As you may be aware your practice has recently implemented a new telephone system with the
aim of improving your experience in contacting the practice. We are inviting patients who have
accessed their practice by telephone in the last month to share their experience with us. The
responses you provide will be used to inform future improvements for GP practice telephony
systems.

For information, this survey is being conducted by the NHS North of England Commissioning
Support Unit on behalf of NHS England and participation is entirely voluntary.

NOTE: Please do not include any personal details or details of health conditions. Information
gathered from this survey will be shared to your practice, your local Integrated Care Board and
NHS England to support the assessment of the benefits of the new telephone systems.

If you have a smartphone, scan the QR code to access the survey. Alternatively, go to Access the survey

NHS 111 select mental health option

If you, or someone you know, is experiencing a mental health crisis in North Yorkshire, York and Selby, they can access urgent support 24/7 by calling NHS 111 and selecting the mental health option.

Local crisis teams are not changing and the service is still provided by Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust in our region. It is just a new telephone number to call – making it simpler for people to find the right support in a mental health crisis.

To help you get the support you need, you will speak to a mental health advisor who will ask you some questions and listen to you. They can offer self-care advice over the phone, transfer you to the crisis service if needed or refer you to other local services.

You can call for yourself, or someone else. NHS 111 is for all ages, including children and young people and those with neurodevelopmental needs.

If you are deaf or have hearing loss please use NHS 111 SignVideo or the 18001 111 Relay UK app.

If a person’s mental or emotional state gets worse quickly, this can be referred to as a mental health crisis or a mental health emergency. If this happens, it is important to get help quickly.

A mental health crisis can mean different things to different people, but often means that you no longer feel able to cope or be in control of your situation. It can cause a significant disruption to your life and your ability to function.

You should call NHS 111 and select the mental health option if you are worried about:

• thoughts about your life not being worth living or about harming yourself
• feeling out of control or unable to cope
• feeling anxious about leaving the house
• hearing voices or seeing things that others can’t

If you or someone else have physically harmed themselves, or if their life is at risk, then you should still call 999 or go to A&E.

Find out more about NHS 111 select mental health option

This practice contributes to the Clinical Practice Research Datalink
Information in patient records is important for medical
research to develop new treatments and test the safety of
medicines. This practice supports medical research by
sending some of the information from patient records to the
Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD).
CPRD is a Government organisation that provides
anonymised patient data for research to improve patient and
public health. Identifiable data flows to NHS Digital but you
cannot be identified from the information sent to CPRD.
If you do not want anonymised information from your patient
record to be used in research you can opt out by speaking to
your doctor.
For more information about how your data is used visit www.cprd.com/public

The NHS has been working hard to address the backlogs built up during the COVID pandemic. As part of these plans, the NHS will be proactively contacting patients who have been waiting a long time for NHS funded treatment to remind them of their right to request to move to an alternative hospital where they may be seen quicker. 

From Tuesday 31^st October new digital portal called the Patient Initiated Digital Mutual Aid System (PIDMAS) will be introduced. Patients who have been waiting 40 weeks or more can use this portal to request an alternative choice of hospital.   

Any patient who is eligible will receive either a SMS text message or a letter from their current hospital explaining how to request to choose a different hospital.

Please do not contact the practice regarding this process as we have no information regarding individual patients. 

The hospital will contact you if you are eligible. Please do not contact them either.   

Further information about alternative choice is available on hospital websites.