The Bradley Stoke Journal

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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Residents of Bradley Stoke are to have the chance to find out about a new Children’s Centre that will open soon in the town.

The new Sure Start Children’s Centre at Bowsland Green Primary School will offer a wide range of support services to families with children under five.

South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) is staging a meeting at the school on Monday (18th January), the aim of which is to:

• Share information on what the Children’s Centre can offer
• Obtain views on the services that should be offered to serve the local community
• Recruit members (especially parents) for the Centre’s advisory board

The meeting takes place between 2 and 3:30pm. Further information is available from SGC Project Officer Gail Amphlett on 01454 864169.

Sure Start brings together childcare, early education, health and family-support services for families with children under 5 years old. It is the cornerstone of the Government’s drive to tackle child poverty and social exclusion working with parents-to-be, parents, carers and children to promote the physical, intellectual and social development of babies and young children so that they can flourish at home and when they get to school.

Funding for a Sure Start  Children’s Centre in Bradley Stoke was announced in December 2008, with Bowsland Green Primary School being named as the chosen site.

The new centre will be accommodated in the school’s original hall, a new, larger, hall having been constructed for the primary school children by converting an unused courtyard.

Phoenix Dental Bradley Stoke is offering free oral cancer screenings for all patients as part of their NHS check up.

The action is in support of November’s Mouth Cancer Action Month organised by the British Dental Health Foundation and Denplan.

The practice will also be manning a display stand at the Willow Brook Centre Bradley Stoke on Sunday 22nd November to raise public awareness of the problem.

The campaign, symbolised by a blue ribbon, calls upon dentists, pharmacists and all healthcare professionals to spread the message: “If in doubt get checked out”.

Phoenix Dental’s Wendy Bull told The Journal:

“Every five hours someone dies of mouth cancer in the UK. Statistics from cancer research UK shows that 5,325 new cases were diagnosed in 2006 – that’s more than cervical and testicular cancers combined and an increase of 41% over the last decade.. Yet very few people have even heard of the disease!”

“As oral healthcare professionals we are keen to highlight that if in any doubt at all about white or red patches in the mouth or mouth ulcers that don’t heal, then please see your dentist without delay. Early detection transforms survival chances to more than 90%.”

Free oral cancer screening and routine checks can be booked by calling Phoenix Dental Bradley Stoke on 01179 114 441.

Related link: Dentists in Bradley Stoke (The Journal)

A new organisation which will allow members of the public to have a say on how health and social care services are run in South Gloucestershire has its inaugural meeting this Thursday (21st May).

Local Involvement Networks (LINks) aim to give citizens a stronger voice in how their health and social care services are delivered. Run by local individuals and groups and independently supported – the role of LINks is to find out what people want, monitor local services and to use their powers to hold them to account.

Everyone who lives in or receives health and social care services in South Gloucestershire is invited to attend this free event at the BAWA centre in Filton. There will be two duplicated session running; one from 2pm until 4pm and another in the evening from 6:30pm until 8:30pm.

This is South Gloucestershire’s chance to have a real say in their health and social care services, to get involved in a network and forum where their views can be heard by the people who are responsible for paying for (commissioning) and providing health and social care services in South Gloucestershire.

This includes all health services from GP services, through to community health services such as physiotherapy, to all the services that exist in your local hospitals. The social care services that the LINk can influence extend through all the adult social care services provided locally; including care homes, day care, respite and holiday care and the care provided in people’s homes.

The LINk can have a real influence on health and social care services. It works closely with your local NHS and your local authority; it can bring issues to the attention of the local overview and scrutiny committees and also to bodies such as the Healthcare Commission. It also has the power to occasionally inspect health and social care services where it has negotiated to do so with the service provider.

More Information:

• Health and Social Care Local Involvement Networks (Directgov)
• South Gloucestershire LINk
• Healthcare in Bradley Stoke (The Journal)