News from the Quantock Medical Centre (Tel: 01278732696)
Do come and join our seated exercise class on a Monday lunch time form 12.45 – 13.30 (come a little bit earlier to settle in), this is run by our health and well-being coach Sarah-Jane. These classes are a great way to improve mobility and fitness in a low impact way through a professional. If this is something that interests you, feel free to call reception on 01278 73296 to book your place!
We also have a Musculo Skeletal Specialist Physiotherapist at the Surgery on a Tuesday afternoon so you can book an appointment with Jolene Burkinshaw if you have a new Musculo skeletal condition (neck, shoulder, arms, legs, back) that you have not seen a GP about in the past. Jolene is skilled in assessment, joint injections, able to refer for X Ray and on to the Orthopaedic team if needed, as well as advising on exercises to support your recovery.
We would like to highlight the different teams that work at the Medical Centre each month, and this month we would like to focus on our Dispensary team.
We get a lot of patient feedback asking why the Dispensary Pick up times are limited to 10am-12 noon, 4pm – 6pm Mon- Fri and Saturdays 8.30 – 10 am, and why it takes 3 working days from ordering your medication to being able to collect it. In answer to this…
There are a lot of things that need to happen behind the scenes to process your script, from start to finish that we would like to explain why it takes so long …
Once you have requested your medication, the script has to be checked and signed by the Doctor before we are legally allowed to process the script. Those items will then need to be ordered from our suppliers. The order needs to be delivered. This can be delayed due to problems sourcing the medications if there are problems in the manufacture with ingredients and other items such as cardboard, ink, etc. There may be delays in the transport systems such as closure of the M5, bad weather, access to fuel etc.
Once Dispensary have received the delivery, it has to be cross checked with the order sheet, added to the stock on the computer and put away on the shelves before the prescriptions can be made up. Over 27 Large boxes of items were received one morning this gives you an insight into the quantity of work they have to deal with.
This process needs to be done carefully without interruption to avoid mistakes.
Hence this is why there are designated times in which prescriptions can be collected in order that all the other parts of the process can be safely and efficiently completed, and why it takes 3 days to process your medication requests.
We hope that this gives you a better understanding of what goes on in our Dispensary and thank you for your patience and understanding of the work that we do!
We would also like to remind you that there are 2 bank holidays in May ! One of which is on Monday the 5th and the other is on Monday the 25th. This is something to bear in mind when ordering your medication and allowing for the three working day period (we also loose a working day during a very busy time!)
May is national walking month so don’t forget to look at Stowey Walking www.stoweywalking.co.uk and Nether Stowey walking group time table advertised on our website and in the surgery, and 11-17th May is Mental Health Awareness Week.
We now have a facebook page where we repost NHS information to keep you up to date, along with specific information and reminders about our surgery! Find us at Facebook.com/quantockmc
Helen Stacey
Practice Manager
