Len Valley Practice

The Len Valley Practice had its official opening on Friday 1st October, with a finely honed timetable which allowed both the morning and afternoon surgeries to take place. Quite a feat of organisation!.

Guests included retired partners, Drs Martin Porter and Ian McMullen, the familiar faces of retired and current administrative staff, outreach workers and parish guests. Dr Hagan commented that he hoped “this would be the first and only time the waiting room was that full”!

Guests were given a tour of the building – revealing superb amenities for patient care and comfort, and an excellent working environment for all doctors and staff. Jill Clark, Chairman of Lenham and Harrietsham Disability Group, commented on the spaciousness and accessibility of all areas, including a lift!

In his opening welcome, Dr Hagan said the new surgery represented a milestone in the history of the practice, due to the generosity of the Bailey family in selling the land, and the vision of the Parish Council in securing it for community development. Once all the legalities and construction issues were resolved, “not subjects covered at medical school – or did I miss that lecture?”, development between the General Practice Group (Developers) and Bretts went ahead. He paid tribute to Drs Porter and McMullen who had spent their last years in practice pushing for a new building, practice staff and their families who helped with the planning and move, and all the craftsmen and technicians involved. Thanks was given to Andrew Barr, Chairman of the Parish Council and to Nick Osbourne, who oversaw the development of the site for the Parish Council.
The Practice Manager, Carol White, together with Deputy Manager, Margaret and Dispensary Manager, Sandra, worked tirelessly on the management of the project.

Patients had been tremendous in their support and Lenham Art Group and local people had loaned much of the artwork on display. Tom Ladell is designing the final stage of the project – landscaping around the building.

Dr Hagan expressed his thanks to the many experts involved: Steve Laker, Will Sheerdown and colleagues at GPG, Derek Hudson for help with ‘things architectural’, Robert Coombe of Whitehead for his expert advice on ‘lease law’, Tony Brand of Spain Brothers for his help with ‘the sums’, and the team at Maidstone Weald Primary Care Trust for their support. Dr Hagan also gave a personal thank you to his wife, Rebecca and their four children, for supporting him throughout the project. He also thanked the residents of Church Square, who were joining in the celebration, as no longer would they ‘have to watch the constant tramp of most diseases known to man pass their doors’.

In conclusion, Dr Hagan introduced Mr Graham Clarke – author, illustrator, humorist and one of England’s most popular, best selling printmakers. Graham visited Lenham more than thirty years ago and thought how beautiful it was. He continues to visit and believes thoroughly in village life. He would wish it for everybody in the whole world! It was entirely appropriate that Graham, with his love of rural life, should be invited to formally open the new building, which he did, with humour and obvious delight, and to the delight of all the smiling faces around him!

We are delighted to confirm that the Practice will be moving into its new surgery at Groom Way, Lenham, on Monday 23rd August.
The Practice would like to thank patients for their understanding and co-operation during this time. They recognise this is a huge project but look forward to a new building, more room, patient parking and a better working environment.

Important information for our patients
Obviously moving the Surgery is a huge project that will affect everybody – doctors, staff and patients. At this stage the Practice is advising you in advance of their plan of action for a two-week period.

Timetable during the five days of change. The new computer system will not be fully operational so during this period there will be no computers in use, and the following arrangements have been made:

Lenham and Harrietsham
Monday 16th, 17th and 18th August
URGENT problems only. No ongoing medical problems can be dealt with.

Thursday 19th and Friday 20th August:
Lenham will be CLOSED including the Dispensary
Harrietsham will deal with URGENT patients from both Lenham and Harrietsham.

Week commencing 23rd – 27th August in the new surgery – we cannot at this stage commit to being fully operational. This is dependent upon our transfer of data records. If it runs smoothly then we will be able to offer appointments on the day. In the unlikely event the transfer of data does not go according to plan, we will only be able to offer emergency appointments until it has been resolved.

Medication
Lenham Dispensary will be providing some patients with two months’ supply of medication to cover a two-week period when we will be moving from the present Len Valley Practice to the new one at Groom Way. The dispensary will organise this for patients and inform them as it happens, so there is no need for patients to do anything different to normal. This may already have taken place.

For the convenience of our patients the Saxon Warrior Pharmacy has agreed to have a locked letterbox, similar to the present one outside Lenham Dispensary. This will be inside their building where patients can post their request slips for repeat medication starting on the 23rd August. Len Valley Practice will empty this once a day Monday to Friday.

Telephone contact
Telephone numbers remain unchanged throughout and after the move.

October 2003

Over the last month the surgery has had a new ‘phone system and server installed. This has meant some inconvenience for the patients but we hope that both should help to improve the service that we offer you. The ‘phone system now uses an automated system to allow you to go through to the correct department much easier than before. There are however still some small problems with the system and we are striving to improve it further.

Some good news is that the DNAs (Did Not Attends) have dropped since the introduction of the advanced access appointment scheme. DNAs are cases where patients do not attend a previously booked appointment, thus wasting the Doctor’s time when they could have seen another patient. Hopefully we will continue to see these drop. There is a full article on the website about DNAs.

Please visit our website: www.lenvalleypractice.co.uk

Robert Belsom

September 2003 -

The Doctors surgery in Lenham have just set up a new website full of interesting information about not only the surgeries in both Lenham and Harrietsham but also about health generally and includes website links to many health related websites. The decision was taken to produce a website in April and after three months of hard work the website has now been launched featuring some innovative new ideas for the people of Lenham, most of them aimed at making patients lives easier!

One of the main features of the website is the online repeat prescriptions. If you find it inconvenient to come into the village to hand in your repeat prescription or you struggle to make a time when the surgery is open then you can now order your repeat prescription online. Just follow the links at the top of the page, in the two weeks that the scheme has been running it has already been popular! Also newcomers to the village who have not yet registered with the Practice can also do so online saving them time when they come into the surgery of filling in forms.

Have you ever had a small health problem that you don’t want to bother the Doctors about or want advice on the most common illnesses and ailments? The website contains a directory of information on the most common health problems advising you of what to do and how to treat them. If you can’t find them there then look in our comprehensive website directory to find another website that may be able to help you.

So why not pay us a visit. The web address is www.lenvallevpractice.co.uk. Please support this venture as it is your support that makes it rewarding.

Robert Belsom

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