The Bradley Stoke Journal

Bradley Stoke now has a second late-night, seven-days-a-week, chemist after the ‘Bradley Stoke Pharmacy’ opened last Monday on the Bradley Stoke Surgery site in Brook Way.

The new chemist, which is located remarkably close to the existing Lloyds pharmacy near Aldi, opens for 100 hours a week, enabling it to exploit a “loophole” in the law that avoids it needing to prove to the local health authority that it is “necessary and expedient”.

The news, announced in a low-key manner on the Bradley Stoke Surgery website, comes just seven months after Boots opened its ‘Midnight Pharmacy’, operating under the same 100-hour legislation, at its Willow Brook Centre store.

The town’s fourth pharmacy operates within the Tesco Extra store, also at the Willow Brook Centre.

A statement in the September edition of the Friends of Bradley Stoke Surgery newsletter reads:

“Work began at the end of August to create Bradley Stoke Pharmacy adjacent to the surgery which will enable patients to make one journey to see the doctor and collect their prescriptions at the same time.”

“We are delighted that this new initiative is going ahead which will provide even better services and be more convenient for patients.”

Read more about the company behind the new pharmacy »

Bradley Stoke could soon have no less than three late-night, seven-days-a-week, pharmacies after a rush of planning and licensing applications in the last couple of months.

Boots, due to open soon at the Willow Brook Centre, became the first to reveal its hand when it submitted a planning application that included references to a “midnight pharmacy” at its new store.

Bradley Stoke Surgery then entered the race when it submitted a planning application to change the use of part of its newly-extended premises from “clinical space” to “a 100-hour opening pharmacy” and The Journal has since learned that a third licensing application for a 100-hour pharmacy in the area is being processed by the local health authority.

Following a part-liberalisation of licensing rules in 2005,  a pharmacy becomes exempt from having to prove that it is “necessary and expedient” if it opens for more than 100 hours a week.

When asked about the possible opening of new pharmacies in the town, NHS South Gloucestershire told The Journal:

The Boots pharmacy at Willow Brook has been approved as a 100-hour pharmacy. There are two further applications for 100- hour pharmacies pending under the exempt rules in the vicinity of Bradley Stoke Surgery.

Read the rest of this article »

There’s just a week left to enter the Willow Brook Clinic’s competition to win a course of three free 30-minute massage treatments.

The competition, organised in conjunction with The Journal, is being run to mark the first anniversary of the chiropractic and physiotherapy clinic based on the first floor of the Willow Brook Centre.

Entries must be received by Tuesday 30th November 2010 and the winner will be announced on Friday 3rd December 2010.

Full details of the competition can be found here.

The Willow Brook Clinic is celebrating its first anniversary this month, having opened on 2nd November 2009, with a special competition being run in conjunction with the Bradley Stoke Journal.

In just one year the local community has benefited to such a degree that the Willow Brook Clinic has had to almost double the number of fully trained healthcare practitioners providing services including chiropractic treatment, physiotherapy, sports injury rehabilitation and remedial massage.  In addition, the need for neurological physiotherapy has been identified and this specialist service has been introduced.

As well as treating the local community’s ache and pains, the team at the Willow Brook Clinic have forged community links with local sports clubs including the Bradley Stoke Netball Club, Bradley Stoke Football Club, the Dream Cycling Team and the Stoke Lane Football Club.

Practice Manager Karen Ferguson said:

“Our first year has been a great success and we’re pleased to see more and more people realising how much we can help.”

“We’re very happy for people to pop in and have a chat, and we offer a free spinal check service that can identify problems before they become serious.”

Win a course of massage treatment in our exclusive competition

To celebrate its first anniversary, the Willow Brook Clinic is delighted to offer readers of the Bradley Stoke Journal the chance to win a course of three free 30-minute massage treatments.

Just email reception@willowbrookclinic.co.uk, quoting BSJ01, and answer the following question:  “When did the Willow Brook Clinic open?”

The competition closes on Tuesday 30th November 2010 and the winner will be announced on Friday 3rd December 2010.

Read on for the full terms and conditions of the competition »

Bradley Stoke Surgery has announced that it has introduced an online appointment booking system “following feedback from its Friends group”.

The news follows criticism at the 2009 Annual Town Meeting, where one resident likened the surgery’s appointment system to something that might be found in a Third World country.

Patients leaving feedback on an official NHS website have complained of continuously engaged telephone lines when trying to book same-day appointments.  An anonymous comment left earlier this month on the feedback page for Bradley Stoke Surgery complained:

“The appointment system is hopeless as you struggle to get through on the phone only to be told there are no slots left. If you are prepared to queue up at 8am outside the Surgery without shelter you may get an appointment before lunch.”

Two other recent commenters described the appointment system as “appalling”.

News of the new online system came in the Spring issue of the Friends of Bradley Stoke Surgery newsletter circulated at the 2010 Annual Town Meeting.

According to the newsletter:

“Patients can now register to have the facility to book their appointments online at their convenience. Patients need to register in order to use the Book On Line system and this can be done in person at reception.”

When The Journal checked the online system at 7am this morning (Monday 24th), two morning and one afternoon appointments were available, all with the same doctor.

Read more: new telephone system to be installed »

Public left in the dark as work begins at Brook Way site

Work has finally begun on the long-awaited expansion of Bradley Stoke Surgery but patients and local residents continue to be kept in the dark about developments at the Brook Way site.

Construction firm ISG Pearce has installed a number of portacabins in the surgery’s car park and a large part of the site plus some public land on Brook Way has been boarded off. This has resulted in the number of spaces on the surgery side of the Brook Way car park being reduced from 20 to 9.

The notoriously secretive Bradley Stoke Surgery gave no warning that the work was due to start and one week later there are still no details about the redevelopment on the practice’s website. The Journal has also been unable to find any related information on the websites of Bradley Stoke Town Council, South Gloucestershire Council or NHS South Gloucestershire.

The Journal understands that the surgery was asked almost a year ago to give a presentation on its redevopment plans to the Bradley Stoke Safer and Stronger Community Group. As yet, no such presentation has taken place, with the surgery reportedly saying they “didn’t feel able to come yet” in July 2009.

The scheme hit the local headlines in December 2009 when NHS South Gloucestershire (NHSSG) was forced to admit that redevelopment of the surgery had been delayed due to the credit crunch. That revelation came after local resident Sachin Singhal had questioned why over 200 pregnant women from Bradley Stoke were having to travel to Filton or Patchway for treatment and advice.

Midwife services at the surgery were withdrawn in February 2009 when portacabins were removed from the rear of the premises but the anticipated redevelopment of the site then failed to materialise. NHSSG later admitted that: “with hindsight, the service was moved earlier than needed”.

The Journal has heard from an unofficial source that the redevelopment of the Brook Way surgery is likely to take nine months.

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