Our aim is to improve the health and wellbeing of the local community through the delivery of safe, effective and compassionate primary care services.
Our website contains a range of health information and resources, along with practical information on visiting the surgery.
We hope you find the website useful and informative, and welcome your feedback and suggestions.
We appreciate you all as Patients and almost always have no issues with inappropriate behaviour or language towards us and we would like to take this time to state that we are thankful to have a wonderful community as patients.
Unfortunately due to rare occasional issues we do have to have a policy in place for such instances.
We have updated our Zero Tolerance Policy to be more precise about how we handle situations, define what is considered inappropriate and bring us inline with NHS Scotland's own view.
We have been made aware of a scam targeting patients registered with local GP practices.Â
A patient reported receiving a phone call with an automated message claiming to be from there GP Practice.
The message asked the patient to go online to update their personal details, threatening that failure to do so could result in being removed from the practice list, we will never ask you to do this.
What You Should Do:
Your safety and security are our priority. Please remain vigilant and share this message with others who may be at risk.
If you have any concerns or questions, donât hesitate to get in touch with our practice team.
Annually the practice survey the patients registered at the practice to gain insight into how the practice is doing to support the health and care of the local area.
Information from the survey is used to gauge what is working well with the practice and what is not, opinions, experiences and views of the patients.
From the replies the practice is able to find details of areas which need improvement and also where we have performed well.
Download the 2023-2024 Survey Report
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The survey presented a few questions and points from patients.
Below we would like to provide an answer or address some of the more common themes within your replies.
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If you require to provide or receive information at our reception and you are have concern about the privacy of the situation you are always welcome to either ask for paper and a pen or if you can discuss the matter in private.
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The information you provide (specifically appointment reasons was mentioned) is stored securely and our team never disclose this to anyone who is not involved in your care.
Our team are bound by confidentiality and privacy laws, which make it against the law for us to provide or discuss the information which was given or let it be seen by anyone who is not involved in the care pathway you initiate.
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Please remember that not all duties of the reception is checking you into see a clinician.
If the member of our team who is performing duties at the front desk appears to be ignoring you this is only because they are currently handling another duty.
Our reception also handles calls, filing of prescriptions and some of our processes do not allow us to check you in or handle your request without first finishing the task.
The systems we run are designed and created by a third party and the decision to reduce the risk of error by preventing multiple patients or information being handled at one time is a safety feature which we have no control.
Please be assured that the team member knows you are there but is unable to attend to you for a variety of reasons.
On occasion our receptionist may also be dealing with NHS clinic patients as we share the building with variety of NHS and Community Services.
Having an additional member of our team within the reception area would not help alleviate this situation due to the additional incoming telephone calls which would normally be taken from by the main office.
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Please see the âPrivacy when at receptionâ above.
The practice have the facility to order your medications online via a system called Patient Access which is available both as an app for your smart device or via their website (links to patient access are provided on our website).
If you do not have access to patient access and wish to order your medications online please contact reception in person with a form of photographic identification.
Our team member will be able to provide you with more detail at the time.
Unfortunately due to confidentiality and GDPR we are unable to enable online medication ordering without the patient present and a form of identification.
If ordering online is not suitable for you our prescription line is open 24/7 where your order can be left at a time which suits you. The telephone number is 01563 825201.
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Each member of our clinical team provides expertise in different areas, no single member of our clinical team can provide you care in every situation. This includes Doctors, Advanced Nurses, Health Care staff who all provide specific services and expertise.
You do not need to provide a detailed explanation for your reason a small indication will do. Providing an indication as to why you are requesting an appointment to ensure you see the right person first time.
Providing a reason, even just a small hint, when booking an appointment will ensure you are seen by the correct member of our team first time, prevent multiple visits or calls and addressing your needs as quick as possible.
This not only saves you time, it allows us to maximise the time our clinical staff can spend with you ensuring your care needs are met.
If you are not happy to provide a reason for a routine appointment please let our team know that you do not wish to provide a reason but this may mean you may wait longer to be seen.
All our emergency appointments require a reason to be booked to ensure you are seen by the most appropriate member of our clinical team.
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If you think this will be an issue please tell your clinical team member at the time of the call or let our reception know you feel this would be an issue.
