The Weavers Practice Notice Board

DR BURKE RETIREMENT

The Weavers Practice are sad to announce that Dr Sean Burke will be retiring in July this year. I know all of you will join  us in wishing him well in his new teaching post at UCLAN. Dr Burke will be greatly missed by staff and patients alike. We would like to sincerely thank him for all his hard work and dedication to the practice and to the population of Rishton and Great Harwood.

EASTER BANK HOLIDAY OPENING TIMES:

Friday 18th April – CLOSED

Saturday 19th April – CLOSED

Sunday 20th April – CLOSED

Monday 21st April – CLOSED

If you have a life threatening medical emergency during these times please dial 999, for all other medical issues please contact 111.

Protected Learning time:

Dear Patient’s

We are closed on Thursday 15th May 2025 from 1pm-6.30pm for Protected Learning Time.  This enables practices to provide dedicated training to their staff and to discuss and plan ways that will allow them to improve services, meet demand and support the wellbeing of staff.  ​

For all life-threatening medical emergencies please call 999.​

If you feel your request is urgent and cannot wait until the following day provisions have been made for urgent triage via 111. ​

For all routine requests for results, appointments, prescriptions, and general queries please call back on Friday 16th May 2025 at 8am. ​

Alternatively, please complete an online triage request (PATCHS) via our website and we will respond within 2 working days. If you do not have access to the internet, please call us back on Friday 16th May 2025 at 8am. 

Total Triage:

Dear Patients, On Monday 3rd of March 2025, we will be changing our appointments to a Total Triage system.

This a “Modern General Practice” model to make access to care and treatment easier for patients and improve patient satisfaction. This is a national NHS project, and all general practices must adopt this system by 31^st March 2025.

Total Triage means every patient will have to provide some information for the reasons why they are contacting the surgery. Patients will need to register for PATCHS (our online consultation platform) via our website to submit their request by completing the form. We appreciate that this may not be possible for some patients. If you are unable or do not have access to the internet, then you can contact the surgery in the usual way and one of our receptionists will complete the form for you over the telephone which will be added to the list for the GP to review and triage in the same way.

All clinical requests will be triaged by one of our experienced GPs who will decide what the best course of action is. To help our doctors prioritise patients who may need more urgent care, where necessary we may need to ask a few more questions.

The triaging GP will either offer you a Face to Face or Telephone appointment bookable by a “self-book” link, or you may receive a reply with self-care advice or signposted to a more appropriate service.

We understand change can sometimes be difficult, but we are confident that Total Triage will have many benefits including:

• Addressing the increasing demand for appointments
• Avoid the frustration of the 8am telephone rush.
• Reduce waiting times for appointments
• Make accessing the practice more convenient

We would like to thank you in advance for your patience and support during this transition.

PATCHS is the new easy way for you to contact your GP practice online. PATCHS has been designed by GP’s to make it easier for you to contact your practice and save you time.

You can use PATCHS to contact the surgery for health advice, repeat prescriptions, request fit notes and more. Some of the benefits of using PATCHS include:

• Being able to make requests in your own time
• Avoid telephone queues
• A quicker response time (depending on your query)

For more information visit: help.patchs.ai

Elderly people being scammed in East Lancs. 

NHS APP:

If you’re a patient at our practice, you can use the NHS App to access a range of NHS services on your smartphone or tablet. It doesn’t replace existing services. You can still contact us in the usual ways.

But, once you have verified your identity in the app, you will have easy, 24/7 access to a growing range of health services and information. You can:

• order repeat prescriptions
• access NHS 111 online
• find NHS services
• view your health records
• book appointments
• and much more…

If you have any problems using the NHS App, you can select ‘help’ in the top right-hand corner of the app or visit nhs.uk/helpmeapp.

 Carers:

If you a re registered carer, or care for a family member or friend please let us know.

Targeted Lung Health check Programme

Supporting earlier diagnosis of lung cancer 

What is a Targeted Lung Health Check?

• Targeted Lung Health Checks (TLHC) are being offered in our area to support with the early detection and treatment of lung cancer.
• Those between the ages of 55 and 74 who are current or former smokers will be invited to a TLHC.
• The check compromises of two stages, the first is a telephone call with a health professional who will assess your risk of lung cancer. If you are deemed to be high risk, you will be invited for a low dose chest CT. The TLHC service will organise this, as required.
• The TLHC Programme is currently being rolled out across England. Initially being available in areas of England with the highest lung cancer mortality rates but is expected to be available nationally by 2024-25

For further information:

Roy Castle Lung Screening Information

https://lungcheckslsc.co.uk/

Why it’s important

• Lung cancer often goes undetected during its early stages, due to there often being no signs of symptoms. Less than 20% of people diagnosed with lung cancer survive for 5 years or more.
• TLHCs help detect cancer at an earlier stage, when curative treatment is more possible.
• To date, 80% of lung cancers found by the TLHC programme have been at stage 1 or stage 2, compared to 30% without this kind of intervention.

