Leith Walk Surgery

60 Leith Walk

Edinburgh eH6 5HB

Telephone: 0131 554 6471

Fax: 0131 555 4964

Welcome

“We aim to provide quality medical care, to meet the needs of our patients.”

Our team includes five GPs and two nurses a health care assistant as well as our practice management team and reception and administration staff. Leith Walk Surgery has, in addition to its main surgery at 60 Leith Walk, a branch surgery at 26 Leith Walk.

This leaflet is for both existing patients and those considering registering with us. It tells you about our services, how to access them and some general information about how our practice operates.

The Partners

Dr Jeremy ChowingsMBChB DRCOG MRCGP

(Liverpool 1992)

Dr Gisu Cooper MBBS DTM&H MSc MRCGP(Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine, London 1988)

Dr Inge Reiff-Musgrove MBChB DRCOG MRCGP (Edinburgh 1995)

Dr Judith SingletonMBChB MRCGP DRCOG

(Aberdeen 1993)

Dr Sophie HicksMBChB Bsc MRCGP (Manchester 2008)

GP RETAINER

Dr Mary Sinclair

Practice Management

Practice ManagerDawn Saltman and Assistant Practice Manager Valerie Whittaker are our Practice Management Team, which ensures the smooth running of the Practice. They are available, by appointment, to answer questions you may have about the Practice.

Our Nursing Team

Catherine RossRGN andRoseann RobertsonRGN are our Practice Nurses and they are available -

Monday8.00am – 5.30pm

Tuesday8.00am – 5.30pm

Wednesday7.00am – 5.00pm

Thursday8.00am – 4.00pm

Friday8.00am – 4.00pm

The Practice Nurse may advise you on:

  • Family Planning
  • Foreign Travel
  • Ear Syringing
  • Nutrition
  • Dressings
  • Smoking Advice –the nurses can refer you for Smoking Cessation Therapy

You can also call Smokeline on 0800 848484 or obtain Nicotine replacement therapy from your local Pharmacy.

Catherine and Roseann are available for advice over the telephone please contact the receptionists on 0131 554 6471 they will take details and arrange a suitable time.

Health Care Assistant – currently on maternity leave

Jane Hutchison is our Heath Care Assistant. Jane is available on Wednesdays, Thursdaysand Fridays to take blood tests, blood pressure checks and annual health checks.

Our Phlebotomist Kayleigh is available 5 mornings a week to take bloods.

The ADMINISTRATION tEAM

We have a team of receptionists who are here to help you. They answer the phone, deal with enquires and take requests for repeat prescriptions. We also have a Medical Secretary and Office Manager.

Health Visitors

The Health Visiting team provide general support and advice on health matters to parents of children under 5. In addition the team run the Practice’s Child Health Surveillance and Childhood Immunisation Clinic.

Telephone 0131 553 2526 Monday to Friday 8 am to 4pm (answer machine available)

District Nurses

The District Nursing Team arranges Nursing care, support and advice for patients at home.

Telephone 0131 5366206 Monday to Friday 8.30am to 4.30pm (answer machine available)

REGISTRARS

Our practice is approved for training registrar doctors who have chosen a career in general practice. GP registrars are fully qualified doctors who have a great deal of hospital experience and wish to become a GP. They gain valuable experience by working with us for up to a year and share all aspects of medical care with the GP partners. Please accept their services as an extension of our own.

Sometimes as part of the registrars training, patients are requested to allow their consultation to be videotaped, these recordings are for educational purposes only. Your permission will always be requested beforehand, if you do not wish your consultation to be recorded just say so; your care will not be affected in any way.

Students

We train Medical students and Nursing students from EdinburghUniversity. We hope that you will co-operate with us and help the students to learn about general practice. You will be informed of their presence in advance, and if you do not want them to be present at a consultation, your wishes will be respected; your care will not be affected in any way.

