1-|~ : Clitheroe Advertiser &Times, Thuisday, March 5th, 2009 - - : ,czza East Lancashire


PENDLE GP Dr Aziz Khan well} remembers surgery life before; he moved to Nelson's ultra- - /- modern Yarnspinners Health ; Centre.


. . •


: ."And it does not make for ; happy memories in terms of the conditions we had to work - in," says Dr Khan, who spent ’ much of his time "crammed into one and a half rooms" at


.PATIENTS throughout East Lancashire have welcomed the^^ new extended GP surgery open- 4 ing hours, according to a lead-;; ing local doctor.


• And the phased .roll-out of the ?; extra surgery hours at many sur-, ;; geries across the'area has been hailed a success. The Government aim was to have •


'f I ;


i't And Dr Swamy. Narayana,.who/? represents local clinicians on NHS ;'i;


i opportunity to visit their GP outside existing daytime hours.


'•East Lancashire's Professional Exec-vi. ';utive Committee,’said he.was pleased 5-. .'.with the uptake by, the public and the '^s'ervice how on offer from many GPsV;?: He said a large' proportion of local '


!> ' . ' ■. ; 'However, local GP practices;’which


‘are run as private enterprises,-have' the choice of whether to offer,sthis


■ enhanced service to their patiente dr; optforstajdngasthey are. .. '


more than half of the larger practices in Ilyndburn, Pendle, -Burnley,^^ Rossendale and Ribble Valley signed:; up to the scheme - but already 85 per ■


cent are offering the service locally. , The. area's community. health


provider, NHS East Lancashire has invested significantly in the extended hours service to ensure local patients


. have greater access to pre-bookable GP or Practice Nurse appointments.


residents are now able To see.their;. ■ doctor in the early morning, evening'4; or on Saturday mornings'instead of - relying, so le ly . on~ day time-only appointments.


j • The extra hours, 'which began .r. •being phased in bymany GPs over recent months, were introduced after .


..the Government asked for extended . surgery times to ensure more flexible . access for the public. Although many ■. patients were'reported to be happy with day-time hours, it was felt that working people, commuters and car- ; ers in particular, would appreciate the


, 5/ Dr Narayana said: '.'There has been; ■a very good uptake in general.^The main type of patients coming.to the additional hours are those who work daytime hours, plus commuters and


: carers.rin other words, those who imight otherwise have had.to take? tiihe off their working.day and lose


' money. People using the service have, told me that they are pleased that it has been offered to them. . "We would advise patients to con-;


tact their own GP surgeries and take note of local information to see what extended opening times are available.


' As w e l l^ the GPs, I would like to ;■ thank the practice staff for their sup- ■


/port too.’.Without their help,' it could < not have been implemented.


;


•/•■/Health Minister Beii .Bradshaw . ■


■ said:"It is very welcome that in every


/region;'more than half of GPsare?. now prb'viding early morning, evening


;,or weekend opening to reflect local patiente'needs.


' ' "Flexible and convenient opening hours provide millions more appoint-,


■ ments and make it much easier for; p'atients to see a GP. Thanks to the' hard work of .GPs and the local NHS we have achieved our challenging tar­ get ahead of schedule and this is fan-.'


..tastic news for patients." •; •• The Government is committed to ,


improving access and responsiveness to primary care services and tackling poor provision in deprived areas.


a


NEW investment of £250m Has been identified to sup­


port PCTs in delivering at least 100


new GP practices in the areas with the poorest provision, and 150 GP-led Health Centres across the country, including the one planned by NHS East Lancashire a t : ; Accrington Victoria Hospital, adja­ cent to the Minor Injuries Unit.


; ; In addition, there are plans for a new three-in-one GP. surgery, ■ designed to bolster surgery provi­ sion and patient access. These will be based at Padiham Clinic; at the former Mental Health Resource / Centre on Leeds Rodd, Nelson;^ .1 ■. and at Rawtenstall Health Centre.


