Latest News
REGISTER & JOIN US FOR OUR PATIENT EVENT – 15th JUNE 2021
Click on the below link to register for our SHP patient event on Tuesday 15th June 2021, starting at 7pm.
Join us to find out what is happening at SHP and for our latest patient updates, as well as members of the Clinical and Managerial team answering frequently asked questions.
Please fill in the form to register for the event via Zoom and to put forward any questions for consideration for the frequently asked section.
ORDERING REPEAT PRESCRIPTIONS
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed our lives in many ways, and this includes the way we work and how patients are able to access us. We have seen a significant increase in registered patient telephone calls to SHP and we continue to work hard to find solutions to the challenges of increased demand, and to improve our telephone answering times.
As part of our roadmap out of lockdown, from the 21st June 2021, the service of repeat prescription ordering is returning to online via the NHS App or Patient Access, or by visiting one of our surgeries.
The fastest and easiest way to order your repeat prescriptions is to go to - https://solihullhealthcarepartnership.nhs.uk/online-services/ and sign up to the NHS App or Patient Access.
If you are unable to do this then you are still able to use the right hand side of your prescription, and either send it by post or hand it into one of our prescription boxes at one of our surgeries.
For safety reasons, from the 21st June 2021, we will no longer accept requests over the telephone. If you have an agreement that you can request repeat prescriptions over the telephone, due to specific circumstances and as noted in your medical records, this will continue.
Prescriptions may only be ordered by our patients, their carers or relatives. Prescriptions can only be ordered by your pharmacist where this has been agreed and noted in your medical records.
Prescriptions can now be sent to the pharmacy electronically. If you would like to nominate a pharmacy to receive your prescriptions electronically please ask at either the pharmacy or via the NHS App or Patient Access, or by visiting one or our surgeries.
We hope this will make it easier for patients to access their repeat medication and support our ambitions to continue to improve our call wait times for those patients calling to book an appointment.
Requesting a Repeat Prescription
From the 21st June, here’s how to request a repeat prescription...
Go online & sign up to the NHS App or Patient Access https://solihullhealthcarepartnership.nhs.uk/online-services/
Hand in - the right hand side of your prescription to one of our boxes at one of our surgeries.
INFORMATION FOR REGISTERED SHP PATIENTS:
It has been brought to our attention by a patient that there is a private Facebook group named ‘Solihull Health Partnership – Patients’ and we would like to confirm that it is NOT affiliated to, endorsed or supported by Solihull Healthcare Partnership (SHP) for our registered SHP patient population.
Please note any content, questionnaires and comments posted on this Facebook group has no connection to or involvement with SHP, or the official SHP Patient Participation Group (PPG), specifically representing registered SHP patients. SHP DOES NOT communicate with, review, support, endorse, contribute to, respond to or affiliate with this private Facebook group.
We would also like to confirm that ALL official SHP PPG information and joining details are only available on our official Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/SolihullHP and website https://solihullhealthcarepartnership.nhs.uk/patient-participation-group/
For patient safety, if you have any concerns, comments or feedback, please contact us directly via;
- Online – using our Patients Feedback page, Have Your Say - https://solihullhealthcarepartnership.nhs.uk/patient-feedback-2/
- In writing – Send to Solihull Healthcare Partnership Management, Shirley Medical
- Centre, 8 Union Road, Shirley, Solihull, West Midlands, B90 3DT, OR drop off at one of our surgery sites
- Email – admin.shp@nhs.net
Patient feedback and regular communication with our official SHP PPG members is invaluable in helping us achieve improved patient care and services, both now and in the future.
Dated: 2nd June 2021
MAY BANK HOLIDAY CLOSURE
Our surgeries will be closed on May Bank Holiday on Monday 31st May 2021.
We will reopen on Tuesday 1st June at 08:00AM.
For life threatening medical emergencies, such as chest pain or breathlessness, please dial 999.
For medical issues & queries during this period, please dial 111
We wish all our patients a Happy Bank Holiday!
Did you know?
SHP has a dedicated telephone number for healthcare professionals.
As a Solihull GP Practice, Solihull Healthcare Partnership has a by-pass telephone number which is distributed to care homes, paramedics and ambulance services and community nursing services.
When you call us…
SHP UPDATE TO REGISTERED PATIENTS (4/5/21):
The latest in a series of communications to keep registered SHP patients and stakeholders updated…
Increased patient demand…
We are continuing to see a significant increase in registered patients getting in touch and requests for appointments.
Did you know?
Following on from the GP Patient Survey 2020, the majority of patients (76.3%) said they had booked an appointment over the phone in the past 12 months, and two in five had booked in person.
By telephone…
9 out of 10 of registered patients contact us by telephone - We continue to focus on patients being able to access us through our telephone system, and improving patient access for the majority of patients and telephone answering times.
In person…
Patients are able to access us face-to-face by visiting one of our surgeries to ask in person about booking an appointment, repeat prescription requests and for general queries. More face-to-face appointments are also taking place.
