The Valley Medical Centre

read moreValley Medical Centre began its life at the beginning of the 20th century, in the front room of a victorian terraced house in Fountains Road Kirkdale Liverpool 4 which also served as the doctors home. The first doctor known to us was Dr Graham Smith who conducted his surgery from there, charging his fees by the consultation and very likely providing medicines himself. We do not know very much about Dr Smith and most information about him has been from patients who sadly are no longer with us. Dr Smith eventually acquired a shop at 139 Westminster Road Liverpool 4, where the surgery remained until 1992.

read moreThe practice nurses run clinics for long term health conditions including hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, asthma and copd. They also carry out cervical smears, give childhood immunisations and offer travel advice and vaccinations. The health care assistant runs clinics for blood pressure monitoring, health checks, ABPI tests, H. pylori breath tests and healthy living advice. The district nursing team manage care within the community. Patients can be referred to the district nurse by there GP, hospital consultant and other healthcare professionals.

read moreRepeat Prescriptions are not accepted over the telephone, unless a patient is housebound. Patients are requested to return the slip attached to their prescription either by post or handed into the surgery. When we have a duty to others e.g. in child protection cases anonymised patient information will also be used at local and national level to help the Health Board and Government plan services e.g. for diabetic care. If you do not wish anonymous information about you to be used in such a way, please let us know.

read moreYou do not require a doctor's sickness certificate for any illness lasting seven days or less. If you are sick for more than seven days, your employer can ask you to give them some form of medical evidence to support payment of SSP (statutory sick pay). If you're sick and off work for more than seven days, your employer will probably ask for proof of your illness. Most employers ask for a fit note from your GP. However, this will also depend on your employer's company policy on sick leave (or sickness absence).

read moreUnder the NHS Complaints Regulations 2009 you can either choose the service provider, in this case Valley Medical Centre as our experience tells us that by dealing with you directly, concerns can often be sorted out quickly and to your satisfaction. However, you may want NHS England to deal with your complaint as they commission the service that has caused you to complain. The choice about who you want to deal with your complaint remains your decision.

read moreThere is a new Central NHS Computer System called the Summary Care Record (SCR). It is an electronic record which contains information about the medicines you take, allergies you suffer from and any bad reactions to medicines you have had. Storing information in one place makes it easier for healthcare staff to treat you in an emergency, or when your GP practice is closed. This information could make a difference to how a doctor decides to care for you, for example which medicines they choose to prescribe for you.

read moreWe would like to know how we can improve our service to you and how you perceive our surgery and staff. To help us with this, we are setting up a virtual patient representation group so that you can have your say. We will ask the members of this representative group some questions from time to time, such as what you think about our opening times or the quality of the care or service you received. We will contact you via email and keep our surveys succinct so it shouldn't take too much of your time.