: the crumbling old health centre : building on Leeds Road. ' ; ' ■ 'We shared with three other . practices and it was very far


'from ideal for both the patients and for us," he adds. That's why Dr Khan wel­


comed the move to the town's new £5 million, state-of-the-art community health base, even though it was a leap into the . •


; unknown for the small practice that revolved round Dr Khan. ■ But as the practice's Business


Patients at the batty side of life


COMMUNITY health chiefs are going ahead with a £200,000. investment in a rural East Lan-. cashire surgery - and they're determined that, it won't drive them bats! When they decided to expand ; and ' refurbish •? Slaidburn'


community setting.' ■ , ■ ■ ; ■;; ■ and hamlets, and .we know


' Surgery in the heart of the Rib- " ble Valley, they realised that , the neighbouring woodland is the home to a colony of bats. . ■ Not wanting to upset the bats ' - or their sex life - they consult-;; ed ecology experts and ;


' worked out their, building; operations to avoid the bats'; ? summer breeding season.?; ; That's why initial construction ?'


■


has already begun, with the work due to finish well before the heat is’on and the bats get ? round to their breeding get- ; together. For added good luck, a couple , of new bat boxes have been ?. put up locally, to ensure that : the bats have plenty of places . to nestle down once everything ■


.' has been completed. The work is being funded by;


; the, Ribble Valley's primary : health care provider, NHS East. Lancashire, as part of their


A spokesman for NHS East Lancashire Estates Directorate said: "There's no way we were going to let the problem drive us batty. We just went about it practically and found a solu­ tion that will give the residents in this part of the Forest of Bowland the facilities they deserve, while giving the bats the best chance of doing .what comes naturally during the summer months. "We called in local ecology consultants and were advised


; i.how much the .Consultant; .'.Room and Treatment Room


' facilities are appreciated. We; can 'hold sessions locally ' instead of residents always ;


'h a v in g / to ..travel ..over to. ' Clitheroe and beyond." ■ The aim is to construct two sin-


•>


/ gle-storey extensions at each ■ end of the existing surgery;


; . building'on the fringe of Slaid- burn Village','eight miles north


: of Clitheroe. The extensions will provide additional space '. for patients using the treat-


Healthy investment with a green touch


: near-:£15 million investment., into community health facilities designed to secure and expand ; ' local NHS health services in the Valley.and to bring as many ■ services 'as: possible, into the .';


by.them. The ;work has begun'. earlier than initially anticipat- •' ed but; by the beginning of..; summer, everything ;w il l:be peaceful in this rural area and ; the job . will be completed/ It is ? important to give the local res- ; < idents good, modern, facilities :■ and the staff a;nice environ- ■ ment to work in too.


-


?"We know how: important the/' local surgery in Slaidburn is toz people in.the local community,'; and in the surrounding farms ;


:ment room, as .well as for the;. '


'reception office staff. . In, addition; refurbishment work is to be carried out inter-,


/nally to the Dispensary, the' Consulting Room and the Treat- '


■


,ment . Room,/ along :: with ;/ improvements to the waiting and reception, areas. The heat-: ; ing and hot.water, boilers are


• to: be renewed; with a more ' energy-efficient system, includ-I; ing'the renewal )of , the ageing oil tank. ^


,


;^ P R K IN PROGRESS: The Slaidburn Surgery team (left to right) . Receptionist Kaye Howard; Practice Manager Linda Biak'emari; Slaid-


;


i Pr Neil Wilson; Office Manager Heather Harrison; and Practice Nurse Joanne Green ,


New GP services at


TWO novel GP services are to be , rolled oufin East Lancashire to , give more choice and better


access to patients., . The t-win-pronged plan is firstly to


open a new, three-in-one.GP. practice which has separately-based surger- .


1 ies in Pendle;;Rossendale and the Burnley area.-


• /And on top of that, plans are well on track to’open a new GP-led health access centre based at' Accrington Vic­ toria Hospitaland\vorking alongside the community hospital's'existing . Minor Injuries Unit. ' ; The new GP access centre.will be; dpen'12 hours a day, from 8am until .


■8pm,’'and for seven days a;week and will deal initially'With patients who


- attend’the adjacentrMinor Injuries; •Uhit-with an illness‘rather.than an


injury. This includes patelnts from right across Hyndburn, as well as the adjacent areas of^ Haslingden in Kbssendale and the ’Whalley, Sabden ; and Clitheroe parts of the Ribble Val-,.


;' The'access centre^will also deliver health care advice and information to ;


ley.


' patients of all ages, as well as the nor-,, mal range of GP services to registered.


' patients. The service will also be avail- , able to non-registered patients.;'; / .