The following sites are now fully open, Monday to Friday (excluding Bank Holidays), 8.30am to 6.30pm:
- Shirley Medical Centre
- The Jacey Practice
- Haslucks Green Medical Centre
- Grove Surgery
- Monkspath Surgery
- Dickens Heath Medical Centre
Following the use of Blossomfield Surgery as a ‘red site’ for the south Solihull area, treating patients who had or were suspected to have COVID-19 in a safe environment, this surgery is now under review with plans to reopen soon.
Total Triage…
Total triage was adopted across general practice from March 2020 on the advice of NHS England as the coronavirus pandemic forced practices to limit face-to-face consultations.
NHS England defines it as a model in which 'every patient contacting the practice first provides some information on the reasons for contact and is triaged before making an appointment'.
NHS England said remote triage should remain in place - NHS England plans to 'embed total triage' in general practice post-pandemic | GPonline
We continue to follow the total triage model, and if required, patients will be invited to see a clinician or suitably trained member of the team face-to-face at the appropriate SHP surgery.
Online Consult…
To continue to address the increase in patient demand and in digital use as outlined in the NHS Long Term Plan https://www.longtermplan.nhs.uk/, Online Consult allows patients to request non-urgent assistance on specific aspects of healthcare from the practice.
We are delighted to announce that Online Consult has now been reinstated.
During the period of time that the facility was unavailable we undertook an audit of how the service was being used. Online Consult is for non-urgent clinical queries only, but it was apparent that the service was sometimes used for areas that it wasn’t designed for, which could potentially result in a risk to patients. In order to ensure that the service is clinically safe for patient use online, we have revised the services available, which are now as follows:
- Sick notes (Fit to Work) requests
- Repeat prescriptions requests
- COVID vaccine queries
- Childhood immunisations queries
- Smears queries
Did you know?
We are continuing to work hard on delivering care for our registered patients, finding solutions to the challenges of increased demand, and to improve our patient access and telephone answering times.
MAY BANK HOLIDAY CLOSURE:
SOLIHULL HEALTHCARE PARTNERSHIP TAKE ON THE CAPTAIN TOM 100 CHALLENGE THIS WEEKEND
SHP UPDATE TO REGISTERED PATIENTS (20/4/21):
The latest in a series of communications to keep registered SHP patients and stakeholders updated…
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed our lives in many ways, and this includes the way patients are able to access their general practice. We have seen a significant increase in registered patient telephone calls to SHP (51.3% increase in incoming telephone calls from February to March 2021), alongside an increase in patients requesting appointments and more telephone appointments being offered.
Did you know?
According to the GP Patient Survey 2020, the majority of patients (76.3%) said they had booked an appointment over the phone in the past 12 months, and two in five had booked in person.
In England there has been a longstanding aim to harness digital technology to deliver health care – the NHS Long Term Plan, however progress up until this year had been relatively slow. To address the increase in patient demand and increase in digital use, we introduced Online Consult in August 2020 to attempt to allow patients to request non-urgent assistance from the practice.
Unfortunately, Online Consult remains currently unavailable. We apologise for any inconvenience this may be causing and are working hard to reinstate this service as soon as possible.
There are many reasons for Online Consult currently being unavailable;
- Online Consult is currently under review as we have seen a recent increase in demand of the facility not being used for non-urgent clinical queries and to address patient issues and concerns, including access and patient confidence. Therefore, we need to ensure it adheres to patient safety online and clinical governance. It is our intention to reinstate Online Consult, as soon as possible, for non-urgent clinical queries and once we have the governance structures in place to ensure it is safe to use. We plan to have this available from 4th May 2021.
- 9 out of 10 of our registered SHP patients contact us by telephone – Following recent criticisms we have received from our registered SHP patients regarding call waiting times, which have justifiably been made, we have prioritised our focus on patients being able to access us through our telephone system. We have listened to our patients and redirected resource to address and support improving patient access for the majority of patients and telephone answering times. We have seen significant improvements to our recent call answering performance – for example, on Thursday 1st April 2021 we had an average inbound answer time of 21 minutes 17seconds and two weeks later on Thursday 15th April 2021 this had improved to an average inbound answer time of 5 minutes 34 seconds - which forms the basis of our ambition to improve further.
- Redeployment of resource to ensure patients are able to access us face-to-face by visiting one of our surgeries to ask in person about booking an appointment, repeat prescription requests and for queries. A reminder the following sites are open, Monday to Friday, excluding Bank Holidays:
- Shirley Medical Centre (9am-4pm)
- Jacey Practice (9am-5pm)
- Haslucks Green Surgery (9am-5pm)
- Grove Surgery (9am-5pm)
- Monkspath Surgery (9am-6.30pm)
Did you know?
We are working hard on our roadmap out of lockdown, of which we will be communicating full details to registered SHP patients shortly. However, we are now already seeing an increase in surgery face-to-face GP appointments, alongside GP telephone appointments, and are planning to open Dickens Heath Surgery in early May.
