The numbers have unfortunately risen again. Dressings and Face to Face on the day appointments are the biggest contributors this month. 

We hope that patients are taking notice of the communications that are shared regarding missed appointments.

Awareness is key!

Lets work together to get these numbers down again by remembering to cancel appointments that you can no longer attend, for whatever reason. We are hoping the new anima system will ensure patients are getting the right appointment at the right time. If an appointment is made for you on the day but is not suitable please contact the surgery.

Following recent communications regarding our new appointment system, please take a few moments to watch a short message from Dr Naomi Pawlik, Senior Partner.  It is very important that you register with Anima to facilitate your appointment booking

What is the new appointment booking system at HFS?
Anima is a software package (NHS England approved) that Harborough Field Surgery, following due diligence, will be using to help deal with patient clinical and administrative requests.  For those who are able to use the internet, you will be able to submit your symptoms and wait for the Practice to respond which means no more waiting on hold to speak to someone.  You will be able to track your requests as well as view your appointments, find local services that are able to help you and submit requests for sick notes.

Patients unable to access the internet or don’t have access to an email can always contact us via telephone. We appreciate that not everyone can use this system and our team will still be here to help you and complete the Anima form on your behalf.  Our team will be contacting our most vulnerable patients to assist with the set up process.

You can undertake the requests on behalf of others via proxy access i.e. a guardian to a child under the age of 16 or someone you might care for.

This is also in line with the NHS England vision of the “Modern General Practice” Model, which requests Practices to move away from the 8am rush on the telephone and use different types of methods for patients to receive advice.

Why is HFS implementing this?
General Practice across the country is in crisis with the increase in demand.  In the last two years, our Practice list size has significantly increased and we recognise the challenges this brings.  As you may be aware, employing salaried GPs has been very difficult for General Practice and we have to be innovative in the way we deliver our service.  Whilst we have recently recruited new GPs we still need to meet our demand and a new appointment booking system will help us to achieve this.

Our ethos and values at the Practice is to support our patients who are at the heart of everything that we do, however, we have recognised that we do have to change the way we work to cope with the growing demand.  Our Patient Services Team work hard to answer your calls in a timely manner and this is becoming more and more difficult at peak times despite being adequately resourced.

We strive to provide continuity of care and in an ideal world, you would always be able to see your preferred clinician. When we are inundated with patient requests, which can possibly be dealt with in a different way, we are unable to offer our best possible service.  You, the patient, in our recent survey, have also expressed seeing the same clinician is very important and we feel the new appointment booking system will help us deliver this.

Many requests can be dealt with by other medical service providers i.e. our Physiotherapists, Mental Health Practitioner, your local Pharmacy and administrative requests by our amazing Patient Services Team. By introducing the new system, on Monday 09th September 2024, we are able to review patient requests and take the appropriate action based on the patient clinical need, not want.  We can make sure that you are dealt with by the right clinician, which will result in not wasting appointments and increase our capacity to see patients with new and ongoing complex needs. Patients who have an urgent more complex need might be directed immediately to A&E.

We appreciate that change might be difficult for some patients.  Our vulnerable patients will not be disadvantaged by this new system.  We all need to get used to the new way of interacting with the Practice and we ask that you are kind to our Patient Services Team as we go live in September.

The Partners, Senior Management and all staff are committed to providing you with the best possible care.

What do Patients need to do now?
Firstly, you will need to register with Anima before 9th September 2024.  Watch the short Anima YouTube video to help you

Register by clicking here

An App is not available at the moment and nor is this system linked to your NHS App.

Do not worry if you do not have access to the internet, do not feel confident in using the system, or do not have access to an email address.  A member of the Patient Services Team will be happy to help you, via telephone, and will complete the form on your behalf.

What will Patients need to do on 09th Setpember 2024?
If you wish to contact the Practice for an appointment or have a clinical related requested you will need to undertake this via Anima.

Watch the short Anima YouTube video on how to submit requests.

It is important that you input as much information as possible to enable the Doctor to source you the best advice albeit an appointment or a prescription. Whilst the questions appear lengthy, the quality of the information will help the Doctor dealing with your query.

You will be contacted via phone/email to book your same day or routine appointment.

We will update our website with further information. 

The timing of this year’s flu vaccination campaign has been altered – with most adults to be given the jab at the start of October rather than September, NHS England has announced.

A September 1 start date will remain in place for children and pregnant women, however.

And no changes have been announced to the eligible cohorts.

Delaying administering the jab until the beginning of October is based on advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) that this provides ‘optimal protection during the highest risk period.’

Guidance issued by UK Health Security Agency said evidence shows that the flu vaccine’s effectiveness can wane over time in adults.  

Holding clinics from October means vaccines will be administered ‘closer to the time that the flu season commonly starts’ and to when it peaks in December or January.

Timings and eligibility for free NHS flu vaccine

The following should be vaccinated from 1 September 2024:

• pregnant women
• all children aged 2 or 3 years on 31 August 2024
• all children in clinical risk groups aged from 6 months to less than 18 years who have missed this vaccination at school
• The following should be vaccinated from October 2024 (exact date still to be confirmed):
• those aged 65 years and over
• those aged 18 years to under 65 years in clinical risk groups (as defined by the Green Book, Influenza Chapter 19)
• those in long-stay residential care homes
• carers in receipt of carer’s allowance, or those who are the main carer of an elderly or disabled person
• close contacts of immunocompromised individuals
• frontline workers in a social care setting without an employer led occupational health scheme

We will be holding prebooked vaccination clinics during October on Saturdays and information about these will be sent to those eligible as soon as possible.

Eligible patients will receive an online booking link via SMS text message. If you do not have a mobile phone, we will call or write to you with your invitation.

There are now more NHS providers, such as pharmacies, offering free seasonal influenza vaccinations. This aims to increase convenience and address healthcare inequalities. However, GP practices like ours rely heavily on the NHS funding from this program to subsidise other essential services. Therefore, if possible, please support our practice by getting your Flu vaccines from us. Thank you.

Support your Practice, have your vaccination with us.

NHS Integrated Care Northamptonshire have asked us to help promote the recruitment of Patient Safety Partners for their area. This is an exciting new role which aims to involve patients and carers in the improvement and safety of local NHS services.