March / April Updates 2024

Bridge Street Medical Practice Umbrella Of Services. 

We strive to provide our patients with the best clinical care we can however, there are a number of new platforms of service that can be provided for our patients, we have 6 members of our team trained to signpost you to the best service for your presenting complaint. You can speak to our care coordinators by asking a member of our team. 

The services that are available for further help and support patients are listed below for your information.

First Contact Plus is a social prescribing platform, the website contains all the ways in which they can offer support and guidance, they also have an umbrella of their own services that they can signpost you too, this service can be referred into by a professional or care coordinator but you an also complete the referral form yourself and a member of their team will contact you in 3 working days. 

https://firstcontactplus.org.uk/

VASL is a local charity based in Market Harborough, providing services and projects to improve the lives of people in our community. These include support for family carers, older people who are lonely and isolated, providing volunteer transport to get people out and about, and activities and information to increase mental well-being. We are a volunteer-involving organisation and most of our work is delivered by trained volunteers.

https://vasl.org.uk/

 Active Together help patients make physical activity and sport more accessible and part of our everyday lives. Getting active is a way to improve your physical health and mental wellbeing. Physical activity for you might be participating in sport or doing the Couch to 5K. But it might also be a brisk walk with the dog, visiting parks or woodland with family, or doing gentle exercises in your living room. It can support weight management, muscle strengthening, and improve health conditions. This is also a service that provides exercise referrals. 

https://www.active-together.org/

Turning Point Leicestershire & Rutland is an integrated substance use service, here to meet the needs of the local people and offer support for drug and alcohol use. 

We work with anyone who is affected by drugs or alcohol and wants support to make change. We offer a variety of treatment options and will support you to find the right treatment for you. Regardless of your age, we have a service which will meet your needs. For young people up to 24, the dedicated young people’s team will work with you in any location that is suitable. This is a platform that you can also refer yourself for further support and guidance. 

https://www.turning-point.co.uk/services/leicestershire

Pharmacy First has been launched to help patients with minor illness gain further guidance, and also enable patients to access a consultation with a pharmacist, which could result in you being able to access medication for illness. There are 7 clinical areas in which a patient can be triaged, this is a service that can be referred into by your practice or patients can walk into a pharmacy and request a consultation. This is a free service provided by the NHS please follow the link below for further in formation.

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/launch-of-nhs-pharmacy-first-advanced-service/

We are currently running The community Food and Wellbeing Hub at Fearon Hall every Thursday, please speak to our reception team to be booked on to this 3 week course.

We are also running The Digital Wellness Hub, this is located at Bridge Street Surgery, you can book onto this course by speaking to a member of our Digital Hub team, this course is designed to assist anyone in becoming computer literate. We have pre-bookable one to one sessions which are 1 hour long, this is to provide patients access to online services and help them learn how to navigate the services provided.

Autism Space is a free and safe online area providing clear, reliable and accessible advice and information about autism related topics – as well as a directory of support services available in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland (LLR) https://www.leicspart.nhs.uk/autism-space/

Sleep Study self referral access.

Sleepstation_NHS_Digital leaflet

Other useful contact numbers

• Adult Social Care – 0116 305 0004
• Citizens Advice Bureau – 01509 649605
• SPA (Single point of access District Nurse Team) – 0300 300 7777
• Turning Point – 0330 303 6000
• CAPS ( Central access point) – Urgent 0800 800 3302.   Non urgent – 0116 295 3060
• Loughborough Urgent Care Centre – 01509 568800
• Falcon Support Centre – 01509 642 372
• Non Emergency Ambulance Transport – 0345 241 3012

Mental Health Support Cafes

These support cafes are located all over Leicestershire, there are 3 MHSC in Loughborough, these are held on Monday and Friday evening from 05.30pm – 10.30pm at The Wellness Centre in Loughborough, also on Thursday evening from 05.30pm – 10.30pm at The University Campus. There are posters up in our reception containing other locations and also QR codes to access further information digitally. 

We have been working hard behind the scenes at Bridge Street Medical, using all of the feedback provided from our patients. 

“We had to wait for long times for staff to answer the phone”

We have installed a new phone system and are working hard to improve our system, we have received great feedback and feel the change has been positive, we can also see the number of incoming calls and better manage how we answer and respond to the volume of calls that we are currently receiving. The call back system has also received positive feedback and allowed patients to remain in the call que but not wait on the line. 

“You had to wait a long time to obtain an appointment”

We have increased the number and range of clinicians that now provide services to our patients, and you can now access appointments with:

Pharmacists – in house and via Pharmacy First

Pharmacy technicians

Physicians Associates

Paramedics

Social Prescriber Link Workers

Mental Health Practitioners

First Contact Physiotherapists

We have enabled patients who are registered on the NHS App, or through our clinical software partner, to book a range of appointments directly, we have offered pre-bookable appointments with our partner doctors, these are scheduled 4 weeks in advance and can be booked via the NHS App. We can also send out booking links for the following appointments to be booked by the patient.

Blood Test

Cervical Smear

MSK – Physio

Asthma

Diabetes

COPD

“You said when you saw a clinician you were happy with the care and attention you received from them”

We have included the results from our most recent friends and family test please follow the links below to see some of the feedback from our patients. We are very happy to receive feedback and use this feedback to create a better service for our patients.

https://forms.office.com/Pages/DesignPageV2.aspx?origin=NeoPortalPage&subpage=design&id=slTDN7CF9UeyIge0jXdO4_hTPANOtJpLn9jOkn08vs9UM01GRjIwRTEwT0hEUkNVQTE2N0hORDdFNy4u&analysis=true

https://forms.office.com/Pages/DesignPageV2.aspx?origin=NeoPortalPage&subpage=design&id=slTDN7CF9UeyIge0jXdO4_hTPANOtJpLn9jOkn08vs9UM0NJWEw2NlBWV1RTT1VNM0g2MEVJWEcxMi4u&analysis=true

https://forms.office.com/Pages/DesignPageV2.aspx?origin=NeoPortalPage&subpage=design&id=slTDN7CF9UeyIge0jXdO4_hTPANOtJpLn9jOkn08vs9UQkJRNDVaM0c1MFdEVkhaV1A2Wk9TMjdIQS4u&analysis=true

Further more you can access some of our friends and family feedback forms via the QR codes below. 

If you have had an appointment regarding your Diabetes please scan the first QR code, if you have had a face to face appointment with our clinical team please scan the second QR code, if you have had a telephone appointment with us recently please scan the third QR code, if you have had a blood test please scan the last QR code, providing feedback helps us to improve the service we provide for our patients. 

Thank you for you continued support

We are now an Active Practice at Bridge Street, we have partnered with Avtice Together Charnwood https://www.active-together.org/

and we now provide weekly walk annd talk sessions you can find the dates of these sessions in our latest news, the walks take place weekly and leave from Fearon Hall at 13.00pm every Thursday, the dates scheduled on our website are the dates a GP will attend to answer any questions you may have and also improve their own health and wellbeing. Anyone is welcome to join us. 

Active together are also providing Grants to support indiciduals under 21 years old to be involved in sports you can find out more about these grants by following the link below and selecting which group you would like funding for and following the details provided.

https://www.active-together.org/fundingfinder