Repeat Prescriptions:

Did you know you can manage repeat prescriptions from The Weavers Practice in the NHS App?

You can easily choose where your prescriptions are sent. So, if you know you’ll be away from home or you are moving home, you can change your nominated pharmacy from within the app.

You can also order your prescription at any time that suits you. There’s no need to wait to join a telephone queue or wait until the GP surgery opens.

It’s easy to use, and, if you hit a snag, you can go to ‘Help’ in the top right-hand corner of the app or visit nhs.uk/helpmeapp.

Find out more about the NHS App at: www.nhs.uk/nhsapp.

ONLINE GP RECORD ACCESS  2023

From November this year, patients using the NHS app will be able to view all new entries made in their GP records. This is an NHS initiative to give patients greater access to their health information. Upon reviewing your records, you may feel that certain notes made by our clinicians are incorrect and you may wish to request that they are removed.

The General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 state that an individual has the ‘right to be forgotten’, which is sometimes called the ‘right to erasure’, however medical records are slightly different in that they hold special category data.  The GP’s (or other clinician’s) opinion at the time will not alter, therefore we cannot remove information simply at the patient’s request.

In line with the General Medical Council’s (GMC) guidance, Doctors have an obligation to:

• Keep clear, accurate and legible records.
• Make records at the time the events happen, or as soon as possible afterwards.

Source: https://www.gmc-uk.org/-/media/documents/good-medical-practice—english-20200128_pdf-51527435.pdf

The NHS constitution states that as a patient, “You have the right to have any factual inaccuracies in your health record corrected, however there are limited exceptions to this right, there is no obligation to amend something in a health record that is a professional opinion”, i.e. the GP’s opinion at the time.

Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supplements-to-the-nhs-constitution-for-england/the-handbook-to-the-nhs-constitution-for-england#patients-and-the-public-your-rights-and-the-nhs-pledges-to-you

This also applies to data that forms part of your medical record, for example letters and forms issued by other Healthcare organisations involved in your care that have supplied copies to us as your General Practice/registered GP.  Data on your record is only to be used in relation to direct care purposes, and if considered to be used for anything else, it would need to have the relevant lawful basis and other data protection principles applied.

Should you request any corrections or redactions we will review your request and if we decide we are not able to comply we will inform you of this decision.  We will also ensure we add details of your request to your record and the reasons why we have not been able to comply. Please make any such requests in writing to: Practice Manager, The Weavers Practice, High St, Rishton BB1 4LA or email: lscicb-el.weaverspractice@nhs.net

Understanding your Health Record

You can view some commonly used abbreviations here, which may help you understand your records.

https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-app/nhs-app-help-and-support/health-records-in-the-nhs-app/abbreviations-commonly-found-in-medical-records/

Whilst we will endeavour to respond to any queries about your records, please bear in mind that we must prioritise our workload and deal with patients that are unwell and need us.  You can book routine telephone calls online via the NHS app should you wish to discuss a particular issue, but please do not use appointments purely to request something is removed from or changed within your notes. As above, please contact us in writing, and we will liaise with the clinical team and respond within an appropriate time frame – as with most administrative requests this can be up to 28 days.

ZERO TOLERANCE:

Please note, our staff are here to help you. Any form of abuse or threatening behaviour, either verbal or physical will not be tolerated. If any of our staff members are subjected to abuse in any form – service will be refused and may result in you being removed from our list. Serious incidents will be reported to the police and you may be prosecuted.

UPDATED PRIVACY NOTICE: Please read.

The Weavers Practice is supporting vital health and care planning and research by sharing your data with NHS Digital. You can choose whether your confidential information is used for these purposes. For more information about this, please see the following link:

General Practice Data for Planning and Research: GP Practice Privacy Notice – NHS Digital

Our full updated privacy notice can be found on the “Quick Links” section under “Confidentiality” on our home page.

Data collections start from the 31^st July 2021, if you would like more information or would like to register your “OPT OUT” preferences. please copy and paste the link  into your browser: https://www.nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters