment for potential Coronavirus symptoms.
Please help us in keeping Coronavirus out of the practice; we have many vulnerable patients who may be on site. We also need to protect our staff so we can keep our service running.
If you have symptoms of 'flu-like illness, a high temperature or a new cough which is continuing, or you have lost your taste or sense of smell, DO NOT VISIT THE SURGERY - this includes collecting prescriptions or medication. Thank you for your help in this matter.
Ear Care
For some years we have offered an ear-irrigation service (removal of earwax). This is not a core GP service and requires high levels of nurse time, training and equipment. It is also not without risk to the delicate lining of the ear canal and eardrum and repeated irrigation can encourage more wax to develop. Having reviewed our services, like many other GP Practices, we have decided to no longer offer ear-irrigation for the above reasons. This will help us develop other Practice-Nurse services and improve speed of nurse appointments.
If you have ear symptoms, eg pain, discharge, new deafness or other concerns, naturally we are happy to assess and advise you. We can also advise about how to self-care ear-wax (please see our reception for details). However, if you would like to have your ears irrigated you will need to find a private provider of this service.
There is more information about ear wax from the NHS website https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/earwax-build-up/
We will do irrigation where needed for patients who already have existing appointments for this, but will be unable to take new bookings. Thank you for your attention to this.
Walk in blood clinic - please note this service is currently suspended.
We provide a blood clinic every day so patients can walk in and wait for the next available Healthcare Assistant to have their blood taken for any test the doctor has authorised. These usually run from 8.00 am - 11.00 am. From the 2nd of March 2020 these will be operated using a numbered card system, please take a card from the box on reception and wait to be seen, once all the cards have gone then that session is full for the day. You are able to book an appointment for a blood test if this is your preference but please be aware that this appointment will not be available as quickly as the walk in service. Please note that any blood test request must have been approved and ordered by a doctor or nurse prior to attending or making an appointment.
Change to policy - prescribing for fear of flying
Occasionally we are asked to supply medications to calm people on flights. The medicines requested are 'benzodiazepines' (valium). These medications are now controlled drugs with very limited use nowadays, given they have several risks, including over-sedation, confusion, risk of falls and unsafe driving.
It is particularly unsafe to take these medicines when going into a situation away from medical help, where if there was a fall/injury or need for quick evacuation from the plane, there would be increased risk to that person and to others.
Like many other surgeries, we have decided that it is not appropriate for us to issue medications for this purpose. If you struggle with flying phobia, you can explore counselling options through telephoning the mental health support services (01482) 335451 or pursuing online counselling at www.iesohealth.com. Alternatively you may be able to get advice from private travel clinics or contact airlines for fear-of-flying courses.
Our appointment system (January 2019) - currently suspended
Following our recent survey (held on Facebook and within the surgery) within which we asked patients what their preferences were for accessing appointments, we are pleased to advise that changes to the system will start on Monday 28 January 2019.
We are pleased to advise that we will re-introduce the ability to pre-book an appointment with a GP. This is so GPs can concentrate on more complex illness and/or appropriate following up of a patient.
On the day contacts will initially be 'care navigated' by our reception team. If an appointment is needed, the majority of our patients who are wanting an appointment that day for an acute illness will be given an appointment with our Advanced Nurse Practitioners.
As a result of the above, we will no longer be able to provide the volume of telephone contacts we have done over the last couple of years as the GPs will all be busy in their booked surgeries with very little flexibility for work outside of those booked appointments.
We hope this will improve continuity of care for our patients, especially for those with complex needs. Please be patient with us whilst we get this new system embedded over the next few weeks.
There are no changes to how you access practice nurse and healthcare assistant appointments.
ATTENTION.....DISPENSING PATIENTS
This is a message for all the patients that we dispense medication to (you need to live more than 1.8 km from the nearest pharmacy (as the crow flies)).
We are aware that there are some online pharmacies marketing aggressively in our area.
The decision where you have your medicines dispensed is up to you. However, we need to ensure you are aware that, if you choose to use an alternative provider to us, you cannot change your mind and come back to the practice to have your medicines dispensed in the future. Unfortunately the rather archaic regulations do not allow this.
We want to continue to provide you with a dispensing service but if you do choose to leave us, please ensure you are aware of all the facts.
Electronic Consultations
Please click on the icon below if you wish to use Engage Consult to send an electronic consultation to the practice.