Disabled Access

Disabled access is available to the rear of the building in Cassel Lane; there is a buzzer at the back door for patients accessing the building. We have some consulting rooms and a nurse treatment room on the lower level. Please let our Reception Staff know if this is required when you book your appointment. Disabled toilet facilities are also available.

Registering With the Practice

If you live in our practice area and would like to register with us please ask our receptionists. If you need to see a doctor urgently, please inform the receptionist and they will make arrangements for you to be seen.

When registering please bring your NHS medical card, if you do not have a medical card you will be asked to complete a registration form, we also require two forms of identification one of which should be photo identification. In addition all patients will be asked to complete a new patient questionnaire, this will assist us in providing medical care while your medical records are transferred from your old practice to this one.

Patients are registered with the practice, not an individual GP. For administrative reasons your medical card will be issued with the name of one of the doctors; however you can at any time express a preference for a particular doctor, for either all of your medical needs or on a case-by-case basis.

This preference will be recorded in your medical notes and we will do our best to respect your choice. We recommend that where possible you see the same doctor for an ongoing problem or illness. Not all the doctors in the practice provide all services and specific doctors may not be immediately available.

Practice Area

Please ask at reception or telephone if in doubt as to whether you live within our area.

If you move out of the practice area, you will need to register with a new practice as soon as you move. We can provide information about how to find a new practice.

Surgery Opening Hours

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 8am to 6pm

Wednesday 8-12.30pm then 1.30pm – 6pm

(12.30pm -1.30pm we are closed for staff training)

The surgery is open from 8am to 6pm for telephone calls. When the surgery is closed there will be an answering machine to tell you the number of the emergency service (see Out of Hours Cover for more details).

Public holiday closures vary and will be posted well in advance.

Appointments

Routine appointments with the doctors are available from 8.00am to 11am and then from 2pm to 4pm Monday to Friday.

Pre-booked appointments are also available between 7am and 8am on Wednesdays.

You can make an appointment to see a doctor or practice nurse either by telephone on

0131 554 6471 or in person at reception.

If you feel you cannot wait until the first available routine appointment please tell the receptionist. We run an open emergency surgery each morning.

Our routine appointments are 10 minutes. When you book an appointment with the nurse you will be asked the reason, this is because the nurses keep longer appointments for certain conditions, investigations and treatments.

If you are unable to keep an appointment please telephone as no less than 1 hour before appointment time.

Open/Emergency Surgery

Every morning Monday to Friday between 8.50-9.20am you can see a doctor without a routine appointment to deal with any urgent or immediate problems ( for registered patients only). Do you need a sickline or repeat prescription? In most cases you will not need to see a GP you can ask the reception team to pass on your request

The doctor will generally only deal with the specific immediate problem and you can therefore expect a short interaction with the doctor; this means that you are unlikely to be kept waitingtoo long to be seen. Please do not expect the doctor to be able to discuss ongoing medical problems with you in depth, you may be asked to make another appointment if required.

Emergencies

In an emergency please phone 0131 554 6471

During Surgery hours the ‘Duty Doctor’ will be informed of your problem and will decide the appropriate action. Out with normal Surgery hours cover is provided by Lothian Unscheduled Care Services, if you telephone the surgery you will be given their telephone number (see Out of Hours Cover for further details).

Home Visits

Our doctors typically see four patients in the practice in the time it takes to do a single home visit. For this reason, we ask our patients to come to the practice if at all possible.

House visits are only available for patients who are housebound because of illness or disability.

Please contact the surgery before 10.30am to arrange a visit, a doctor will phone you back as it may be that your problem can be dealt with by telephone advice, or that it would be more appropriate to send a nurse, or indeed arrange a hospital attendance.

Sick Children

We will try to assess any young child who becomes suddenly unwell on the same day. Where possible try to use the open/emergency surgery, outside of this time, please contact the surgery to obtain advice from the Duty Doctor.

Telephone advice

You may wish to speak to one of the doctors by telephone, please contact the receptionists on 0131 554 6471 they will take details and arrange a suitable time.

