Welcome to Skelmanthorpe Family Doctors

Friends and Family Test -

You rated us 96% very good or good in the month of November 

Thank you to all our patients who took the time to complete the survey, or gave us feedback following their recent appointment.

With patients' needs at the heart of everything we do, our website has been designed to make it easy for you to gain instant access to the information you need. As well as specific practice details such as opening hours and how to register, you’ll find a wealth of useful pages covering a wide range of health issues along with links to other relevant medical organisations.

We are part of The Mast Primary Care Network, PCNs are groups of GP practices working closely together, along with other healthcare staff and organisations within the NHS and voluntary sector, to improve the healthcare of our local population by providing integrated healthcare services.

Click the link to find out more

The Mast PCN

Helping Keep Your Child Healthy and Well - including treating minor illness

For lots of useful advice and information regarding young peoples health and childhood illness click on the link to the Healthier Together website below

https://www.wyhealthiertogether.nhs.uk/

The website provides consistent, accurate and trustworthy healthcare advice to parents, carers and young people.

Information on the site is reviewed by local paediatricians, GPs and clinicians across our region to ensure it aligns with current practices and procedures

Pharmrefer

At Skelmanthorpe Family Doctors we can now refer you to your local pharmacy for a number of common ailments. The receptionist will tell you if you are suitable for a referral.

The service ensures that patients receive the right support they need and have access to same day consultations by a pharmacist. The pharmacist can offer expert clinical advice, direct you to an over-the-counter medicine, prescribe antibiotics for a number of common illness, or where indicated refer you back to your GP. Over 90% of patients referred to the pharmacist are successfully treated or advised without the need for an onward referral.

If you require further information on this service please ask at reception.

The NHS App

The NHS App allows you to access a range of NHS services. You can download the NHS App on your phone or tablet. You can also access the same services in a web browser by logging in through the NHS website.

You must be aged 13 or over to use the NHS App. You also need to be registered with a GP surgery in England or the Isle of Man. Find out more about who can use the NHS App.

What you can do with the NHS App

You need to prove who you are to get full access to the NHS App. With full access you can:

• order repeat prescriptions and nominate a pharmacy where you would like to collect them
• book and manage appointments
• view your GP health record to see information like your allergies and medicines (if your GP has given you access to your detailed medical record, you can also see information like test results)
• book and manage coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccinations
• register your organ donation decision
• choose how the NHS uses your data
• view your NHS number (find out what your NHS number is)
• use NHS 111 online to answer questions and get instant advice or medical help near you

Before proving who you are, you can use the NHS App to:

• search trusted NHS information and advice on hundreds of conditions and treatments
• find NHS services near you

Other services

Depending on your GP surgery or hospital, you may be able to use the NHS App to:

• message your GP surgery or a health professional online
• contact your GP surgery using an online form and get a reply
• access health services on behalf of someone you care for
• view and manage your hospital and other healthcare appointments
• view useful links your doctor or health professional has shared with you
• view and manage care plans

Keeping your data secure

To access the NHS App, you will need to set up an NHS login and prove who you are. Your NHS App then securely connects to information from your GP surgery.

If your device supports fingerprint detection or facial recognition, you can use it to log in to your NHS App each time, instead of using a password and security code.

Click on the link below for more information;

The NHS App

The MAST Community Garden

The MAST Community garden was launched in 2022 via Skelmanthorpe Family Doctors, this year we’d like to pass the garden to our local community. This year we have established a community steering group for the garden. Members include service users of social prescribing, local libraries, the U3A Gardening group, the Denby Dale Parish Countryside officer, and colleagues from the Denby Dale Centre/ Skelmanthorpe Community Pantry. The first meeting explored the group’s experience, knowledge, and skills they’d like to share and identified goals for this year: getting to know the space with regular working days planned throughout the year, grow your own food community project. If you would like to be a part of this new project please visit the website;

naturalkirklees.org

Information for Patients  - Wegovy (the injectable drug to help weight loss)

Seasonal Flu Vaccination 

The main Flu Autumn 2024 vaccination campaign will commence on 3rd October. If you are eligible you will have received a text message from the Surgery, this contains a link to book into a clinic of your choice. 

Autumn Covid Boosters

If you have not yet completed your vaccination course, you can still get whichever jab you need – book an appointment using the online National Booking Service or by calling 119. Calls are free of charge and lines are open 8 am-8 pm Monday – Friday and 8 am-4 pm on Saturdays and Sundays.

Wearing Face Masks

To protect yourself, and those around you, if you have any respiratory symptoms such as a cough or cold, please can you wear a mask on entering the surgery. Thank you.

