April 2023

Patchs© - a different e-consulting platform

About four years ago, eConsult© was made available to Wirral GP practices. After a slow start from clinicians and patients alike, eConsult became very useful during 2020 as we all faced the challenges of the Covid pandemic.

Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board have replaced eConsult with a new tool called Patchs©. We have been using Patchs to a small extent over the past few weeks - some patients will have received messages sent using it, especially those with asthma or very high blood pressure.

The time has come to stop using eConsult and make the switch to Patchs. Our non-clinical staff, the care navigators who help you get access to the most appropriate service, are ready. The doctors are signed up and trained. The switchover will be on Wednesday 12th April. You can find out more about Patchs by clicking here.

During the Covid lockdowns in 2020, we discovered that about 30% of our patients did not have Internet access. We think this figure is down to about 10% now. But, to ensure that those without Internet access get fair access to practice services, Patchs will only be available from 7am to 2pm, Monday to Friday.

The Junior Doctors Strikes

It may surprise you to know that there are currently five "junior" doctors at Blackheath. A "junior" doctor in primary care is qualified as a doctor but is only allowed to work under the supervision of a fully trained general practitioner.
The junior doctors strikes will reduce the number of appointments available at the practice, and may slow the processing of repeat prescription requests, incoming lab reports, and hospital correspondence.

March 2023

Positive feedback for Blackheath Medical Practice

During March, the practice received two pieces of positive feedback.
First, we received a "Silver Award" following an external audit of our care of people with learning disabilities.
Then, the University of Liverpool awarded us a "Quality Certificate" for the 2021-2022 academic year.

December 2022

Doctor Professor Quinn

Doctor Quinn has been awarded a Visiting Professorship by the University of Chester.

May 2022

Congratulations to Dr Sinton

Congratulations to Dr Sinton who has (more than) passed the final GP Training examination.

April 2022

Junior doctor rotations

Dr David McGrath has finished his attachment at Blackheath and returned to Arrowe Park Hospital to finish his foundation years training.
Two new associates-in-training now join us, Drs Laurence Gardner and Sami Elhag. For Dr Gardner, this is the final post of his foundation years training and he will be with us for four months. Dr Elhag is in the final phase of his GP training and will be with us for sixteen months.

Drs Sinton and Hasan continue their training with us.

March 2022

Double doctorate for Dr Quinn

Dr Quinn was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) at the University of Chester this month for his research into the diagnosis of mental health issues in primary care.

Dr Quinn dedicated the thesis "particularly to the 198 people of Wirral, who in the stressful moments of presenting their symptoms, agreed to take part in a research project, to the healthcare workers who gave up their time to learn about the primary care version of the Global Mental Health Assessment Tool and then use it in their day to day practice, and to the practices that facilitated the research by allowing their staff to take part."

February 2022

Dr Javed has moved to pastures new

We are sorry to say "goodbye" to Dr Saira Javed who has moved to a practice in Chester.
We congratulate Chester on their good fortune.
Dr Javed will be helping at Blackheath now and again.

May 2021

COVID Vaccination Message Friday 14th May 2021

The practice sent a text message to some 600 patients on Friday afternoon about the availability of COVID vaccinations for their age group.

Many people fretted that this might be a scam and telephoned the surgery to enquire if the message was genuine. Well, it is genuine!

Those who got the message, wish to have the COVID vaccination, and do not already have an appointment for their vaccination, should follow the directions in the text message.

Some were concerned that another family member in the same age group, also registered at Blackheath, had not received a similar message. This simply means that we do not have a current mobile telephone number in their record. Many people change their mobile number and neglect to tell us. (If this includes you, please do not 'phone to tell us - use the "contact us" form on this web site to do so.)

The multiple phone calls to the surgery on Friday afternoon basically blocked the practice's telephone lines, meaning that people with medical difficulties, pharmacists with enquiries, hospital staff with messages could not get through.

We are very concerned that the same could happen on Monday morning. The message is genuine. If you want the vaccination, follow the directions in the text message.

Please do not block the practice lines asking if it is genuine. COVID vaccinations are not being done at Blackheath. Other than tell you when vaccination stock is available, we cannot help you get an appointment. If you wish to have the vaccination, follow the directions in the text message you received.

April 2021

New Practice Business Manager

Penny Angill has retired from her role as Practice Manager. We wish Penny a long and happy retirement.

Sharon Joy now joins the team, looking after the business of running the practice.