December 2019 News
A warm welcome to the Millhouse Community and to other readers.
This has been a busy year for our clinic and I am extremely grateful to the Millhouse team for their commitment to provide optimal care to our patient community, which now exceeds 8500 and continues to grow.
In November we received notification that Millhouse had achieved our third CORNERSTONE accreditation from the Royal College of General Practitioners. Cornerstone certification indicates that the medical practice provides quality healthcare to all patients in an environment of safety, through enhanced teamwork by dedicated reception, nurse and doctor staff, who are actively involved in professional development to improve patient service.
I'm delighted to report our Practice Nurses are actively triaging patients with urgent health issues, especially when their doctor may be unavailable. An additonal benefit is that Practice Nurses Leonie and Gabriella, who have achieved Advanced nurse certification, are now able to prescribe medication in clinical situations.
Our Practice Nurses are also actively involved in the CarePlus Programme for those with acute needs. They offer frequent contact, either in person or by phone, to review medical progress as well as encouraging healthy eating, regular exercise and strategies to improve sleep and stress management. Care Plus consultations are reimbursed by Counties DHB.
MILLHOUSE NEWS
HOLIDAY CLINIC HOURS
During the holiday break, we will have a reduced medical team. Find the details on the website.
PRESCRIPTIONS OVER CHRISTMAS & NEW YEAR
Please check if you will require a repeat prescription over the summer holidays, and let us know well before the break if you will need more long-term medication. You are now able to request prescriptions directly with your doctor using the ManageMyHealth online portal, where you can indicate the medications needed and whether you would like the prescription faxed directly to your chemist for immediate processing. If you are not already using Managemyhealth, you will need to register with Reception and receive an activation code to access your individual on-line page. Hopefully, we will soon extend the on-line portal to include earlier blood results and clinical records. Let us know if you are experiencing any problems.
In this issue...
- HOLIDAY HOURS - make sure you have enough medication
- Cornerstone accreditation again awarded to Millhouse by Royal College of GPs
- Practice Nurse roles expanding; two nurses now able to write prescriptions.
- DHB's Care Pus programme helping with acute needs
- Make sure you register for new "Patient Portal"
and this month 5th year Medical student Sharon writes the first of two articles about
Bowel Disease
MEDICAL STUDENTS
It has been a delight to be involved with medical student education for many years. Thank you to all who allowed the students to listen to your stories, enabling them to learn new skills of examination, formulate diagnoses and treatment plans, and understand how the malady has affected your life.
In this newsletter and the next, our final 5th medical student for 2019 writes about colon cancer and how to recognise the early symptoms of the disease, and suggests lifestyle changes which may assist in preventing the illness.
This month's theme - Symptoms, Risk Factors and Prevention of Bowel Cancer
5th year Medical student Sharon Yui was part of our team in Term 4. She writes: "It has been my absolute pleasure to be able to work at Millhouse Integrative Medical Centre. Over the past four weeks, I have had the privilege of meeting many of the practice's patients and I would like to extend my gratitude and appreciation to them for willingly sharing their experiences, stories and concerns with me over consultations, and for providing me with countless valuable learning opportunities that I will certainly take away with me to my clinical practice. Working in this clinic has also broadened my horizons to a world of alternative therapies, and I believe this unique combination of Western and Eastern medicine is a holistic approach that I will embrace in the future care of my patients. I wanted to contribute to this month's newsletter by sharing some research I have recently undertaken on Bowel Cancer.
Want to read the full newsletter? Download it here....
Want to read other articles by Dr Ric and the team?
Yours in good health
Dr Ric Coleman and the Millhouse Team