We offer face to face appointments with our clinical team but find many issues can be resolved over the telephone allowing you to save time and get care as quick as possible.
If you prefer to attend the practice this is not a problem, just ask and we can arrange this.
In recent years there has been an increase in pressures and demand for General Practice (GP) services, this also includes an increase in demand for appointments with a Doctor.
To help with this pressure and demand our practice use the skills and knowledge of our Advanced Nurse Practitioner (ANP) team.
Our ANP team are able to undertake almost everything a Doctor can.
It is important to note that ANPâs are not just Nurses but are also able to diagnose health conditions, conduct check-ups, research patient conditions, refer patients to specialists and prescribe and administer medication amongst other duties.
Not only do they require experience within healthcare to become an ANP. They also undertake further education and training to bring them to the level similar to a Doctor.
Patients who attend our ANP team regularly find that our ANP team are just as effective as seeing our Doctors.
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The practice never rejects a request from a patient for an appointment.
There may be times that appointments are full meaning we can only offer appointments so far into the future.
All our requests for emergency appointments will be triaged by our clinical team.
If you do not wish to be seen urgently please ask our team to book you in with the next routine appointment. You will still be asked why you are attending to ensure you are seen by the most appropriate member of our clinical team as soon as possible.
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This does not matter, finding out who you spoke to is our job.
If you feel that you have a complaint or wish to raise an issue do not get put off by the lack of names. All you have to do is provide us with why you wish to bring the matter to our attention, who you are, when you attended or contacted us we will do the rest.
Details of our complaint procedure are available on our Patient Rights page.
We would like to ask if you are attending the Practice and you are showing symptoms of COVID-19 or someone close to you is presenting symptoms to please continue wear a face mask (unless previously exempt).
This is in line with government guidance which states:
Any individual visiting or attending an acute adult hospital, community hospitals and primary care premises, are strongly recommended to wear a face covering.
We thank you for continuing to do so as this will continue to help prevent spread to any vulnerable or ill patients who are visiting.
For more information please see https://bit.ly/39nfdIM
Crosshouse Medical Practice has partnered with Holly Health to offer patients 6 months of free habit coaching (to help sleep, exercise, eating and mental wellbeing).
The app may serve as an extra tool to help feel physically and mentally better.
You can sign up here:Â http://hly.app/crosshouse_gp
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The small habits approach involves making small but consistent changes to our daily behaviours. Holly Health supports individuals to prioritise, achieve, and sustain new healthy habits across a range of health and lifestyle areas, covering nutrition, relationship with food, sleep, mental wellbeing and movement. Importantly, the service provides personalised recommendations on which habits are likely to work best for you.
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Most of our overall health is defined by the tiny actions we take throughout each day, like what we eat and drink, when we go to bed, how long we sit down for, and how much exercise we get. Around 60% of our daily actions take place without us thinking (i.e. subconsciously). In order to improve our overall health over the long term, we need to address our subconscious habits.
However, many of us take an 'all at once' approach to health improvements, for example, going on a restrictive diet, or planning to go to the gym every day, as a new year's resolution. The problem with these intense approaches is they are rarely sustainable. Studies have shown again and again that the best way to make lasting changes to our health, is to make small, consistent changes, which can be kept up indefinitely. Holly Health makes this sustainable approach doable and way more fun!
Looking for helpful resources created for young people, carers and professionals help support your mental health and well-being.
CAMHS Resources was created for to pool together lots sources across the internet for mental health and well-being that you may find helpful. Â
With the developing trend of patientâs use of Social Media services to comment on the Practice and members of the team we would ask that if you have a complaint about our service you report this to the Practice Manager using our complaints procedures.
The practice always investigates and responds to any complaints made.
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Ethical Social Networking
The Practice team never use social media to discuss individual patients or their care. We kindly ask that any issues or requests you have are brought to the attention of the Practice Manager, rather than Social Media since it is likely your concerns will not be addressed.
Note that we reserve the right to remove a patient from the surgery list and report them to their social networking service if they are found to have made libellous statements or defamatory comments about the surgery or a member of the practice team.
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The legal definition of defamation is:
"any intentionally false communication, either written or spoken, that harms a personâs reputation; decreases the respect, regard, or confidence in which a person is held; or induces disparaging, hostile or disagreeable opinions or feelings against a person."