Blood Test Results, and Other Test Results

There is now new functionality on our clinical system that allows you to see your test results (digitally) as soon as they are available from the laboratory. This will sometimes be before one of our clinicians has seen them, reviewed them and commented on them. Please be assured that our systems for dealing with test results have not changed and we still regularly review all the results that come in and contact those who need further management. Previously patients were not able to see results until they had been processed by the clinician.

There are obvious pros and cons to this new system and we will see how things develop over the coming few weeks/months. If you have concerns about your blood results we would ask you to, please, use this resource which explains more about some results:

https://labtestsonline.org.uk/

Please be assured that your GP/Nurse will still be checking your results, as they always have done, and adding comments/actions required. However, if you feel that something has been missed or an error has been made then please contact the surgery for clarification. This is best done via our online portal Patchs (please see above for Patchs link)

Adult ADHD Referrals Notice

We are receiving increasing numbers of requests for adult ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorder assessments, particularly for referrals to Psychiatry Right to Choose.

There are pros and cons to going down this route of assessment. The pros are essentially that you will get an assessment and diagnosis quicker than from the local NHS assessment service. The cons however are that should Right to Choose recommend medication be prescribed, to help with symptoms, this will lead to some difficulties.

The Psychiatry Right to Choose teams only seem to provide an assessment service, and for GPs to be able to provide medication it needs to be supervised by a specialist having been titrated to an appropriate dose by them. This means that after an assessment the GP would not be able to prescribe medication if there is no ongoing follow up. We would also not be able to refer you to the local NHS service, they will decline the referral as they are not commissioned to initiate treatment based on the assessment of others or perform assessment on those who have already been assessed and diagnosed.

If you are looking for a diagnosis, to help perhaps with work place interventions, then Psychiatry Right to Choose is probably appropriate for you. If you are wanting or expecting ongoing treatment following an assessment and diagnosis, whether that be medication or follow ups, then referral to the local NHS service, albeit a longer wait, is more likely to give you the outcome you would wish for.

Online Bookings

We currently offer the booking of appointments online for our GPs, Advanced Nurse Practitioners and for Structured Medication Reviews. We do not currently offer the ability to book online any appointments with the Practice Nurse or Healthcare Assistants.

There is also the option to complete an online consultation form (Patchs).  Please note that online consultation requests are NOT for urgent problems. We will aim to respond to you by no later than the end of the next working day.  Alternatively please contact the Surgery by telephone on 01484 503515.

Please note that all incoming and outgoing calls to and from the practice are recorded for training and monitoring purposes

CQC Report

The Partners and the team at Skelmanthorpe Health Centre are proud that following our CQC inspection in September 2016, the practice was rated as "Good".

Get Well, Keep Well

Of course, we’re not just here for when you are unwell. Our team of healthcare professionals and backup staff offer a number of clinics and services to promote good health and well-being whatever your medical condition.

Join In

We hope you enjoy having a look around the site and familiarising yourself with some of the online features such as ordering a repeat prescription. Whatever your thoughts, be sure to let us know via our feedback function. Comments and suggestions are always a great way of helping us continue to enhance the way we look after you.

Please note, it is an offence for a patient to post a communication on social media that they know to be false. The Malicious Communications Act 1988 and The Communications Act 2003 makes it an offence for a patient to send online messages or posts that contain false information. Inaccurate and unfair comments on websites or social media can damage the reputation of providers and their staff. Guidance from the British Medical Association outlines the law of defamation and steps that we can take to have such comments removed from our website or social media channels.

Named GP

All patients at Skelmanthorpe Family Doctors have a named, accountable GP who is responsible for coordinating their care. Your named GP will be allocated to you by the practice. You can still make appointments to see any GP or Nurse of your choice, not just your named GP. If you wish to know who your allocated GP is, then please call the practice and a member of our Reception Team will be able to advise you. If you have a preference and would like to request a particular doctor at the practice to be your named GP please inform one of our Reception Team.

Carers Champions

We keep a register of patients, who, without payment, provide help and support to a family member, friend or neighbour who cannot manage on their own due to physical or mental illness, disability, substance misuse or frailty brought on by old age. People who care for someone in these circumstances, without pay, are considered to be 'carers'.

Access

Skelmanthorpe Health Centre and Denby Dale Surgery have disabled access and toilet facilities. Skelmanthorpe Health Centre has a car park.

Mentoring & Research

The Practice participates in the mentoring of Health Care Professionals and is engaged from time to time in clinical research. Patient consent is sought prior to any research activities being undertaken.