Latest Practice News

General Practitioner Awards 2011
Garswood Surgery took 1st place in the 'Practice Administration Team of the Year' category of the national General Practitioner Awards, 2011.  A trophy and cheque for £250 were presented to the Practice Manager, Mrs Sharon Greenwood and the Practice Nurse, Mrs Tracey Peet at a glittering award ceremony held at the London Lancaster Hotel on 16th November 2011.  The practice was also a finalist in the ‘General Practice of the Year’ and ‘Practice Innovators of the Year’ categories.

The award was given in recognition of our innovative patient recalls management system which facilitates Chronic Disease and Cytology management for the practice’s patients.  The scheme was created through a collaborative effort involving the whole practice team and a twelve month pilot allowed us to evaluate the system, investigate system failures and resolve issues.  The resulting scheme has evolved into what is now regarded as a highly trusted and very robust tool.

We believe our success is based on the development of a system which offers best practice with measurable outcomes and assures quality patient care in line with the Government’s ‘Quality Innovation Prevention and Productivity’ (QIPP) agenda. 

Since it was initially founded from a zero patient list in May 2004, the practice now has 4000 patients and continues to recruit patients from the area at a steady rate.  The doctors and staff are delighted to have national recognition of our efforts to provide a safe and quality service.  

Influenza Clinics
Our flu vaccines have arrived and if you qualify for a flu jab we will be operating two Saturday morning FLU DROP-IN CLINICS on 1st & 8th October and throughout October and November. Appointments are now being taken.
Read more HERE

Practice E-Mail Service

We welcome your feedback and you can now e-mail any comments, compliments or complaints to us at garswood.surgery@hsthpct.nhs.uk.

Although we can pass on a non-urgent message to a doctor please note we are unable to book appointments, deal with general clinical queries or repeat prescribing requests via the practice e-mail service.  You can, however, use it to tell us about changes to your changes to your contact details such as a new mobile phone number or a change of address, etc.   You can also use it to tell us if you need to cancel an appointment (please give as much notice as possible so that we can reallocate the appointment to another patient). 

When e-mailing please ensure you provide us with your name and date of birth to help us identify you.

SUMMER 2010 NEWSLETTER

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A&E Misuse

It is an abuse of NHS resources to use A & E as an alternative to booking a practice appointment. A & E and 999 services are for emergency and life threatening problems only.
Click here to read more about choosing NHS services appropriately.

NHS Halton & St Helens needs your help!

You will have heard on the news that the NHS needs to make savings of £15-20 billion over the next 3 years (this is about 17% of the total NHS budget). Locally NHS Halton & St Helens needs to save £24 million over the next 12 months.

Medicines Changes
We know some of these savings can come from prescribing without affecting patient care. Therefore your regular medication may be switched to a different product which will have exactly the same effect but will cost the NHS less. We will give you information about any changes. If you have any concerns please discuss with your GP, practice nurse or chemist.

Medicines Waste
Each year NHS Halton & St Helens spends around £60 million on medicines. However we know that at least £1.5 million worth of medicines each year are returned to chemists unused. These medicines cannot be re-used and are destroyed. Please ONLY order medication that you need and do not stockpile your medicines at home. If there are medicines on your list that you no longer take please inform you doctor, practice nurse or chemist. Thank you.

Dr Helen Parr

We are delighted to announce that Dr Helen Parr has now joined the practice’s clinical team on a permanent basis. This means that those patients who, from time to time, may wish to see a female GP, can now do so and be assured that they will be able to maintain follow-up continuity with the same person.

Beating Cervical Cancer

Click here to download The HPV vaccination programme. (PDF file)

Repeat Dispensing

It is now possible to obtain your repeat medicines without having to see the doctor for a prescription each time - click here for more information.