Newsletter — May 2024

Duty doctor

Our reception staff take details from the patient when putting in for the duty doctor and will pass a message to the duty doctor to triage if the patient has indicated they cannot wait until the next routine appointment.  Patients may receive a call or a text following this after the triage has been done by the duty doctor and every message is looked at.  To assist with triage, as much detail as you can manage is very useful. 

Change in doctors within the practice

Dr Julia Burgess is a new salaried doctor who started with us in January 23.  She also works as a duty doctor on some of her sessions in the practice.

Currently we have two long term GP locums working in the practice – Dr Joe Shaw and Dr Keith Hill.  You may deal with either of these GP’s are they are working as duty doctors alongside the other GP’s in the practice. 

GP Registrars

We have two GP Trainees with us at the moment – the first is Dr Shobana Balakrishnan.  Known as Dr Sho, she is in the last year of her GP training and will finish with us at the start of August 24.

Dr Oluranti Osisanya is our other GP Registrar at present.  She is with us until February 2025 when she is due to complete her GP placement.

Changes around and in the practice

We have recently had all of our patient casenotes moved into storage.  They can be recalled as and when needed back to the practice e.g. a request from a solicitor for a copy of the patient casenotes.  Most GP practices in West Lothian have made this change to maximise space.  This has meant that we have been able to put in additional desks which is very useful due to the amount of additional staff in the practice.  The casenotes were removed in January 24.

We had a new phone system installed in March 24 which was an update to our current system.  One change which is good for patients is that a message will kick in when too many patients are queuing to offer a callback rather than patients waiting to get through. 

Attached staff

GP practices now have attached staff working alongside the practice team. 

Practice Mental Health Nurse

Rachel is with us on a Wednesday full day and a Thursday full day.  Her appointments are bookable a week ahead by reception and patients can choose from a face to face or a phone consultation. Her appointments are opened on a Tuesday evening to allow booking for the following Wednesday and Thursday and can be used by patients suffering from mental health problems or a deterioration in their mental health.

Advanced Physiotherapy Practitioner

Steve works out of the community area in Strathbrock and has surgeries for Linden patients on a Monday morning, Wednesday afternoon and a Thursday morning.  These appointments are booked two weeks ahead and can be booked via reception when they are opened each Friday.  Steve sees patients face to face only and patients suffering from musculoskeletal or joint problems can book with in.

Pharmacy Team

Bella moved on to a new position in September 23 and was replaced by Laura McLeish in January 24.  Laura works every afternoon bar a Thursday at Linden.

Working alongside Laura as pharmacy technicians are Katie and Beth. All 3 deal with medication queries.

Upcoming public holiday

The practice is closed for the September holiday on Monday 16th of September 2024 and will re-open on Tuesday 17th of September at 8am.  NHS24 can be contacted on 111.

Admin staff as chaperones

All of our reception team – including the Practice Manager – have done NHS Scotland chaperone training which was offered to the admin staff recently.  The offer for a chaperone will be discussed with the patient and any member of staff who is free can come in with the patient.   

Website

Our practice website can be found at lindenmedicalpractice.co.uk

It is useful for sending in pictures if patients have been requested to do so plus other useful information is available pertaining to the practice as the website is updated regularly. 

It can also be used for HRT reviews, chronic disease monitoring reviews, requesting repeat medications, requesting sickliness and has additional resources for support with your medical conditions.