A Note from Dr Punja
It is with sadness that we announce that Dr Punja will be leaving the Stanford Medical Centre on 31st October 2019; he will be greatly missed by patients, staff and colleagues.
Patients who were registered with Dr Punja will be reallocated to another GP, please speak with a member of the reception team if you have any questions.
We wish Dr Punja the very best for the future.
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Dr Punja has written a letter which he would like shared with all patients.
"To all patients,
It is with great sadness and reluctance that I have resigned my position as a GP at the Stanford Medical Centre. My last working day will be 31st October 2019 and I am on leave until then. I will be leaving in order to spend time with members of my family who are unfortunately unwell. I have worked at the Stanford Medical Centre for 24 years and during this time it has been an honour and a privilege to have got to know you and to have been entrusted by you to take care of your health needs. I wish you all a happy and healthy future.
Kind regards and very best wishes,
Dr Al Punja."
Check for Referral Updates
If a clinician has referred you for on-going investigation or care you can make direct contact with the care provider for an update.
To contact any referrals made to Royal Sussex County Hospital (Brighton) or Princess Royal Hospital (Haywards Heath) please contact this number 03003038360 to liase directly with their booking centre.
It can be a worrying time waiting for appointments and understandably you wish to be seen as soon as possible to discuss your on-going health concerns.
Appointment letters are reviewed by the specialist teams, once they have received the referral, and are often then placed in an order of priority for future appointments. We understand at times that this can be frustrating as it may mean you are waiting longer than you anticipate to be seen. We are not always aware of the length of waiting times to be seen and thus cannot always tell you this at the time a referral is made.
If you have been referred on a ‘2 week wait’ referral pathway then you will definitely receive an appointment within 2 weeks. If you have not heard 10 days after your appointment with the health professional then please contact the surgery and we will review this for you. (You will be informed if it is a 2 week referral at the time.)
Please find below a list of care providers locally whom we regularly refer to:
CAMHS, Child and Adolescent Mental Health – 01444 248901
Crawley Hospital – 01293 600300
CRI – Drugs, Alcohol and Homeless Support, Brighton – 0300 303 8677
East Surrey Hospital (ESH), Redhill – 01737 768511
Gatwick Park Hospital (Spire) – 01293 785511
Healogics Wound Care Service – 01403 334332
Kleinwort Intermediate Care, Haywards Heath – 01444 445600
Langley Green Hospital – 01293 590400
Lewes Victoria Hospital – 01273 474153
Linwood – 0300 304 0052
MSK – 0300 303 8063
Nuffield Hospital, Haywards Heath – 01444 456999
Park Centre (breast care) – 01273 664773
Princess Royal Hospital (PRH) , Haywards Heath – 01444 441881
Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead – 01342 410210
Royal Sussex County Hospital (RSCH), Brighton – 01273 696955
Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital (RACH), Brighton – 01273 696995
Sussex Community Dermatology Service – 01903 703270
Sussex Eye Hospital, Brighton – 01273 696955
St. Catherines Hospice – 01293 447333
St. Peter and St James Hospice – 01444 471598
Ultrasound – Diagnostic World – 01329 552440
Ultrasound – Physiological Measurements – 01691 676496
West Sussex Breast Screening – 01903 239757
Information for Patients about Primary Care Networks.
As you may be aware there are changes coming to the way General Practice is funded by NHS England. From July 1st we are working together as a group of surgeries in a geographical area and serving a natural local community. This group will be called a Primary Care Network (PCN).
Six surgeries have decided to work together in our PCN. They are Beaconsfield Medical Practice, The Haven, Matlock Road Surgery, Preston Park Surgery, Stanford Medical Centre and Warmdene Surgery. We will have approximately 57 000 patients and over 160 staff.
What does this mean for Patients?
It means we can:
- Create different roles to support patient care to our patients – for example social prescribers, first line physiotherapists
- Increase and develop new services for our patients with the aim of improving their health and wellbeing
- Share best practice
- Utilise the skills of our staff
- Joining up primary and community health services
- Make best use of our premises
We will keep your informed of the progress of our PCN.
If you would like to be more involved, each surgery has a Patient Participation Group (PPG) who will be consulted and involved in the development of the broader PCN.
Please also be advised that as part of this PCN we will need to share data about patients between the surgeries in the PCN and other statutory NHS bodies. These Data Sharing agreements will be made publicly available as soon as they are ready.
Brexit and Medicine Shortages
Matt Hancock; Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has written to healthcare providers to inform them that there is a UK-wide contingency plan in place in preparation for a Brexit 'No Deal' vote. The government is working with manufacturers to provide support and assistance with capacity for storing medication.
We have been advised that healthcare providers should not be stockpiling medication or issuing longer prescriptions to patients, as this could have a negative effect in the long-term.
Further information can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/information-for-the-health-and-care-sector-about-planning-for-a-potential-no-deal-brexit
Hospital Waiting Times
The CCG (Clinical Commissioning Group) have published the average Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS trust waiting times for routine referrals. The link below will give the average waiting times from non-urgent referrals to first outpatient appointments.
