Third Avenue Doctors Surgery

 

We are confident that our website will provide clear and concise help and give our patients the information they require in an easy and convenient format. It has been designed with the patient’s needs at the forefront of everything, from checking surgery times to letting us know what you think of us.

CQC INSPECTION RESULTS.  Our Surgery received a Good rating for our last CQC Inspection.

ONLINE APPOINTMENT BOOKING. If you would like to register for online appointment booking, please telephone us for more details.  Patients will need to register in person with two forms of ID to enable them to book appointments online.  Posters will be displayed within the waiting area. PLEASE BE AWARE THIS HAS BEEN SUSPENDED AT THE MOMENT.

DID YOU KNOW on average 200 appointments are wasted each month due to a patient not attending.  That amounts to 32.5 clinical working hours.  THAT IS NEARLY 4 CLINICAL WORKING DAYS. Just imagine how many more appointments would be available if everyone cancelled any that they do not require. Please always cancel any unwanted appointments and encourage your friends and family to do the same.  Thank you.

SMS MESSAGES.  Some of you may have already noticed that we are now sending SMS messages to inform patients of any appointments they have booked and also SMS reminders the day before.  If you have not already done so, could you please let us have an up to date mobile telephone number in order for us to send you SMS messages.  Hopefully this may cut down the ever growing figure of patients not attending their booked appointments.

PATIENT EMAIL ADDRESSES. Please advise us of your email address if you are happy to do so. This will never be shared to outside agencies, but it may be the fastest way for the hospital to contact you if you have been referred. As with telephone numbers, please remember to advise us of any changes. Your email address can be sent to us by email (to thirdavenuesurgery@nhs.net), by post or even by adding it to a repeat prescription request!

EVENING GP APPOINTMENTS.  Evening GP appointments are now available across participating GP Surgeries within Castle Point and Rochford areas.  This is not a walk in service. Please telephone the Surgery in the usual way to book an appointment.

WEEKEND GP APPOINTMENTS. You can now book a weekend/bank holiday appointment with a GP or Practice Nurse. Please contact the Surgery in the usual way to book an appointment.

PATIENT PARTICIPATION GROUP MEETING. Patient participation group meetings have been suspended at this time.

OUR TEAM. We now have a new member to our team. Her name is Ruxandra Duruian and she is a GP Pharmacist. She will carry out medication reviews and prepare prescriptions for the GP's. After further training she will see patients for minor ailments.

PHYSICIAN ASSOCIATES. As of April 2019 we will be employing a Physician Associate, Sophie Sherwood. Sophie will be supporting our GP's in diagnosing and managing of patients and will undertake post-graduate training. They will work under the supervision of our Doctor's, training to perform a number of day-to-day tasks including:-

Taking medical histories                                 Performing examinations

Diagnosing illnesses                                       Analysing test results

Developing management plans

GP HEALTHCARE ALLIANCE. We are also members of an association called the GP Healthcare Alliance. This offers us the opportunity to share the assistance of another GP Pharmacist, Chris Smith. He is based at the Surgery three sessions per week. He will see patients for minor ailments and medication reviews as well as preparing and issuing medication.

Also working under the Alliance we have an Associate Nurse Practitioner and an Emergency Care practitioner.

INTRODUCTION  OF GDPR. Following the introduction of GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), written consent must be given for a third party to act on your behalf or even to collect prescriptions, consent will need to be given every six months. This can be done verbally after an initial Consent form has been completed. 

 

 

 

Welcome to Third Avenue Doctors Surgery

Update 30th October 2024

Online Appointments

We have now switched on the facility to book appointments online. Theses will be as a face to face appointments. Please notate as requested, reason for the appointment. These are only available for GP appointments seven days in advance.

We are a GP Training Practice

Third Avenue Doctors Surgery is now an Approved Training Practice.

Doctors undertaking further training to become GPs are referred to as GP Registrars. They are fully qualified Doctors who have undertaken their medical training and they have worked in hospital settings and are now undertaking specialist training in General Practice.

We believe that achieving and maintaining training practice status, enhances the quality of the medical care that we provide at the Practice.

You may be seen solely by a GP Registrar, you may be seen with a GP Registrar sitting in on your consultation with your GP or the GP sitting in on your consultation with the GP Registrar. You may also have a telephone consultation with a GP Registrar. However, all consultations are supervised by the Trainers so that you can expect to receive the same level of care you will receive from your GP.

