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Engage Consult should not be used to request home visits or for medical emergencies.
We have introduced a new way to consult with your Practice or Health Professional on line –
Engage Consult allows patients to connect with their GP Practice and access services online from a PC, tablet or smartphone. Patients can access the Engage Consult application directly from our website (see above). Engage Consult provides:
- Self-care information
- An online consultation that involves answering simple questions about symptoms. Please fully complete the symptom questionnaire which is very useful for the GP or Healthcare Professional. A report is then sent through to the GP or other Healthcare Professional, who can respond with the best course of action - e.g. seeing the patient face to face or by video link, phoning the patient with advice or issuing a prescription.
This service is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and consultations are reviewed every working day. If a patient sends a consultation outside the hours the practice states it can get back to the patient (the cut-off time), the patient will receive a response the next working day. Patients should only use the Engage Consult service to discuss routine medical problems. The service can also be used for administrative enquiries, medication enquiries, requests for a sick note or informing the Practice of change of address.
SEE OUR FURTHER INFORMATION SECTION FOR HELP AND ADVICE DURING THE COVID PANDEMIC
BOOK YOUR FLU VACCINATION TODAY
We are now taking appointment bookings for patients to have a flu vaccination. In line with social distancing we will be holding the clinics out of normal surgery hours to keep our patients and staff safe. Please ring our team on 725667 to secure you vaccination for this coming season. The first vaccinations that will be taking place will be for the over 65's in September followed by the under 65's in October.
PATIENT LISTS
We wish to inform our patients that from January 1st 2020 Dr R Wicks and Dr S Lytton will be working part-time and will therefore need to reduce the size of their patient lists.
As a result of this reduction some patients will be transferred to Dr Omar Pathan who recently joined the Practice and will be working every Tuesday to Friday.
It is important that all doctors have manageable list sizes to practice safely and we appreciate your understanding during these changes.
SEE A GP BY VIDEO WITH LIVI. EVEN AT WEEKEND.
Patients of Seaside Medical Centre can now see an NHS GP by video using LIVI. Get medical advice, prescriptions and referrals on the same day-even at weekends. The service is available during the hours of 7am-10pm Monday-Friday and 8am-4pm Saturday-Sunday. The service is provided free on the NHS.
You can download the LIVI app to your mobile phone or tablet, at the App Store of Google Play. Or visit www.livi.co.uk for more information.
LIVI GPs are all GMC-registered NHS GPs, who (with your consent) will be able to access your medical records and give you a considered, in depth diagnosis based on your medical history.
Get the LIVI app here: https://bit.ly/2ZGrYV0
LIVI Patient Feedback
EVENING, WEEKEND AND BANK HOLIDAY APPOINTMENTS
Evening, weekend and bank holiday GP appointments are now available. Seaside Medical Centre now has access to an Extended Access Service. This service is for patients that need more flexibility to see a GP in the evening, weekend and bank holiday.
Appointments can be booked as normal through Seaside Medical Centre, although you will be seen at a different surgery and not by your own GP. When booking with this service you will be asked by the receptionist if you consent to the GP having access to your full medical records. Unfortunately if you do not consent to this, the service would not be available to you.
We hope our patients will find this additional service beneficial to them as we appreciate it may not always be convenient to access a GP during the day when they may be working.
PATIENTS REGISTERED WITH SEASIDE MEDICAL CENTRE
At Seaside Medical Centre we have a policy regarding changing doctors within the Practice. For more information please click the link below
Policy regarding requests to change your GP
WHAT DO I DO IF I INJURE MYSELF WITH A USED NEEDLE?
Follow this link for more information on what to do if you injured yourself with a used needle: https://www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/accidents-first-aid-and-treatments/what-should-i-do-if-i-injure-myself-with-a-used-needle/
SEASIDE MEDICAL CENTRE COMES OUT ON TOP AT 92.2%
If you have every been worried about visiting your local GP Practice, knowing other patients have had a good experience can help to set your mind at ease. Thanks to data gathered in the GP Patient Survey you can check how your GP surgery ranks in your area. Twice a year more than a million adults who are registered with a GP in England are sent this survey. Ratings are based on experience of access, making appointments, quality of care, patient health and experience of NHS services when a patient's GP practice was closed. Patients are also asked how likely they are to recommend their practice to others. As headlined in the Eastbourne Herald, Seaside Medical Centre has come out top in this survey with an astounding 92.2% of patients that would recommend the surgery and the care they receive. This information is available on the NHS Choices website. You can read this report also by visiting https://www.gp-patient.co.uk/report?practicecode=G81017. Or you can view your local surgery rankings by entering the location, town or postcode and filtering the list based on NHS Users Ratings, visit https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/gp/locationsearch/4
EXTENDED HOURS - TUESDAY EVENING CLINIC
This service will restart on Tuesday 1st September
Seaside Medical Centre will now be offering clinics on Tuesday evenings from 6.30pm-8.00pm. You can book an appointment with an Advanced Care Practitioner and a Health Care Assistant on the day should you require a routine appointment.
