Welcome
Coronavirus Latest Updates
Trinity Medical Centre has temporarily suspended online appointment booking whilst there is a risk of Coronavirus. We have done this based on advice from BMA. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. Patients that need to contact the surgery may do so by contacting 01924 784101 or emailing trinity.medicalcentre@nhs.net
Trinity Medical Centre & Sandal Castle Medical Centre
The building, Trinity Medical Centre, has long been home to two busy GP practices. In April 2017, Almshouse and Grove Surgeries merged to become Trinity Medical Centre , a bustling city centre practice boasting over 23,500 patients. Together with our branch practice, Sandal Castle Medical Centre, we are able to cover over large sectors of Wakefield from Ossett and Wrenthorpe right over to Hall Green and Walton. We welcome any registrations to individuals residing within our Practice boundaries.
Hopefully on our website you are able to find all the information you need, but do not hesitate to contact us if you need any further information as well as feedback.
On behalf of all the partners and staff, we welcome you to Trinity Medical Centre.
Up and coming Changes & Information:
Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) Phase 4
Roll-out of Electronic Prescription Service (EPS) Phase 4 to GP practices enables those GP practices to use electronic prescribing even for those patients that do not have nominated pharmacies. This helps the move towards greater percentage of EPS dispensing.
What is Phase 4?
Previously, it was only possible to issue an EPS prescription where the patient nominated a pharmacy or another dispenser. EPS had been most advantageous for patients who received regular medication and who tended to get their prescriptions dispensed at the same pharmacy most of the time.
Under Phase 4 of EPS, prescriptions would be sent via EPS by default, whether a patient has an EPS nomination in place or not. However, where certain criteria are met, a paper prescription would still be used, for example:
- when a patient explicitly asks their GP for a paper prescription; or
- when the medicine being prescribed is not listed in the NHS list of medicines (dm+d).
What happens if I don’t have a nominated Pharmacy?
A patient who has not set a nomination or does not wish to do so would be issued with an EPS Phase 4 green prescription token so that they may visit the pharmacy of their choice. Pharmacy teams would scan the bar code on the token to access the EPS script.
The token will be provided in a paper format, but in time tokens may be available in an electronic format (e.g. in an email from the GP practice, via a website or via an app). This approach would generally mean the prescription cannot be prepared before the patient presents in the pharmacy.
What Can I do?
Speak to our reception team about getting a regular pharmacist set up for your regular medications. This will take a few moments to complete and means when you order, your prescription will do direct to the pharmacy – so now more trips into the surgery to collect the green piece of paper
*Some medications will still need a paper prescription or FP10 and cannot be sent electronically. Our reception team can confirm this with you.
This service will be live at Trinity Medical Centre & Sandal Castle Surgeries from March 3rd 2020.
For Further information visit: https://digital.nhs.uk/services/electronic-prescription-service
Infection & Prevention Audit 2019/2020
This is a fantastic result! Well done to everyone involved!
Our Triage Service is now CAS
Over the last 15 years, the triage service at our practice has been helping patients needing health advice on the day, the service now is developing into a Clinical Assessment Service (CAS)
What is the change? Traditionally, the focus of the triage centre has been advising patients seeking help on the day and book for a face-face consultation according to their needs.
The clinicians running this service who are now called Clinical Advisors (formally Triage Nurses) have been undergoing further training to provide patients calling the service with full clinical assessment on the phone supported by the duty doctor on the day who works closely with the clinical advisors
Why the change is needed? This change is designed to provide our patients with a better access to clinical advice on the day that is efficient and safe. Patients can still use the service 7 days a week for any health problem that needs same-day attention. Between 8am – 4pm Monday to Friday, you can also contact the service for any health problems you feel it can be sorted on the phone without the need for face-to-face appointment with a GP
Supported by the practice GPs, the clinical advisors will be able to arrange prescriptions, investigations and referrals when appropriate.
What different patients will feel?
Patients contacting the service will undergo full clinical assessment on the phone. The Clinical Advisors will try to determine what the problem is and agree with the patients on the best way to manage it. This could be done directly by the clinical advisors or by seeking the GP help if an advice or a prescription is needed. Only patients who need face-to-face assessment will be booked into appointments.
How can you access the service?
Call 01924 784100, lines are open 7 days a week, 8am-10pm Mon-FRI and 9am-3pm at Weekends & Bank hols. You can also book online for a same-day call back (Mon-Fri 8am-4pm)
If the lines are busy please leave us a message and CAS will call you back on the day – usually within 4 hours.
Please contact the service only for health problems, do not contact the service for any repeat prescriptions issues, sick notes or any general queries, these calls will be directed back to our reception call handlers.
NHS APP
The new NHS App provides a simple and secure way for people to access a range of NHS services on their smartphone or tablet. The app is available to all patients aged 13 and above, even if you are not registered for online appointment booking already, the app will take you through an identity process to gain access to a range of services such as:
- A symptom checker and subsequently book appointments based on the outcome
- Order repeat prescriptions
- Securely view their GP medical record
- Update your data sharing and organ donation preferences.
For More information on this service and how to access – please visit:
https://digital.nhs.uk/services/nhs-ap
This service is available across Android and iPhone devices for you usual application store or provider.
Changes to NHS Prescription Availability.
Do you want to know why some medications are being refused? Please follow the link to find out why some medicines will no longer be available on an NHS prescription.
From the 1st March we introduced our new Check Clinics at the Practice, which are predominantly used for annual review checks.
As part of our continuous efforts to improve our services to provide better care to our patients, we are launching these new check clinics for all our patients who have chronic diseases like diabetes, COPD, hypertension and heart diseases.
Check clinics are a one-stop clinic where you can have all your annual checks done in one visit, for all your chronic diseases including blood tests.
For patients whose medical condition is under control
If your medical condition is under control, the new check clinics may mean that you only have to visit the surgery to complete your annual review in one extended appointment carried out by our health care assistants.
For patients whose medical condition is not under control
For patients whose conditions are not under control following a check clinic appointment, they will need a further follow up on the phone or face-face with a specialist nurse or GP, one of our clinical staff will be able to advise the next stages.
When you ring the practice to ask for annual review, please give our care navigators clear information on your pre-existing conditions, so they can book you the appropriate time slot with our healthcare assistants. As a result of this new system, your appointment could be longer than usual.
Our care navigators are available to discuss this further should you have any questions.
STOP WASTING APPOINTMENTS!
During January we lost 438 appointments due to people booking and not attending their appointments.
At a time when demand is so high for appointments we ask that patients to cancel any appointments they may not need or cannot attend. Cancelled appointments can then be used for other patients.
Every GP appointment costs the NHS £36. If all 438 appointments missed were GP appointments, this would equate to £15,768 wasted in January alone!
New Dedicated Cancellation Line
We have updated our automated phone service and introduced an appointment cancellation line when you press option 1. Please call and leave your full name, date of birth and contact telephone number with details of the appointment you are wanting to cancel. We hope this new option should make it easier for patients to cancel their appointments giving others the chance to seek the help they need.CALL 01924 784101 and select option 1 – as soon as you know you can’t make an appointment. This service will be available from 8am-6pm Monday-Friday.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED….The practice is always interested in individuals wishing to be a volunteer. Our volunteers help to shape the practice and the services we provide.
We are looking for patients and carers to offer as little as one afternoon a month to help out in practice by meeting and greeting patients, assisting and signposting patients who are visiting the practice and assisting in the leading of social events in areas that you are interested in. Please be aware we currently have a waiting list for intake of volunteers. An application to express interest can be obtained for our surgery.
Our CQC Report
For our full report, please visit the Care Quality Commission site here