In order for the GP Registrars to successfully complete their training they are assessed on their consultation skills. This is done in part by the appointed Trainer viewing a video of the Registrar’s consultations and you may be asked for your permission to have your consultation recorded in this way. If you agree, you will need to give your written permission and you will be offered a consent form to sign. You will always be asked in advance and are given the option not to take part. This will not affect your care in any way. These videos are used only for educational purposes with the Doctor doing the consultation and are destroyed after use.

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PLEASE NOTE: ALL appointments at our Surgery are booked from 8.30am for pre-booked appointments and on the day emergencies. We can however book appointments at the Primary Care Centre from 8am each day for on the day emergencies or pre-booked appointments for various clinics i.e. GP or Nurse. 

Pharmacy First Consultations

Local pharmacies are now offering consultations for some minor ailments. There has been local advertising as well as TV commercials. You can also copy the link and paste to your search bar to watch a short video. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1nbm04z_Qc

There is more information in the Clinics and Services tab above under Pharmacy First.

Primary Care Network

As well our appointments at our own Surgery, we have access to appointments at the Primary Care Centre as part of the PCN. Unlike our appointments (which are booked from 8.30am) these can be booked by our reception team from 8am weekdays for emergency on the day appointments or for pre-bookable clinics. These include, Nurse appointments for minor ailments, Smears, Dermatology, Physio and early morning blood tests. Some may be telephone appointments and there are also some weekend and evening slots. Please call the Surgery for more information.

For more information about the Primary Care Network you can click on Clinics and Services above and go to the Primary Care Network section..

Repeat Prescriptions

We are not taking any requests for medication over the phone. Please see our Prescription section for the various options for requesting medication.

Patient Participation Group

Our next Patient Participation Meeting will be held on Tuesday 4th March at 1.30p.m. here at the Surgery. Light refreshments will be available. Everybody is welcome to share views and suggestions.  This is not a complaints forum.  We look forward to seeing you. 

Our Primary Care Network also hold PPG meetings, please see their website for more details www.canveypcn.nhs.uk

Home Visits

If an urgent home visit is required, we must ask that you call the Surgery before 11.00am. Please see the protocol on our Appointment section above.

Telephone System

We have had an upgrade to our telephones. A call queuing system has now been installed and you will be given the option to hold or even request an automatic call back.  We will be monitoring the system, but please do let us know if you have any problems. 

Doctaly Assist & Healthy.i.o

We have received a large number of calls regarding Doctaly Assist. We can confirm this is a genuine service via WhatsApp for patients meeting certain criteria. It is not compulsory and you can opt out if you wish.

Patients may also be contacted by Healthy.io. They are also working in conjunction with ourselves, again it is not a compulsory service. 

Statement of Fitness for Work

ALL patients requiring a Fitness for Work Certificate, will have to have a consultation with a Doctor before one can be given. 

Children's Health Matters Link for Parents

There is a link with information for parents offering guides with self help information and much more. There is also a newsletter which you can sign up to. https://bit.ly/3yOeafq

Care Navigation

During recent months, our Reception team have been asking why you need to see our clinicians, even for pre-booked appointments. This is to ensure we use the best clinician for your needs. As well as our own Doctors and Nurses, we now have GP Pharmacist's who can help with medication reviews and minor ailments, a First Contact Physio who can help with back pain, muscle pain etc and also Wellbeing Co-ordinators who can give a range of general support.

COVID19 Vaccines

The vaccine appointments are not dealt with by ourselves, it is carried out by a dedicated team. They will be calling patients by phone and may also send an SMS text message advising of a link to go to to book your vaccine.

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We are confident that our website will provide clear and concise help and give our patients the information they require in an easy and convenient format. It has been designed with the patient's needs at the forefront of everything, from checking surgery times to letting us know what you think of us.

Serving You

Our dedicated team are here to treat those minor ailments that occur as well as providing specialist management of long-term conditions and clinics covering a wide range of healthcare issues. The technology also means you can now do a lot of things from the comfort of your home such as order a repeat prescription.

Partners in Care

Once registered, patients and healthcare professionals work together to ensure the most appropriate care is provided. This partnership philosophy extends even further and our active patient group exists to make sure that patient needs and the practice offering are always heading in the same direction.

 

Opening Times

Monday	08:00 - 18:30
Tuesday	08:00 - 18:30
Wednesday	08:00 - 18:30
Thursday	08:00 - 18:30
Friday	08:00 - 18:30
Weekend	closed