PLEASE NOTE: ENGAGE CONSULT HAS BEEN UPDATED. UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE, IN ORDER TO SUBMIT YOUR ENGAGE CONSULT PLEASE CLICK ON THE ICON BELOW FOLLOWED BY ONE OF THE OPTIONS AVAILABLE. YOU WILL THEN NEED TO CLICK 'CONTINUE AS GUEST USER' TO BEGIN SUBMITTING YOUR ENGAGE CONSULT.
BT ring back service
A number of our patients are commenting that we are not calling them back when they use this service. The practice is not notified if you choose to use this service. It is a BT service which is managed at the BT exchange when all lines are busy. If you choose to use this service the BT network will monitor your call for 45 minutes and then ring you automatically when a line becomes available. You are charged by BT for this call. We cannot influence how well this will work and the operation of this is totally outside of the practice's control. If you are dissatisfied with the service, you will need to contact BT directly.
Friends & Family Test
All practices are required to offer this test to our patients. It is very brief and asks only 2 questions. We would be very grateful if you could take the time to please click the link on the right of this page (Friend & Family Test) and complete the test.
Telephone calls
We record all of our telephone calls (incoming and outgoing) for quality and training purposes.
Summary Care record
Unless a patient has “opted out” (declined), The Park Surgery patients have their Summary Care Record held on the NHS national computer system. A Summary Care Record is an electronic record which contains information about the medicines you take, allergies you suffer from and any bad reactions to medicines you have had. Having this information stored in one place makes it easier for healthcare staff to treat you in an emergency, or when your GP practice is closed. Only healthcare staff involved in your care can see your Summary Care Record.
GP2GP
The GP2GP facility enables the electronic transfer of patient records between practices. This means that your records will be available to your new GP much quicker than previously. The Park Surgery already use this facility.
On-Line facilities to patients
You may (or may not) be aware that general practice is contractually obliged to give patients access to a summary of their medical record, access to online appointments and the ability to order repeat medication online. From April 2016 we are also contractually obliged to give patients to all of their coded data which is held on the their medical record.
You can view your medical problems, medications, allergies, test results and vaccination records online. However we need to ensure that we have appropriate mechanisms in place to be certain that we only give access to this information to the person it relates to. We are sure you can appreciate that it is vital that we follow the strictest security procedures! Therefore, if you wish to view your medical record online, please ask reception for the relevant form which you need to complete. You will also need to show appropriate ID so that the member of staff is absolutely certain it is the correct person requesting access. Once this process is complete, we will ensure that you can view your summary medical record online. Please note, this process applies even if you are already registered to use our online access to appointments and repeat medicines (as it is likely that you were not asked for ID verification at the time of registration).
If you have any queries about the medical information you see, please put in writing to us your concerns so that a GP can check the details.
Medical Students
We welcome back our medical students who are studying for their medical degrees at the Hull & York Medical School. The practice has a strong belief in the value of training the future generation and we welcome your support in assisting us with this.
Special Needs
We try to make our service available to all patients regardless of disability or other special need. If you have a special need which makes it difficult for you to make the best of our services, please let us know. We will do whatever we can to make things easier.
Access
The Park Surgery is a purpose built, modern property and has automatic doors from both the street and the car park. There are a number of dedicated disabled parking places and a lift inside the building as we do have consulting rooms on the first floor.
At the Nafferton surgery, our disabled patients are able to access the surgery entrance from the rear car park, rather than from the High Street.
Named Accountable GP
The practice is required by the Government under the terms of the latest GP contract to allocate all patients a named accountable GP. Individual patients will be informed of their named accountable GP at the first appropriate interaction with the practice.
- All current and new patients registered with this Practice will be allocated a named GP.
- If you would like to express a preference as to which GP you are assigned the Practice will make reasonable efforts to accommodate this request.
- Your accountable GP is responsible for your overall care at the Practice, however you are welcome to see any GP within the Practice.
- If you would like to know the name of your accountable GP please ask at the Reception desk.
Having a named GP does not prevent you seeing any other doctor in the practice. Your named GP will not be available at all times and if your needs are urgent, you may need to discuss them with an alternative Doctor.
Carers
If you are a carer for a vulnerable/dependent person, or someone with a chronic disease, please let us know so that we can give you our carer's information pack regarding additional support where needed. If you are a carer, you are entitled to an annual influenza vaccination
Medication
A drug formulary has been developed by Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust and adopted by the East Riding of Yorkshire Clinical Commissioning Group. This document alerts GPs and nurse prescribers to the medicines which should be prescribed within our area. To view the formulary click the following link http://www.theparksurgerydriffield.nhs.uk/website/B81037/files/Drug_formulary_for_Hull_and_East_Riding.pdf