'. The new, three-in-one GP practice :■ will be able to handle 6,000 patients at,'; the three locations which wiil be set up;;;


■in areas that have bigger than average ; patients lists for each full-time GR - The extra'capacity will help ease the .: workload on existing surgeries. ' ' The services, which aim to provide r', additional, capacity and:patient ■ choice, and which will complement


! existing GP surgeries, are to be based-; at: ■


;


; • Padiham Clinic. • Leeds Road in Nelson (in the for­


mer Mental Health Resource Centre). : Rawtenstall Health Centre in Rossendale. ■ Both of the new initiatives are being


■ ;


pursued by the area's community health provider,,NHS East Lan­ cashire, aiming to improve patients', access to GPservices in line with.the wishes of Government Health Minis­ ter Lord Darzi.


/ r ; Potenbtial providers have been ' identified and NHS East Lancashire is working towards confirming contracts


..plan.'


■■with them;.with services likely to ■'come on streani in the new financial year if. everything goes according to , •


T V The’latest development follows the ■ introduction of extended hours for GP . surgeries to make slots available for


-. patients outside the conventional day­ time hours.


• :, Peter Sellars, NH S East Lan­ cashire's Head of Primary Care Com­ missioning, said: ."We are aiming to


.?: introduce our additional new services. in the new financial year in order to


' r bring in additional capacity, while at the same time increasing the public's . choice and their ease? of access to GP •/services."


' ' L.


Manager of 20 years'standing Nigat Sultana says: "Being small never inhibited us. How­ ever, having the space, a love­ ly environment and a fresh start gave'us the chance to develop'bur'practice - and just look dt us now!" , ■: 'We thrive on challenges and have expanded our capabili­ ties to look after our 3,800 patients. Most GP practices have developed a lot over the ,


: past ten years and we have 4 ; taken the opportunity to grow'' and expand, which is of great benefit to our patients." Dr Khan was a single-hander


GP for 18 years but the prac­ tice has now taken on two


' fully-qualified female doctors. ■; Dr Nayella Chaudry will be • full-time. Dr Nazneen Begum; will be part-time. . And Dr Khan says: "They will


wwvv.clitheroeadvertiser.co.uk; Clitheroe 422324 (Editorial), 01282 426161 (Advertising), Burnley 01282 4 ^ 1 (Classified) , CIitheroe422324(^itorial),01282426161 (Advertising),Burnley01282422331 (Classified)' ' www.clitheroeadvertiser.co.uk. Clitheroe Advertiser 8t Times, Thursday, March 5th, 2009 ; 29 ■; NHS East Lancashire


HEALTHY FUTURE: Whitefield Health Care GP Dr Aziz Khan surrounded by the surgery team (left to right) Jackie Brockman, Practice Nurse;


Fariya Khan, Receptionist; Susan Roberts, Office Supervisor; Nigat Sultana, Practice Business Manager; Rebecca Callaghan, Receptionist; and Kelly Dawson, Secretary.


help us develop further, partic­ ularly allowing more access to women who may feel more : comfortable seeing a woman GP." Nigat adds: 'We have two


targets for the future. Firstly, to achieve the Quality Practice award and also to gain teach-


; ing practice status by the ' autumn. When we have done this, the service to our patients will be strengthened further in. . terms of expertise and deliv­


ery." The Whitefield practice certainly considers itself to be forward thinking already and , Nigat says: "Although our ■. emphasis is primary care, we do a lot more secondary care that used to require a hospital visit and we have invested in staff and in facilities.'.,


- 'We work very much with


the primary care trust, NHS East Lancashire, and .we get involved fully in practice-based . commissioning and with the / '


local community. We do a lot


' of fund-raising events, our big one being breast cancer." Dr Khan conducts minor sur­


gery himself, having embraced the changes that have come his way since he started out as a . local GP 38 years ago. Howev­ er, he is honest about the things he doesn't like so much. He says: "Some changes are too quick/ too fast. Sometimes you need time to see how things work out."


. He's adamant that patient health education needs to . improve, with people taking more responsibility for their


.; own health and lifestyle. . ‘"Patients should not always look to the State for solutions. I accept people's health is a lot better because of the emphasis


; on prevention rather than cure but individuals could do a lot . more to improve their way of life. We can play our part but so must they.".


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