Last week, I visited Glenlyn Medical Centre in East Molesey to meet with Practice Manager, Joseph Todd, his team, and representatives from the patients’ group, alongside Councillor Steve Bax.
It was good to get the opportunity to pass on feedback I have received from constituents regarding Glenlyn and get an update on what measures the practice is taking to improve patient experience.
I understand that Glenlyn offer between 500 and 600 acute appointments each week. These appointments are for people who have had recent symptoms develop and need to get it checked out at the surgery. These appointments are usually carried out by specialists in the certain field, for example, Joseph explained how they have a nurse on site who is a specialist in diabetes.
For people with longer-term health conditions, the team are now taking a more pro-active approach to their care. Over the pandemic, 2000 elderly and vulnerable patients were visited by paramedics in their homes, helping to prevent around 40% of follow-up appointments.
I am aware that patients are still struggling to get through to Glenlyn to book appointments. The practice is investing in a new phone system that will allow patients to be called back, so they do not have to wait on the line. This should be available from around April.
I also stressed that Glenlyn needs to communicate the positive changes they are taking to patients, and it was interesting to hear about their plans to start keeping patients up to date.
I will continue to share updates regarding Glenlyn, to ensure the practice is taking further steps in the right direction.
