Air Conditioning - We have installed Air Conditioning in the Upstairs Waiting Room and the remaining 2 Treatment Rooms, so should it all work OK, you will remain comfortable and cool whilst waiting for & receiving treatment!

Repeat Prescriptions Requests - A reminder that you must allow    48 hours for the practice to prepare this prior to you picking up the prescription, or we can send it to the pharmacy for you by that time for your convenience. We cannot accept requests for medication over the telephone - please drop in a written request, or post it in, or request the medication online by clicking on "repeat prescriptions" in the left hand column (It's really easy - have a go!)

Help Needed!                                                                             We are very grateful to those patients who work with the surgery, improving the services we can offer to patients. We have two areas if involvement – the Stable Friends Group, and the Patient Group. Stable Friends offer friendly visiting, lifts to patients to and from the surgery, picking up prescriptions and many other services that make a difference to patients. The Patient Group meets 4 or 5 times a year with the doctors and practice manager and discusses new ideas and ways of improving the service to patients. If you would be interested in joining one of these groups you would be very welcome – we are always looking for new ideas, new ways of looking at things, and if you could spare as little as one hour a month there are many ways in which you could help. Phone 01803 556403.

Touch Screen Arrival System
Normally when you arrive at the surgery, you go to the front desk to tell us you are here for your appointment. The touch screen arrival system gives you the option of bypassing this by registering your arrival on a very simple electronic system in the reception area. This has been introduced in response to a recent patient survey which highlighted the difficulties of queuing at the main desk. It seems to be a success so far! (Initial technical problems now resolved!)

Nurse Practitioner                                                                        Val is our Nurse Practitioner and Lead Practice Nurse.                    “Hello, I am Val, I am delighted to join the team here at The Old Farm Surgery. I am a Nurse Practitioner and have joined the team to work both as a Nurse Practitioner working alongside the GPs and the Lead Practice Nurse working in conjunction with Lynsey and Gina and also supporting Marilyn (Health Care Assistant) within the nursing team. I have worked in General Practice for 15 years developing my skills and knowledge and undergoing further study at University in order to become a Nurse Practitioner. This means I can now diagnose medical conditions, review ongoing conditions, prescribe treatments and refer to the hospital and other agencies where appropriate. I cannot do sick certificates. You can book an appointment with me, or a telephone consultation. I look forward to meeting or speaking to you in due course”

Cardiac Rehab Team!                                                              Suzy and Julie are Cardiac Rehab Nurses who see patients who have suffered a heart attack, or have an ongoing heart problem and offer       them exercise programmes and support. This is a service for the whole of Torbay

Referrals to hospital                                                                   We offer you a choice of hospitals. As well as Torbay, we can refer you to Exeter (RD&E Hospital), Plymouth (Derriford Hospital) and Taunton (Musgrove Park Hospital) on the NHS, or of course offer you a private referral. Also for some referrals our receptionists can give you a phone number to make your own appointment straight away!

Patient surveys                                                                          We are always keen to hear what you think of the Surgery and the services we offer. At the beginning of the year we undertook a nationally accredited patient survey. Overall we scored 72% for patient satisfaction, the national average being 62%. We had a lot of positive responses – you like the ability to speak to a Doctor or Nurse on the phone, our concern for the patients, our “warmth of greeting” and “respect shown to the patient” and you are confident in the Doctors and Nurses abilities. There were also some negative responses. in particular regarding difficulty getting through on the telephone, queuing at the reception desk, and sometimes not being able to see the GP of your choice.  We have discussed these points and have now upgraded our telephone system, we have installed an automated check-in to reduce the queues at the front desk and now that we have Val with us, are hoping to be able to offer more appointments with the clinician of your choice. In addition the government undertook its own survey to ask for their views on the services the surgery is offering and concerning the choices you have been given if you have had a hospital referral recently. The results were very supportive (contrary to what the Government had hoped....) of General Practice's quality of care and access to this care.

www.torcom.org.uk is a new Website "Portal" for Torbay which provides support and information for Voluntary and Community groups, promotes events, activities, volunteering and provides opportunities for consultation and involvement - check it out!