We are currently looking to expand our Patient Participation Group!

A Patient Participation Group is a voluntary group of patients, carers and GP practice staff who meet quarterly at the surgery to dicuss practice updates and patient experience to help improve the services provided at Sellindge Surgery and Mid Kent Primary Care Network.

• Be more involved with the Practice.
• Make suggestions and improve the Practice.
• Ensure that complaints are taken on board and necessary changes are being made.
• Find out more about healthcare provisions in the local area
• Make a contribution to the NHS and wider community.
• Have your voice heard and witnessing change happen when working as a part of a group.
• Learn more about the NHS and GP Practices.

If you are a registered patient and would like to become a memeber of the PPG, please show your interest by emailing Emma at Sellindge.surgery@nhs.net

At Sellindge Surgery we cannot accept the return of Sharpsafe bins that are given to patients who dispose of needles. All surgeries within the Mid Kent PCN have received the following information:

Ashford  Borough Council  have notified us that they have stopped accepting sharps boxes at the Gateways and Civic Centre and are directing anyone who brings them in to them to sign up for a home collection instead. 

The Council have advised us they  are hearing from most patients that they didn’t even know they could have a home collection.  Patients  are advising the council that their GP surgery has asked them to take  it to the council. 

Please could you ask staff who  issue a sharps box for medical purposes to direct  patients to Ashford Borough Council's website for details of collection of used needle boxes once full, direct from the patient's home address.

Collections can be booked regularly (such as monthly) or just on an as and when required basis by patients. The online sharps collection request form can be found on ABC's website (see below) or patients can call 01233 331111.

Many thanks all for your assistance.

These bins can be collected through the council. Information can be found at: https://www.folkestone-hythe.gov.uk/clinical-waste

Or if your postcode comes under Ashford Borough council, information can be found at : https://www.ashford.gov.uk/recycling-waste-and-bins/large-item-collection/sharps-syringes-and-clinical-waste/

Since coming out of Covid, there has been an increase in the number of patients requiring non-emergency transport to attend appointments, which has resulted in demand pressures on NHS transport resources. This has resulted in patients experiencing long delays for transport impacting on their safety and experience. 

Most people should be able to travel to hospital independently by private or public transport, with the help of relatives or friends if necessary. NHS-funded patient transport is reserved for when it is considered essential to ensuring an individual's safety, safe mobilisation, condition management or recovery.

To ensure that those patients needing transport receive a safe, reliable and responsive service, we as patients to consider if they can travel with the help of family or friends or use public or private transport, before offering to book NHS transport.

Some patients are eligible for reimbursement under the patient travel scheme, applications should be made through hospitals or via this website form - Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme (HTCS) - NHS (www.nhs.uk)

Kent County Council has a link for Voluntary transport services:  Community transport - Community transport - Kent County Council

The British Red Cross also offer free transport from East Kent hospitals and patients can self-refer using the contact number: 07711082504

All patients registered with a Kent and Medway GP go through an eligibility criteria, to qualify for NHS-funded transport. Patients or their carers can contact G4S direct on 0800 096 0211 and the call centre is open 24/7.  For patients who do not meet the eligibility criteria, the transport provider (G4S) will signpost them to available voluntary transport options

If you, or someone you know, or someone you care for would like support or have any questions about the Volunteer Responder programme please call 0808 196 3646 (8am to 8pm, 7 days a week) or see our FAQs