OUT OF HOURS COVER

Between 6pm and 8am Monday to Friday and 6pm Friday to 8am Monday, the surgery is closed. In order to obtain urgent medical advice at these times, please call 111.

A receptionist in the emergency call centre will answer your call. They will either:

  • Arrange for you to speak to a doctor or nurse.
  • Invite you to attend the centre to be seen by the doctor.
  • Arrange a home visit if you are too ill to visit the centre.
  • Organise an urgent ambulance to take you straight to hospital.

Please take a leaflet for further details from reception.

Out of hours cover is now the responsibility of Lothian NHS Health Board.

Further advice and information can also be obtained from NHS24. Telephone 111

Services Available

We run a range of clinics. For an appointment or further details, please call 0131 554 6471

  • Asthma
  • Well Woman including cervical smears
  • Family Planning
  • Minor Surgery
  • Warts & Verrucae
  • Foreign Travel – Health Care and Immunisation advice including Yellow Fever
  • Child health surveillance and Immunisations
  • Smoking Advice –the doctors can refer you for Smoking Cessation Therapy

You can also call Smokeline on 0800 848484 or obtain Nicotine replacement therapy from your local Pharmacy.

If you have not been seen at the surgery for three years (or one year for those over 75 years) you can request a check up appointment if you wish. Please call 0131 554 6471 to make an appointment or if you are unable to attend the surgery to make alternative arrangements.

Repeat Prescriptions

From April 4th 2016 we will no longer be taking repeat prescriptions over the telephone.

Repeat prescriptions may be ordered in person, through the local pharmacies or online at Please allow 2 working days for your prescription request to be processed.

Although you do not need to see the doctor your prescriptions will be carefully monitored and you may be asked to make an appointment from time to time. This may be just for a general review of your condition, or it could be because you need a blood test or a blood pressure check.

Please check the right hand side of your prescriptions when picking them up as your doctor may have left a message for you, regarding your medication and/or any tests or checks due.

Test Results

Our receptionists will give results over the telephone, results are given between 11am and 2pm Monday to Friday on 0131 554 6471. You will be given written details of how long it will take for the practice to receive the results when the test is taken.

Suggestions or Complaints

Our aim is to provide a caring efficient and high quality service. We are happy to hear any suggestions you have to improve this; please let us know by completing a suggestion form, available from reception.

If you feel we could have done better we want to know, please ask to speak to Dawn Saltman, the Practice Manager, who may be able to resolve the issue quickly and to your satisfaction.

Further written information is available on the practice complaints system from reception.

Patient Rights and Responsibilities

You will be treated with respect and as a partner in your care. Being a partner means you have responsibilities too.

We will:

  • Ensure our patients have 24 hour access to medical advice
  • Work in partnership with you to achieve the best medical care possible
  • Involve you and listen to your opinions and views in all aspects of your medical care
  • The prevention of disease, illness and injury is a primary concern. The medical staff will advise and inform you of the steps you can take to promote good health and a healthy life style.

We would respectfully ask that you:

  • Let us know if you intend to cancel an appointment or are running late
  • Treat staff with courtesy and respect. Reception staff may have to ask some personal questions to assist us in providing you with the best service

Your medical records and confidentiality

It is important that the NHS keeps accurate and up-to-date records about your health and treatment so that those treating you can give you the best possible advice and care, this is increasingly done using computers. This information is only available to those involved in your care and you should never be asked for personal medical information by anyone not involved in your care.

We are obliged to comply with the Data Protection Act 1998 and other guidance on privacy and data confidentiality, which we take very seriously.

In order to manage services and improve quality of care we provide, we share some information on Practice activity, for example with the Health Board.. Whenever possible this information is made anonymous i.e. names and other identifying details are removed.

Information is not shared with any third party outside the Health Service (e.g. insurance, employer, solicitor) without your consent and agreement.

We are obliged by law to provide certain information e.g. notification of certain infectious diseases.

You have a right to know what information we hold about you. If you would like to see your records, please call Valerie Whittaker, our Assistant practice manager on 0131 554 6471 to arrange.