We understand our patient’s frustrations, we are continuing to work hard on delivering care for our registered patients, finding solutions to the challenges of increased demand, and to improve our patient access and telephone answering times.
Contact us
A reminder, if you have any queries, concerns, comments, compliments or suggestions, please contact us directly via;
- Online – using our Patients Feedback page – Have Your Say
- In writing – Send to Solihull Healthcare Partnership Management, Shirley Medical Centre, 8 Union Road, Shirley, Solihull, West Midlands, B90 3DT, or drop off at any one of our surgery sites
- Email – admin.shp@nhs.net – a reminder this email address is for non-clinical queries only.
We would like to thank our registered SHP patients for their continued support and patience.
SHP Staff Step Up & Complete the Walk All Over Cancer Challenge
Staff at SHP have recently completed the 10,000 Steps a Day #WalkAllOverCancer Challenge to raise vital funds for Cancer Research UK.
SHP UPDATE TO REGISTERED PATIENTS (7/4/21):
This is the first in a series of communications to keep registered SHP patients and stakeholders updated.
We are aware of the challenges and increase in demand that we are facing in these unprecedented times, and the criticisms we are currently receiving from our registered patients, which are justifiably being made.
As recently highlighted in the Healthwatch document on GP access – GP access during COVID-19, this is not just a Solihull Healthcare Partnership (SHP) issue, but a national issue.
Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, the average number of contacts per patient per year was just over 5. Currently we are seeing an increase in activity of 7-8 contacts per registered patient per year, and demand that is outstripping resource at present.
We have seen a significant increase in calls to SHP. From February 2021 to March 2021, we have seen an increase of 51.3% in attempts to get in touch with us.
There are many reasons for this current situation;
- Patients - Having patiently waited for some time to access services for their clinical condition, many people have understood that as we unlock nationally, now is the time to get in touch with their General Practice (GP). This has been seen with the recent surge in calls from 25,824 in February 2021 to 39,075 in March 2021.
- Those patients who have been referred to hospital with clinical conditions that have yet to be seen, still need to be managed while they wait. In addition, those patients who are receiving specialist care are often receiving this remotely, and if the consultant wants a test to be done, they are asking patients to ask their GPs to arrange them. We are aware that hospitals are working hard to reduce the waiting lists of patients waiting to be seen. However, whilst this happens more people are contacting their GP practice for support, advice and reassurance.
- We have seen a significant increase in the number of registered patient calls into SHP, of which the pandemic has created the situation we are currently in, alongside an increase in COVID-19 related calls and queries.
- We have significantly contributed to the delivery of the very successful COVID-19 vaccination programme at SHP’s Monkspath Surgery, and continue to work hard to administer vaccines following government guidelines, and with new employees recruited to cover new roles. 75% of all vaccines have been delivered by General Practice.
We understand our patient’s frustrations, we continue to work hard on delivering care for our registered patients, find solutions to the challenges of increased demand, and to improve patient access and telephone answering times.
We welcome your feedback and we would urge SHP registered patients to contact us directly on their personal experiences – where our services meet your needs, and where and when they don’t.
If you have any queries, concerns, comments, compliments or suggestions, please contact us directly via;
- Online – using our Patients Feedback page – Have Your Say
- In writing – Send to Solihull Healthcare Partnership Management, Shirley Medical Centre, 8 Union Road, Shirley, Solihull, West Midlands, B90 3DT, or drop off at any one of our surgery sites
- Email – admin.shp@nhs.net
Patient feedback is invaluable in helping us achieve improved patient care and services, both now and in the future.
Our next update will answer some of most frequently asked questions.
Date for your diary – We would also like to invite our SHP registered patients to join us on the 15th June 2021 for an online event, with the SHP Chairman, Dr Lupoli, and the Chief Executive Officer, Steve New - More details to follow.
We would like to thank our registered SHP patients for their continued support and patience.
COVID-19 UPDATES
Prescription Ordering
We are receiving a high number of phone calls to request prescriptions which is increasing the wait on the phone system.
Can we remind patients that we do not accept prescription requests over the phone for safety reasons.
For ways to order your prescriptions please visit our prescription page.
Phlebotomy
Blood tests request forms generated by healthcare professionals at all GP practices can no longer attend any site within the University Hospitals Birmingham Trust. This includes Solihull, Heartlands, Good Hope and Queen Elizabeth Hospitals.
If you require a blood test that the healthcare professionals at SHP have requested, you will be booked in for an appointment at our community Hub at Monkspath Surgery with one of our phlebotomists.
Blood test request forms completed by a hospital- based healthcare professional will be carried out in the outpatient department only.
Patients aged under 16 years are still able to attend Heartlands Hospital to access phlebotomy services through a booked appointment. The telephone numbers to arrange this after you have received a request form from a doctor are:
Heartlands Hospital: 0121 424 1528
Birmingham Children’s Hospital: 0121 333 9304