Bohemia Village Voice  Bohemia Village Voice

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Extra cabin space for desperate Silver Springs

Portacabins at Silver Springs Surgery in Silverhill

Portacabins at Silver Springs Surgery in Silverhill

Silver Springs Medical Practice in Beaufort Road, Silverhill, had two new portacabins delivered on 8th February. Sited in the doctors’ car-park in front of the surgery, they provide accommodation for administration work, freeing space in the main buildings for another doctor’s consulting room, and allowing the expansion of the phlebotomy service [phlebotomy = taking blood from a vein for testing].
Malcolm Wright, Practice Manager, told the Voice that Silver Springs, together with various other local practices, would like to have surgeries on the same site as the proposed Asda store at Silverhill, with facilities to share the Asda car park.
“The new Primary Care Trust wants to see more combined surgeries across the town. The Asda one is to be called the Upper St Leonards Surgery. The government wants combined bigger practices throughout the country. It doesn’t want single or double-handed practices.”
The Silver Springs practice is “desperate” to get a new, bigger, surgery as it has 7,500 patients, and has taken on extra doctors. There are now three full-time doctors, Dr Susan Rae, Dr Rudolph Schneider, and Dr Matthew Fmialowski, and two part-time, Dr Andrew Young and Dr Duncan Cameron. The practice will probably take on an extra part-time doctor before the end of the year.
The doctors need all the support such as practice nurses and administrators, adding to the pressure on space. Malcolm has moved to one of the portacabins and his room has been converted to a doctor’s room. The other portacabin is for the administrative staff dealing with repeat prescriptions and appointments. Patients’ records are in the process of being transferred from paper to electronic records.
Silver Springs is about the only practice in the vicinity currently taking on new patients. “The way we deal with patients has changed drastically in the past three years.” says Malcolm. “Before that, people came when they were ill. It was acute work. Now we are very proactive, particularly with asthmatics, people with heart disease, diabetics, children, and other at risk groups. We are chasing and tracking patients more carefully than ever before. We are certainly very much busier than we used to be. The government wants doctors to be very much more proactive, especially with drug abuse, etc, which was generally done by hospitals before.”
“We can have more services in the new buildings. Most of our patients would put chiropody at the top of the list. As a surgery, we would like to see more physiotherapy.”
Most Silver Springs patients are in the 45-65 age group. “It tends to be very static as there are no new housing estates.” said Malcolm. “A lot of people grow up with us and see the same doctors all the time. They like the feeling of continuity.”
The surgery has been in its present location for some years. Before that it was by the junction of London Road and Sedlescombe Road South, through the gates surmounted by an impressive pair of stone eagles. 

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