Dr Claire Nowell Dr Nowell will be joining the practice on 9th march 2010.  She will be doing a morning surgery at the Bourne on Tuesdays and Thursdays and a morning surgery at Farnham Centre for Health on Wednesdays. Severe Weather Conditions Ice and snow on the surgery car park and entrance paths present a risk of slips and falls for staff and patients. The car park at the Bourne Surgery is particularly treacherous .  To ensure that we are able to continue to provide a service to our patients, when snow and ice persist and Lodge Hill Road becomes impassable, the Surgery will be closed and appointments transferred to Farnham Centre for Health.  Where possible decisions to close will be planned in advance and closure information will be provided on our website. Swine Flu If you or any members of your family have any symptoms of Swine Flu, please DO NOT attend the surgery.  For further information regarding your symptoms and to obtain antiviral if necessary, please visit http://www.direct.gov.uk/swineflu    or contact the Swine Flu Information Line 08001513513 We are now carrying out Swine Flu clinics and vaccine is available to all patients who are "at risk" (suffering from heart disease, asthma, diabetes, stroke, kidney disease), pregnant women and the immunosupressed.  Patients are being contacted to advise them to make an appointment if they are entitled to vaccination. Changes to practice appointment system Following on from our patient survey we will be making some changes to the way our appointment system works.  From Monday 15 June there will be changes to the availability of appointments, offering “book on the day” appointments for patients that need to be seen more urgently, or “routine” appointments that can be booked up to 4 weeks ahead for those patients choosing to plan their appointment time. The automated system will only be available at both sites out of hours.  Appointments will continue to be available from 18.30 each evening until 8.00 in the morning as well as over the weekend.  There will also be appointments available over the lunchtime period between 13.00 and 14.00. Patients requiring an emergency appointment that cannot wait until the next available routine appointment will be dealt with in a five minute assessment appointment with one of the doctors. For further information please download the information leaflet here HPV vaccine for young girls-preventing cervical cancer If you or any members of your family have any symptoms of Swine Flu, please DO NOT attend the surgery.  For further information regarding your symptoms and to obtain antiviral if necessary, please visit http://www.direct.gov.uk/swineflu or contact the Swine Flu Information Line 08001513513 We are now carrying out Swine Flu clinics and vaccine is available to all patients who are "at risk" (suffering from heart disease, asthma, diabetes, stroke, kidney disease), pregnant women and the immunosupressed.  Patients are being contacted to advise them to make an appointment if they are entitled to vaccination. Automated telephone booking  From 15 June 2009 the automated system will be available during the following hours:- Weekday lunchtimes 1.00-2.00 Weekdays 6.30pm-8.30am All day Saturday & Sunday Patients will need to ring the Bourne reception number (01252 730100) and they will be asked which location they would like to be seen at.  The system will then search for either the next available appointment for any doctor at that site or you can specify a doctor of your choice (although please bear in mind you may have to wait longer for a specific doctor appointment). Once the practice is able to change its phone systems there will be a combined telephone number for booking of appointments. Blood test, flu and chronic disease appointments can also be booked. Appointments can be checked, cancelled or changed using this system. Please go to the practice leaflets page to download a leaflet with more information. New INR clinic Both our sites are now running INR clinics to provide a one-stop test and result service.  If you wish to book an appointment for this clinic please contact reception in the usual way.  At present these appointments are not available through the automated booking system. Extra opening hours The practice is now operating extended opening hours for patients who find it difficult to obtain appointments during normal hours due to work/family commitments as follows:- Saturday mornings 8.00-10.00 Monday & Thursday evenings 6.30-8.00 All these surgeries will alternate between the Bourne and the FCfH. These extra appointments will be pre-booked routine appointments only which will also be available via the automated telephone booking system.  The phone lines will not be open during the extended hours but you will still be able to book, cancel or change appointments through the automated booking system We will be unable to take/process bloods or use these appointments for disease reviews etc PLEASE NOTE: We will not be able to deal with any walk-in patients or emergencies as the current out of hours care provided by ThamesDoc will continue during these times Physio now available at The Bourne We are pleased to announce that we are now offering a private physiotherapy service twice a week. This service is provided by 'Backtogether Physio' who have worked out of Elstead Surgery for many years. If you feel you would benefit from this please speak to your GP at your next appointment'. Results of this years patient survey We are very proud of the results of our survey which shows all areas significantly above the national average with many having increased from last year. It appears the merge has had an impact on the availability of doctors as well as being able to access telephone consultations Understandably since we began extended hours in May last year satisfaction with opening hours in general has also improved The full survey can be downloaded here