GET THE NHS APP - GET MORE CONTROL OF YOUR HEALTH AND CARE
A simple and secure way to access a rang of NHS services on your smartphone or tablet. The NHS App is the first app from the NHS for people across England. You can use it wherever you are, at any time of the day or night.
READ MORE ABOUT THE NHS APP
CONSENT FOR ONLINE ACCESS TO YOUR MEDICAL RECORDS
You can now view your coded GP medical record. If you would like to have secure online access to your records, we need to make sure you understand what this involves.
All applications for medical record access must be authorised by a GP or other designated member of the practice team before this is enabled for a registered online user. A GP may wish to review the record and discuss the content with the patient prior to authorising access. Record access will not be enabled for any individual registered with the practice for less than three months except by approval of a GP partner. All patients wishing to see their coded medical records should come into reception and complete the relevant form. We would require photo ID as part of this application. By signing this form you will be giving us permission to proceed with setting up this service for you. If you decide not to join, or wish to withdraw, it will not affect your treatment in any way. Access will be withdrawn to patients that do not use the system in a responsible manner and it is the patient's responsibility to keep their username and passwords secure. Please remember that this process will take 21 days from submitting the relevant form.
CARE NAVIGATION AT YOUR GP PRACTICE. STARTING WEDNESDAY 6TH MAY 2018!!
WE AREN'T BEING NOSEY!
Data submitted by 56 GPs for over 5,000 consultations demonstrated 15% of the appointments were judged to have been appropriate for another practitioner, self management/pharmacy and another organisation in the practice. So it has been proven that the GP isn't always the best person for a patient to see. Patients could be seen and treated quicker by a nurse, paramedic, advanced nurse practitioner or physiotherapist for example.
NHS England are working with practices to help develop their admin and reception staff to improve efficiency and make sure practices access the right care for them. Reception staff are given training and access to a directory of information about services, in order to help them direct patients to the most appropriate source of help or advice. This may well be a service within the practice but also could be out in the community.
Patients may find the line of questions that the receptionists and admin staff may ask to be intrusive but staff at Seaside Medical Centre have been given specialist training as care navigators and possess additional skills to provide a crucial practice role in improving access to primary care. Care navigation has been introduced to ensure patients have the best care that is available to them.
Evidence shows navigation services can enhance patient and carer experience, reduce unnecessary hospital readmissions and promote living at home. So we do ask our patients to remember when the reception team ask you what you are looking to get from your appointment, they are trying to help you access the best treatment that could potentially be available to you!
FULL CONTRACEPTION SERVICES
We are pleased to let our patients know that we can now offer full contraception services. Shirley Colvin our Advanced Nurse Practitioner is now working at Seaside Medical Centre on Monday, Tuesday evening and all day Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. With Shirley's skills in addition to the Nursing Team we can now offer contraceptive implants, contraceptive injections, contraceptive coils, contraceptive pill advice and family planning.
PARAMEDICS AT SEASIDE MEDICAL CENTRE
Guy Emery our paramedic has been working at Seaside Medical Centre for over a year carrying out visits to patients in their homes on a Wednesday, Thursday and a Friday. We are now pleased to say Guy will be joined by Kirsty Slater. Kirsty will be carrying out home visits on a Monday, Tuesday and on Wednesday will be working alongside Guy. Guy and Kirsty come with a wealth of skill and experience with the ambulance service; this will greatly strengthen the medical service we offer at Seaside Medical Centre.
DO YOU THINK YOU COULD BE PREGNANT?
We are often asked what you need to do if you think you are pregnant. The GP no longer tests for pregnancy, the patient needs to buy a pregnancy test from a chemist to determine if they are pregnant. If you find that you are in fact pregnant you do not need to see the GP to be referred to the Midwife, you can now self refer. This will enable you to get a faster appointment to see your midwife who can give advice and who will be able to book you in for your first dating scan.