Please be aware this excludes two week referrals and other urgent referrals.
https://www.gp.brightonandhoveccg.nhs.uk/hospital-waiting-times-data
Patient Research Experience Survery
Stanford Medical Centre is currently involved in the National institute for Health research clinical networks, this aims to get patients in primary care involved in clinical research. If you have been involved in a clinical research project as a patient of Stanford Medical Centre we hope you can spare the time to fill in this questionnaire about your experience
Please fill in our survey online: bit.ly/PRES2018
Patients, carers and the public are essential to our work. You are our greatest strength and we could not do our work without your help. Thank you for giving us your time to provide essential feedback. If you wish to become a Patient Research Ambassador Sign up to the mailing list: http://bit.ly2pqz511
New and better treatments and services become available because people take part in our research. Find out more about research taking place in Kent, Surrey and Sussex: http://www.nihr.ac.uk/nihr-in-your-area/kent-surrey-and-sussex
Updating Website Patient
Watch this space! We will be implementing some changes to the website over the next few days.
Your Data Matters to the NHS
We have been chosen as a GP Practice to extract patient data - how does this effect you as a patient. Please click here for more information.
New MJog Messenger app
Click on the graphic to find out more: 
Online Appointments
Please note that we now offer 'same day' appointments for the following day at 8pm the previous day.
New Patient Survey - 2019
Our Patient Survey results can be found here.
Bank Holiday Closures
Please note Stanford Medical Centre and Islingword Road Surgery will be closed on the following bank holidays:
Wednesday, 25th December 2019 - Christmas Day
Thursday, 26th December 2019 - Boxing Day
Wednesday, 1st January 2020 - New Year's Day
There will be no Doctors/Nurses or Reception staff available during this time.
In case of an emergency please call 0845 145 0121 up to 6.30pm – after 6.30pm please call 111
Half day closure - Wednesday, 6th February 2020
Please note Stanford Medical Centre and Islingword Road Surgery will be closed from 1pm on Wednesday, 6th February 2020 for Staff training. There will be no Doctors/Nurses or Reception staff available during this time.
The surgery will re-open at 8am, Thursday, 7th February 2020.
In case of an emergency please call 0845 145 0121 up to 6.30pm - after 6.30pm please call 111
Care Quality Commission (CQC)
Please click here to see our latest CQC Report.
eMED3 Fit Note Data and the DWP
Please note, we will soon be obliged by NHS Digital, to send anonymised data regarding the number of eMED3 fit notes issued to the Department for Work & Pension (DWP).
If you would like to opt out of this data collection please contact the surgery.
For up-to-date information on: Meningitis AWCY, MEN B and Shingles
For up to date information regarding the new schedules of Meningitis AWCY for school year 13:
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/vaccinations/Pages/men-acwy-vaccine.aspx
For up to date information regarding MEN B for babies:
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/vaccinations/Pages/meningitis-B-vaccine.aspx
For up to date information regarding Shingles and who is eligible:
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/pages/shingles-vaccination.aspx
Anxiety and Depression
New course for students dealing with anxiety, at the university. Click here for more information.
Parking at Stanford Medical Centre
We would like to inform you that there is camera controlled car park management system at 175 Preston Road car park.
Please see the attached pdf here.
If you need to appeal your parking fine we can provide you with evidence that you were here at the surgery which you can attach to their online form which is available here or you can send this with your appeal in the post.
Please note there are bike racks near the entrance for you to use, if you can come by bike.
More appointments are now available on a week-end and late evenings
We are now offering pre-booked appointments between 8.00 - 2.00pm every weekend and 6.30 - 8.00pm weeknights. If these appointment times are more convenient, please let our reception team know and they can arrange for you to be seen by a doctor during these times.
If you need to cancel one of these appointments at short notice, or when we are closed, please call 07702335868 and leave a message.
This has been made possible through the EPiC project, now underway which is dedicated to improve access to primary healthcare services in Brighton and Hove. For more information regarding this project and how it may affect you, please visit http://epic-pmchallengefund.uk/
Statement of Intent - Patient Online: Records Access
This practice will be offering our patients the facility to view parts of their GP medical record online from 1st April 2016.
Patients will be able to view this information by logging onto an online account. This will be the same online account which some patients already use to book appointments and order repeat medication.
If you are not yet registered to use our online services, Patient Access, please come into the practice with photo ID and an account will be created for you.
The practice would like to know what patients think about online services, please send your feedback to bhccg.stanfordmedicalcentre@nhs.net
Electronic Prescription Service
What is the Electronic Prescription Service (EPS)?
EPS is an NHS funded service in England. It gives you the chance to change how your GP sends your prescription to the healthcare professional you choose to get your medicines or appliances from.
What does this mean for you?
If you currently collect your repeat prescriptions from your GP you will not have to visit your GP practice to pick up your paper prescription. Instead, your GP will send it electronically to the place you choose, saving you time.
You will have more choice about where to get your medicines from because they can be collected from a pharmacy near to where you live, work or shop.
You may not have to wait as long at the pharmacy as there will be more time for your repeat
prescriptions to be prepared before you arrive.
For more information about EPS visit www.cfh.nhs.uk/eps, or ask your pharmacy or talk to us.
Common Childhood Illnesses
Click here to see how to manage common childhood illnesses
University of Brighton students
If you are wanting to register with us, please click here for registration details.