Latest News

Fisher Medical Centre Patient Participation Group

Published 02/07/10

9th June 2010, Skipton - Patients at Skipton’s Fisher Medical Centre can now have a real say in what services their surgery offers thanks to the newly formed Fisher Patient Participation Group, (Fisher PPG), the first of its kind in Skipton. Over 350 GP practices across the UK operate PPGs and they assist in promoting high medical and healthcare standards for patients.

[Click here to view the Patient Participation Group Constitution]

Fisher PPG will help patients to better use the Fisher Medical Centre’s facilities at its Skipton and Gargrave bases and encourage the practice to implement policies that patients have recommended. Chaired by John Price, the committee has 12 patient members with practice manager Linden Veitch and one of Fisher’s 10 GPs.. Says John Price: “This is a real case of patient power. PPGs have worked extremely well in other regions and we will draw on that expertise to ensure that we provide a forum for feedback from patients to suggest improvements to existing services and recommendations for new services at the medical centre.” Says Linden Veitch: “We are delighted to be the first medical practice in Skipton to offer a patient participation group. The Fisher Patient Participation Group will work in partnership with our administrative, medical and nursing staff to help us deliver the best possible healthcare to our patients in the Craven area.”Last month the Fisher Medical Centre opened two new consulting rooms, named after three generations of Goodall GPs, to provide clinics for patients with long-term diseases, such as diabetes and lung disease.

Fisher Medical Centre opens the Goodall Rooms extension

Published 25/05/10

The extension features two new consulting rooms, a new reception area and waiting area.It will allow the practice to take on an additional trainee GP and so offer more appointments.

In addition, it will be used to provide clinics for patients with long-term diseases, such as diabetes and lung disease, and will be available for extended hours appointments.

"In keeping with naming the Fisher Medical Centre after the Fisher family of doctors who founded the practice and served here over several generations, we are now honouring the Goodall family of general practitioners who served the people of Skipton from Otley Street surgery, Gargrave and, more recently, here at Millfields, by naming the rooms after them. We are very grateful to Yorkshire and the Humber Deanery for their support on this this project" - Linden Veitch (Practice Business Manager).

ONLINE REPEAT PRESCRIPTIONS

Published 25/05/10

Online requesting of repeat prescriptions is available via the EMIS Access service. This is the facility which also permits you to book appointments online.

The prescriptions facility will be available whenever the Access service is operating, normally from about 4am to 9pm every day, and ONLY applies to requests for REPEAT prescriptions. Your medicines available for repeat prescribing are shown when a request is begun. If you need other medications which are not on your repeats list, please make the request in writing or in person: you may need to make an appointment to see a doctor.

The turn around will be the same as for requests in writing or in person. i.e. Requests will be completed within 2 working days (available to collect after 3pm). Requests received after 11am may be treated as having arrived the next working day.

Requests for prescriptions to be sent directly to a pharmacy will require an additional working day because the pharmacy will need the time to fill the prescription.

If you have not already registered for EMIS Access, you may do so by asking for a registration form at Reception. Please note that you will be asked for proof of identity before we can complete your Access registration

Chlamydia Testing

Published 04/09/09

As part of providing a new and improved Sexual Health Service, we now provide kits which patients can use to take their own samples and send them off to the lab for Chlamydia Testing. This is currently for 18-25 year olds only (patients under 18 or under 25 will need to see their GP to be tested). The kits are stocked in the toilets so that people can collect them anonymously, take the specimen and post them off to the lab. The instructions are in the kits and you will find them easy to use. The results will be texted or posted out to you.

Take Your Own BP!

Published 04/09/09

We have been very lucky to have received a generous donation from the Friends of Skipton Hospital which has enabled us to provide a machine on which, as a registered patient, you can now take your own blood pressure recording before you see your GP or Nurse. This is designed to save you time because it also means if you need to recheck your blood pressure then you can do so without having to make another appointment (unless the Doctor or Nurse specifically asks you to). There is an added bonus if you were prone to the common condition known as “white coat hypertension” (when having your blood pressure taken by a Doctor or Nurse raises your blood pressure). This has been shown to prevent that and so to provide a more accurate reading for those people. The BP Machine is situated in the stairwell between the ground and first floor waiting rooms (this is temporary arrangement until we find a more suitable home for it). Please do give it a try. We would like to once again express out thanks to the Friends of Skipton Hospital who so kindly helped us to provide this service.

Lymphoedema Clinic

Published 19/08/09

The new Lymphoedema Clinic for Craven is provided by the Physiotherapy Department at Wharfdale Hospital in Otley and is run here each Wednesday. To be referred to this clinic you will need to ask your GP to refer you to the Lymphoedema Service at Wharfdale.

'SAME DAY' APPOINTMENTS SERVICE

Published 18/02/09

Routine, non-urgent, appointments may still be booked up to two weeks ahead (as at present).

If you need to contact the doctor urgently, you will be offered a number of options.

1. A routine appointment with your own doctor, or another practice GP, but these may not be available immediately.
2. A telephone call from one of the duty doctors if you need advice.
3. Where there is a sudden and serious medical need, a short appointment with one of the duty doctors on that day.

These short appointments will be made available in thirty minute blocks throughout the afternoon, and you may have to wait for a short time to be seen. We will try to ensure that this wait is no more than half an hour.

4. Home visits may be made where a patient is unable to attend the surgery and a doctor has confirmed that a visit is necessary.

5. The existing Out of Hours arrangements (after 6pm and at Weekends and Bank holidays) remain unchanged.

The new arrangements will be carefully monitored to ensure that improved access is achieved

EXTENDED ACCESS SURGERY TIMES

Published 10/02/09

Extended Hours

After reviewing the positive response to our pilot scheme for extended hours, a revised scheme began on 5th January 2009.

This new scheme makes our extended service available on more mornings and evenings each week and is simpler; removing the variability of the old scheme

The new scheme consists of:

Early appointments, from 7am on Monday and Tuesday.
Late appointments, from 6pm to 8pm on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

These appointments will be bookable at Reception, by telephone or on-line through the Practice website: fmcentre.org.uk

SMOKING STATUS

Published 10/02/09

Stopping smoking is still one of the most significant steps you can take to improve your health. Services are available from Fisher Medical Centre and other NHS organisations to help you give up.

To ensure that suffcient provision is being made, we need to know how many of our patients are smokers and non-smokers.

Please help us by informing us of your current smoking status when you next contact the surgery.