To make contact with the midwife please visit the website www.esht.nhs.uk/maternity/referral. Just fill in your details and click submit. Your Community
ARE YOUR DETAILS UP TO DATE?
Due to our new computer upgrade and our new Text Reminder Service we need to ensure the contact details we have for our patients are up to date. It is important that we have the correct telephone numbers including mobile telephone numbers on file. Please could you either come into the Practice and fill in our contact details slip or telephone the Practice and speak to our Reception Team.
CQC RATING
Seaside Medical Centre has been given a stamp of approval by inspectors after a visit from the Care Quality Commission in February. The Practice was found to be good for being caring, effective, safe, well led and responsive. The CQC team found an open and transparent approach to safety and an effective system in place for reporting and recording significant events. Risks to patients were assessed and well managed and staff had the skills, knowledge and experience to provide effective care and treatment. Patients said they were treated with compassion, dignity and respect and were involved in their care and decisions about their treatment. Read the full report HERE.
HOLIDAY VACCINATIONS
We are not a travel clinic and can only offer a limited service to patients that are registered at Seaside Medical Centre. Patients requiring holiday vaccinations need to complete a holiday vaccination form and submit it to the Practice 4 weeks prior to travelling. We will not be able to provide vaccinations unless the appropriate time has been allowed. Patients needing holiday vaccinations urgently need to approach a Travel Clinic. For more details on this service see Clinics and Services.
For more details on this service see 'Clinics and Services'
DISABLED ACCESS
There is good access for the disabled to all of our consultation rooms, we have a lift to all floors. The surgery has a ramp and wide doors to allow for wheelchair access. If you require help getting through the doors please let us know you are coming so we can assist you.
BREASTFEEDING FACILITY
The Practice offers the facility to breastfeed in private. Please ask for assistance at the reception.
SEASIDE MEDICAL CENTRE ACHIEVE CARER FRIENDLY AWARD
Care for the Carers, the Carers Centre for East Sussex, have awarded 'carer friendly' status to the Seaside Medical Centre. The Practice will directly signpost carers, who feel they need support, to Care for the Carers. Claire Fenwick and Jane Willard are care leaders in the practice, responsible for identifying carers, raising awareness of the service through practice communications and working with the Patient Group to develop and promote the service.
CONDUCT WITHIN THE PRACTICE
We ask that our patients refrain from eating and drinking whilst in the Practice. All mobile telephones and electronic devices should remain on silent and children should be supervised at all times.
NHS 111
When the Practice is closed the out of hours service has been replaced with NHS 111. If you ring the Practice when we are closed and need medical attention a message will be given along with instructions to ring 111. All calls made to this service from any landline or mobile telephone will be free of charge.
So for medical care when the Practice is closed please call 111.
For further information, please CLICK HERE
'MAKING INFORMATION ACCESSIBLE TO YOU'
This information can be made available in alternative formats, such as easy read or large print, and may be available in alternative languages, upon request.
THIS PRACTICE IS LGBTQ+ FRIENDLY
We at Seaside Medical Centre are committed to improving access to and experience of healthcare for LGTBQ people across Eastbourne. We will not discriminate against any patient regardless of their sexuality or gender orientation. We will provide information and signpost to further resources whenever possible. We will strive to use inclusive language in all communication. We will respect your confidentiality.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
Under the Health and Social Care Act 2008 Seaside Medical Centre is required to provide a statement of purpose to the Care Quality Commission:
CONFIDENTIALITY
All our staff are bound by the same rules of confidentiality as the Doctors and Nurses
CARE QUALITY COMMISSION
The Care Quality Commission has been set up to ensure that a wide range of health and social care services in England are meeting national standards of quality and safety. All GP Practices will be regulated by the Care Quality Commission from April 2013. If you would like to contact the CQC on 03000 616161 or at enquires@cqc.org.uk if you would like to share an experience or a concern.
COMMUNITY SERVICES DIRECTORY
Download Community Services Directory Leaflet Here
NEWSLETTER
Download our latest Newsletter
OTHER WEBSITES
To visit patient.co.uk, please Click Here
To visit NHS Choices, please Click Here
TRAVEL HEALTH QUESTIONNAIRE
To take our Travel Health Questionaire, please Click HereDiabetes Audit Patient Information
Diabetes Audit Poster
(Site updated 21/09/2020)