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Daisy Villa Surgery Contract Awarded
Following a formal procurement process, we are delighted to be in a position to confirm the future of Daisy Villa Surgery in South Ronaldsay. As of this month the Heilendi Practice in Kirkwall has been awarded the contract and will ensure the continuation of services at Daisy Villa Surgery from January 2025. John Daniels, Head of Primary Care at NHS Orkney said “I’m really pleased to announce that, in preparation for the retirement of Drs Kemp in January, the very well-respected team at Heilendi Practice in Kirkwall have been awarded the contract. Given the national shortage of GPs, this is a great…
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NHS Orkney’s 2023/24 Annual Review – reconnecting with our community
Members of the public are invited to NHS Orkney’s Annual Review on Tuesday 3 December 12pm – 2pm, to hear about a range of developments underway to further improve care and services for our community and patients. The meeting will include a summary of how we did in 2023/24 against our priorities and national standards and will showcase some of the improvements we have made. The meeting will be led by our Board Chair, Meghan McEwen, and attended by the Board’s Chief Executive, Executive Team and wider Board members. We will also set out our priorities for 2024/25 which have…
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NHS Orkney selects Cambric’s Morse mobile Electronic Patient Record (EPR) solution for community staff, saving time and further improving patient care
EPR solution helps support NHS Orkney’s digital transformation programme to deliver safe and person-centred care 2 October, 2024, Cambric Systems, a supplier of healthcare patient data software solutions used in secondary and community-based healthcare settings across Scotland recently acquired by Abingdon Software, has announced that its Morse solution has been selected by NHS Orkney. The Morse solution was chosen for its flexibility in providing easy access to patient records. Morse will enable the NHS Orkney community staff to access patient data and work offline when providing care across a wide geographical and remote and rural area where connectivity can be…
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Phone system downtime
Please be aware there is a planned communication outage to the phone system at The Balfour to allow for essential maintenance of our telephone system from 10am -12pm on Saturday 5 October where all external calls will be affected. During this time if your call is urgent and cannot wait until after 12pm and you need to contact the Balfour Switchboard, please use the following number 07795453757. Please be reminded that if you are unwell and require medical attention please call NHS24 on 111 or for serious accidents and medical emergencies phone 999. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.
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Chief Executive Fortnightly Blog to NHS Orkney Staff – 1 October 2024 – Speak Up week
Message for All NHSO Staff Hi All This week it’s Speak up Week in the NHS in Scotland. In direct response to your feedback, this year we have identified six priorities, one of which is you being able to confidently raise concerns, including those about safety, recognising we have more work to do in this area. We know from our latest iMatter results and your feedback throughout the year, including at our all staff briefing last week, that we have more work to do to create the right conditions for you to feel safe speaking up knowing you will be listened…
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Monday 30 September 2024 – Public Holiday Arrangements
Monday 30 September is a Public Holiday for NHS Orkney. All GP surgeries will be closed on the Public Holiday, but in an emergency you can contact a GP in the same way as routine evening/weekend cover. If you are ill when your practice is closed and can’t wait until it reopens, you should call NHS 24 on 111. Community Pharmacy Arrangements on the Public Holiday on Monday 30 September:
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Chief Executive Fortnightly Blog to NHS Orkney Staff – 16 September 2024
Message for All NHSO Staff Hi All This week my update is focused on the feedback and messages I am hearing from you when I am out and about across the organisation spending time with you, and via more formal listening sessions and walkabouts that take place. First, because it’s linked and relevant, I want to update you on a discussion we had at our Senior Leadership Team (SLT) meeting within the last few weeks about sickness absence related to stress and anxiety. Circa 30% of sickness absence we see at NHS Orkney is related to stress and anxiety –…
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Aortic Abdominal Aneurysm (AAA) screening programme returning to Orkney
A simple scan to detect a condition that affects 1 in 20 men (or those assigned male at birth), aged over 65 will once again be offered by NHS Orkney. The condition is an Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (known as “triple A”) which is potentially fatal. AAA can affect the main artery which runs from the heart, through the chest and down to the abdomen. Any weakness in the wall of this artery means it can balloon out to form an aneurysm, which can then burst. The early detection sessions are part of Scotland’s Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Screening Programme. The AAA…
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Chief Executive Fortnightly Blog to NHS Orkney Staff – 2 September 2024
Message for All Staff Hi All I hope you are keeping well. A few weeks ago we saw glimpses of summer – yet the days have returned to being mixed ones weather wise. There is a comparison to be drawn if we look at our overall performance across the organisation – it presents a mixed picture presently. What I can say however, is we can evidence improvement in a number of areas (including some where this time last year we were underperforming). And what is now different is that where we are off track, we have clear plans to recover…
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Ophthalmology Waiting List – Waiting List Validation – 27 August 2024
Last year NHS Scotland introduced a text message service to ensure our patient waiting lists were up to date and that patients on these lists still required their appointments and operations. From this week, Thursday 29th August 2024, patients who are currently on a waiting list for an Ophthalmology appointment or procedure will receive a text message from The National Elective Coordination Unit (NECU) from mobile number 07860 039092. As with the text messages last year, these will include a link to a short survey asking if patients still need their appointment, followed by a few questions to confirm their…
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Chief Executive Fortnightly Blog to NHS Orkney Staff – 19 August 2024
Message for All NHS Orkney Staff Hi All Today is my first day back after a week of leave, which has been an opportunity to switch off, spend quality time with Carrie and have more time than usual to think and reflect. This week I want to share some of the reflections I have had in recent days during my down time and some updates I want everyone to be aware of, recognising we are well into Quarter Two (July-Sept) and are therefore very close to approaching the mid-point of the year (2024/25) which always presents an opportunity to take…
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Chief Executive Fortnightly Blog to NHS Orkney Staff – 5 August 2024
Message for All NHS Orkney Staff Morning all I hope everyone is enjoying this better weather and that you have leave planned over the coming weeks and months, recognising the importance of downtime for us all. In this week’s blog I focus on: You provided some really insightful feedback in the follow-up iMatter survey a few weeks ago that is helping us to make sure we’re focusing on the things that matter most to you so we can further improve your experience of working here. The 6 top priorities to you are: We will continue to update you throughout the…