Wokingham Medical Centre - Official

As a practice we are involved with medical research with local universities to help advance medical knowledge and also help with medical advances. We are currently working on studies which are identifying arthritis earlier using a novel blood test and another questionnaire study on physical health for a select group of patients. Remember, research is optional so you don't have to take part and you can always opt out of being contacted. For further information please see the practice website.

If you want to stop smoking, see our website under referrals to see how you can self-refer for help

10 years since smoking ban. As a GP, certainly noticed less people smoking

Obesity is linked to many illnesses. If you feel you need help, don’t be afraid to ask. We can do gym referrals for you as well as discussing lifestyle and medications

Great use of our website so far. Well done to those patients using it. Stats so far:
5000 views per month
By using the website:
... 627 phone calls avoided 186 visits in person avoided 117 appointments avoided
22% of requests are made when the practice is closed
Used significantly by the elderly including those in their 90's!
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If you would like a copy of your test results, register for online access. You can then view them at home or even on your smartphone

You may notice on your prescriptions suggestions for doing your medication reviews online, please use our website for this and other admin purposes

Results from the patient survey feedback for Wokingham Medical Centre. Positive feedback is really appreciated from our patients :)
100% had confidence and trust in the last GP they saw or spoke to
86% describe their overall experience of this surgery as good
... 95% had confidence and trust in the last nurse they saw or spoke to
94% say the last appointment they got was convenient
84% were able to get an appointment to see or speak to someone the last time they tried
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Thank you to the patients that have helped out so far with the CONDUCT trial. As a result of our patients help with research, we are one of the largest research practices in the country. All this hard work will help future generations :)

Great use of the Wokingham Medical Centre online services today by our patients. Requests for referrals, medication reviews and also discussions about sick notes all dealt with efficiently and speedily. As a result appointment slots freed up for other patients.

We are currently working with Oxford University on a new trial called CONDUCT. This is to trial equipment to help women provide better urine samples if they have a urine tract infection. You may be given a leaflet if you come to the surgery for urinary symptoms.
Only through research can we make medical advances and Wokingham Medical Centre is proud to be at the forefront of this both locally and nationally

Wokingham Medical Centre has joined the Modality Partnership. We will be working together to improve services provided locally

Appointment system myths
A commonly asked question is why we have telephone consultations instead of the old traditional face to face appointments?
We also get asked why is the waiting room so empty when patients come in to see us? The impression being left that the staff are not dealing with patients.
... I have added this post to help explain changes that we have made and expel some of the myths.
WHY THE SYSTEM WAS CHANGED
Under the old appointment system, the appointments were being taken up inappropriately up to 50% of the time. People were using them for repeat prescriptions (instead of using the repeat ordering system), admin matters which had nothing to do with seeing the GP (I have been asked to help patients choose which car to buy, help sort out BT line problems etc to name a few). As a result this was reducing the appointments available to those that genuinely needed them. We made the change to telephone consultations to help identify those patients that needed to be seen but also just as importantly identify and signpost patients who could be better served by getting faster access by other services ie alcohol and substance misuse, sexual health clinic, mental health teams etc.
We still do provide face to face appointments as well for those that cannot use telephones or prefer not to speak over the phone.
Another important point to note is that we can do more telephone consultations per clinic than we could seeing patients face to face thereby offering more consultations to our patients. Had we not done this then waiting times would easily have escalated.
We are always finding innovative ways to help with access to our services. I hope that the online use for health, medication and sick note reviews will help make more appointments (telephone and face to face) available for Wokingham residents.
THE WAITING ROOM
A consequence of the much more efficient use of telephone consultations and online use of services has meant that the waiting room seems a lot quieter than what it was before. This is not too dissimilar to banks that we frequent in this day and age which have less people coming in as much more can be done at home. In the same way we have found patients health matters can be dealt with effectively whilst they are at home or at work therefore saving them coming in. If however they do need to be seen then we do make appointments for them to come in. As a result the waiting room appears quieter but I assure you as clinicians we are still very busy dealing with patients and their health matters.
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If you or anyone you know has concerns about alcohol or drug consumption then there are local services available. SMART is our local service, you can call them directly on 0118 977 2022
https://www.smartcjs.org.uk/contact-us/wo kingham/

Well done to those that are using the website for admin matters ie medication reviews and sick note requests. We are dealing with these as quickly as we can. They also free up appointments for others to use.

WMC provide 50 on the day appointments in the sit and wait clinic for urgent problems

Across the border in Oxfordshire. Is this the future of on the day appointments