OLd Leake Medical Centre, Boston, Lincs, PE22 9LE
Dr. Ian Bloom retired in July 2007 after 33 years of service to Old Leake Medical Centre and the communities that it serves, and 37 years working for the National Health Service. All of the staff wish him a long, happy and active retirement - we know he has lots of plans. If you would like to see what he is doing, click on the following link:
Dr. Jim Mackin retired in July 2008, having replaced Dr. Trayers in 1981. His thoughtful contributions to the development and ethos of the practice were highly valued by his partners and his quiet, methodical and tradutional approach to medicine will be greatly missed by his patients. His wife will continue to work "behind the scenes" at the practice while Jim perfects his smash shot!
Dr. Madhu Sinha joins us to replace Dr. Mackin. I am sure all patients and staff wish her a long and happy professional life at Old Leake. She will be known as Dr. Madhu at the practice, to avoid confusion with her husband, the other Dr. Sinha!
On-line services
Please note that as well as ordering prescriptions online via the internet, it is now also possible to make and cancel appointments. Not all appointments are bookable this way (not everyone has the internet), and we ask our patients not to abuse this facility.
Dermatology Clinic
Dr Bijoy Sinha now runs a Dermatology Clinic, here at the surgery, every other week. If you are experiencing any annoying itches, rashes etc, please make an appointment for the ‘skin clinic’ via one of our receptionists.
Additions to the family!!!
If you recently consulted with Dr. Jain, our most recent registrar, you probably noticed that she was expecting a baby, and you will be delighted to know that she recently gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. Mother and daughter are both doing well, and we send Vaishali and her husband our congratulations!
Friendly support to help you stop smoking
If you or a family member are trying to stop smoking and would like some help or advice, why not come along to one of our ‘Quit Smoking Clinics’. Make an appointment with JULIE, our practice nurse, via our receptionists.
Patient Questionnaire
Thank you to all those patients who completed one of our questionnaires recently. It has provided a really useful insight onto your thoughts and recommendations for our surgeryThank you to our staff and patients!
Last year was a very difficult time for us. We had several members of staff leave from both dispensary and reception, which in turn resulted in the remaining members of staff working long shifts under a great deal of pressure and patients regrettably having to wait longer than 48 hours to collect their repeat prescriptions.
So we would just like to say “thank you” to everyone for all your support and understanding.
We have now recruited new staff, who are currently being trained, so that this year will hopefully be a better one for all!
Premises
Anyone who has visited our Medical Centre recently will have noticed how overcrowded we are. Indeed there are services that the partners would like to introduce at the Medical Centre if we had room, such as phlebotomy (taking blood samples). The situation is not helped by the number of new patients which we are accommodating. The doctors are well aware of the problem, and are actively canvassing Lincolnshire PCT to allow us to develop new premises.
The Threat to General Practice from Government Policy
We believe that many of the government's policies threaten the existence of family doctors as we know them in the National Health Service. We will continue to maintain and improve the standards that we have built at Old Leake for as long as we can. The Government is actively encouraging private companies to bid for and take over General Practices in some areas, and though it hasn't happened here yet, we feel that you should be aware that your family doctor service is under threat.
If you wish to obtain more information, read this article.
Confidentiality of Records
The government is beginning the process of loading every patient's medical record (including name, date of birth, address, NHS number and full medical history) onto central computers. This will happen to your details soon, whether you like it or not, unless you give specific instructions to the contrary. The BMA, which represents family doctors, is not fully satisfied that there are enough safeguards in place to prevent personal details getting into the wrong hands. If you wish to learn more about this, or to give us instructions not to release your records, then please read this article first before deciding what to do.
