Welcome to the first monthly Broadwater Medical Centre (BMC) Newsletter. With the darker morings and evenings it can only mean one thing; we are getting nearer to winter and Christmas. We have been busy trying to protect all of our at risk patients from the flu, COVID and pneumonia. It is not too late to book an appointment either via the link form our text messages, in person or by telephone. Reminder texts will be sent with a fresh link but don't wait, book today. We have clinics Wednesday, Thursday and Fridays, so far we have managed to vaccinate 3790 patients against flu and COVID. Let's get that figure over 4000! The more who get vaccinated the better we are all protected.

Here at Broadwater Medical Centre we have been trying to increase the services patients can access from our surgery. Life is tough at the moment and as we go into winter, some people find it a challenging time - we are here for you.

With Christmas and New Year not that far away, I just wanted to remind everyone to order their repeat medication in plenty of time. Ordering online is the quickest and easiest way to order your repeat medication; we can also send it electronically to the pharmacy of your choice. Just make sure you have signed up for electronic prescriptions and nominated your preferred pharmacy.

Social Prescribers

We are working closely with 'Going Local' to provide help and support to patients in Worthing. Our social prescribers can support with finding employment, accessing ways of improving emotional wellbeing, tackling money, housing, or work benefits plus many other schemes and opportunities. If you feel this might be of interest to you or someone you know then you can self refer via our website or by phoning Going Local on 01903 221222.

Our Appointment System

We have all read the media campeigns saying "GP surgeries are closed" We can assure you this is not the case, nor was it, during the pandemic. Monday and Wednesday we are open 8am-8pm and open 8am-6:30pm on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. We have a range of appointments within the surgery; Phlebotomists, Health Care Assistants, Nurses, Pharmacists, Pharmacy Technicians, Paramedic Practitioners, Social Prescribers, Nurse Practitioners, a Diabetes Specialist Nurse, Mental Health Advisors and GPs. Our specialist clinical team review all the requests we receive from patients to ensure the most appropriate appointment for your condition is given in a time appropriate slot. Sometimes the best option is the local pharmacy where we can refer onto for a quick appointment. Nurses' appointments can be booked directly with our Patient Services Team.

With 12,262 patients we have needed to increase capacity with additional clinical team members. We have 30 hours of extra nursing hours, 24 extra phlebotomy hours and at least 15 sessions of GP appointments (at least 225 appointments for GPs per week) During October, we provided 6231 appointments to our patients of which, 4000 were face to face. While you might feel you cannot get an appointment, I can promise you we have been seeing as many patients as we can safely.

Park Run Practice

Many of you may already know the not-for-profit movement that is 'Parkrun' but for those that don't, I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone who can run, jog or walk 5km. It is a flat route along the seafront with lovely views out to sea. Staff at the surgery take part every saturday at 9am and would love to see patients jpin us and say hello. It's FREE, you just need to sign up via the parkrun website or link on our website. See the story about how our practice signed up back in 2019.

A Day in the Life of a Practice Manager

I have been working in primary care for 23 years; some of you may remember me from when I was a receptionist back when we were housed over two sites in Broadwater and Forest Road. Well, I have been back here for the past seven and a half years and I'm very lucky to have such a great team working with me.

No two days are ever the same as a Practice Manager. I set my to do list every day and am excited to get on with the priority jobs of the day. I start the day with my morning message, something I have been doing for many years to help make everyone feel part of the team. I then set to reading the hundreds of emails I get each day from multiple different sources. I check that everyone is ok, then put the kettle on. My work involves a broad spectrum of tasks requested by The Care and Quality Commission (CQC), the ICB (Integrated Care Board), NHS England, staff and patients. I get on with paying invoices, attending meetings, completing work on Data Protection, Information Governance, accounts, applications for access to funding and anything lese that falls under the management bracket. We work closely in a PCN (Primary Care Network) with two other surgeries in Worthing. This allows us to work at scale on projects but it does take time to organise and plan. I make sure policies and protocols are up to date and we are ready for a CQC inspection.I try to oversee that all staff are mentally and physically well and can do their job without any problems, although computers are always an issue when they play up!

I, along with the team supporting me, recruit where needed as well as well as working with the local pharmacies and volunteer sector to provide the best care for our patients. With our ever increasing workforce there is a need for more space. We have managed to rent the old dentist space across the boulevard for admin in order to free up more rooms for consulting in the main building. There will be a lot more working closely with neighbouring practices and I see my role changing more and more over the next five years.

Come and meet me in person on Thursday 8th December between 12-1pm in reception. Share your views on our services and, if I can answer any questions, I would be more than happy to.