Letter to patients
Please take some time to read this letter from our Practice Manager and GP Partners. Letter to patients - June 2024List closure
As of today (18th June 2024) the practice will not be in a position to accept any registrations for patients looking to join the practice. This decision will be reviewed in the near future and any updates will be posted accordingly.
Medication for fear of flying
Hillbank Health Centre does NOT prescribe sedatives for fear of flying. We appreciate that this is a change and that previously we have prescribed sedatives for a fear of flying when requested in the past. This new policy decision has been made by the GP Partners and is adhered to by all prescribers working in the practice. The reasons for this include:
1) It is NOT LICENCED for this use.
2) Diazepam is a sedative, which means it makes you sleepy and more relaxed. If there is an emergency during the flight it may impair your ability to concentrate, follow instructions and react to the situation. This could have serious safety consequences for you and those around you.
3) Sedative drugs can make you fall asleep, however when you do sleep it is an unnatural non-REM sleep. This means you won’t move around as much as during natural sleep. This can cause you to be at increased risk of developing a blood clot (DVT) in the leg or even the lung. Blood clots are very dangerous and can even prove fatal. This risk is even greater if your flight is longer than four hours.
4) Diazepam and similar drugs are illegal in several countries. They may be confiscated, or you may find yourself in trouble with the police.
Alternative sources of support for your fear of flying:
EasyJet PATH course (Free)
Fear of flying courses from British Airways™ | Flying With Confidence (Free)
Tips For Nervous Flyers | Advice For Nervous Flyers | Virgin Atlantic (Some free)
Contact Details
Please ensure that you keep us up to date with any changes to your personal details. On many occasions we find that we are trying to contact a patient but their phone number is invalid or out of date. You can contact the surgery or fill out this online form - Change Your Details
Medlink 
You may soon receive an email or SMS form us asking you to complete an online questionnaire through a service called "Medlink". This is completely genuine and will contain a link to pass on details to the surgery. For more information on Medlink - see our dedicated page here
Prescriptions
Patients are reminded that prescriptions take 2 working days to be processed by the practice. Please do not contact the practice before this time, as your prescription will not be completed any faster. Unfortunately, dealing with the volume of calls and enquiries about this will only take staff away from getting prescriptions done on time.
Holiday Medication
If you require any additional medication for travelling, the practice requires 2 weeks notice of this to ensure all the medication is ready for you. We also require more information from you before we can issue more than the normal amount:
The patient is requested to send confirmation of travel plans.
Requests may be declined if:
- Not enough notice is given
- If there is a clinical concern regarding safety/compliance/instability
- Clinical Capacity
A maximum of 4 weeks of any controlled drug will be issued
Where letters are required for customs, these will incur a charge
Exceptions may be made in exceptional circumstances (e.g. terminal illness) but this will require agreement from the Practice Clinical Team.
Results
For any test results, please call the surgery Monday to Friday from 11am to 5pm.
Annual Monitoring Review
Patients who have a disease that requires annual monitoring are asked to contact the practice at the start of their birthday month an annual review. If you have:
- Atrial Fibrillation
- Asthma
- Chronic Kidney Disease
- Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
- Diabetes
- Heart Failure
- Ischemic Heart Disease (Coronary heart disease, angina, previous heart attack)
- Peripheral Vascular Disease
- Stroke Disease (cerebrovascular disease / TIA)
These conditions require frequent review. Please call or visit the practice to arrange your check-up on the month of your birthday with our clinicians.
Prescriptions
Just another wee update regarding prescriptions. If you collect your prescription from the pharmacy - it can take up to 5-7 days. If you want to know if your prescription is at your pharmacy, check with them first as we cannot check if your prescription is ready to collect. We always advise to check with the pharmacy first before calling.
Plea to patients
A plea to our patients:
Please do not shout or swear at any of our team. We are unfortunately seeing more behaviour that is unacceptable, and this will ultimately drive team members away and only make the service harder for us to deliver upon.
Demand for appointments has become significantly greater than capacity. We physically cannot provide appointments for thousands of patients each day.
Shouting/swearing at staff unfortunately does not get your prescription any quicker,
does not create an appointment that doesn’t exist and does not speed up investigations/hospital appointments.
The increasing amount of abuse and frustration is causing members of staff to become upset and mentally drained. We are working as hard as we can with the staff available. Please remember that we at Hillbank and other practices in the country are doing all we can to help. No member of staff in any profession deserves to be targeted by daily abuse. Especially with how frequent it is becoming.
To the majority of the patients who continue to be understanding and supportive, we thank you for your kindness and appreciate your tolerance.
Prescriptions
Patient Services
Just a reminder to patient's that Patient Services is available to all patients. Its an easy way to manage, order and check the progress for your repeat prescription. All you need to do is fill out a form and we will register you. You can register here -
https://www.hillbankhealthcentre.co.uk/prescriptions_form.aspx
Prescriptions
We would just like to remind patient's that we do not take prescription request's over the phone unless this has been authorised by a GP. Also please check with your pharmacy before calling to enquire if your prescription has been sent. If you request your prescription to be sent to the pharmacy, please allow 4 working days for this to arrive.
Facebook
We have created a Facebook page for our health centre so that we can provide up to date information and news. The website will still be updated alongside the Facebook page. You can visit it here
FAQ's
We have recently added a Frequently Asked Questions page to our website. We hope this can provide some information and answer some of your queries. It can be found by clicking here
SMS opt out
The practice is starting to update the way in which we contact patients regarding reminders and results. If you have a mobile number on file with ourselves we will start to send you an SMS (Text message) with any reminders that we need to inform you about and with any results from tests taken. If you would NOT like for this to happen and opt out, please get in touch with us and we will ensure that it is recorded.
Patient Parking
Please note that we have 11 spaces designated for patient parking including 2 disabled spaces. Access is via Rosebank Street into Rosebank Mews. All patients and visitors to the health centre are therefore requested not to park in any area outside our designated spaces as these are areas owned by local residents and other businesses.
The practice has commenced the introduce of SMS text appointment reminders direct to our patients mobile phones. Please ensure we hold your latest mobile phone number. If not please use the 'Contact Details' form on this website or contact the practice.
Information about the use of facebook and social media
The practice is aware that some patients may use Facebook and/or other Social Media platforms as a means of expressing their views regarding the surgery and the services provided.
Due to patient confidentiality, the practice is not in a position to respond to such 'Posts', nor able to clarify exactly what happened and the rationale for any clinical decisions. Once a 'Post' has been put online, it is almost impossible to remove and defamation laws are equally applicable to Social Media. Although we may not reply, we would be made aware of such 'Posts.'
We do however genuinely welcome and encourage the views of patients to enable us to improve the service which we delivery, however all feedback to the practice should be made via the appropriate mechanisms.
Whilst on the subject of 'Facebook'...
Our clinicians may sometimes receive 'Friends' requests online from patients.
Whilst 'Friend requests' are usually well-meant, the British Medical Association (BMA) advise that Clinician's should refuse 'Friend requests' from Current or Former Patients of the Practice, so please do not be offended that you request is declined.
Should you wish to discuss this matter or any other issue relating to practice services please contact the Practice Manager.