The Thurso and Halkirk Medical Practice is a long established medical practice that is committed to preserving and enhancing its good reputation for being a caring and innovative practice.

We undertake to:

• Treat you with respect and courtesy
• Provide you with advice and treatment in a timely manner
• Help you make decisions about your health by treating you as an equal
• Discuss what treatment is available and refer you on to other experts where necessary
• Act as your advocate and guide through health and social services
• Maintain confidentiality in what we discuss and the records we keep on your behalf
• Keep up to date with developments in health care by continuing to learn

In return we ask you to:

• Keep your appointment, or let us know as soon as possible if you can’t
• Only use the out of hours services in an emergency
• Be nice to our staff! They do their best for you and respond very well to “please” and “thank you”
• Let us know if you have any suggestions or cause for complaint as soon as possible
• Let us know when we have done well

DISABLED ACCESS

The practices are built with facilities that provide easy access to the reception, waiting area and all consultation rooms. We also have disabled access to the toilet facilities.

BABY CHANGING FACILITIES

We have facilities for mothers who wish to change their babies in the Thurso surgery. Please ask at reception if you need these facilities.

CAR PARKING

Disabled parking is situated at the front of both buildings. We also have parking at the rear of the Thurso building for staff and patients only.

GENERAL

Thurso is a long established town with origins dating back to Viking times when it was an important Norse settlement, the major gateway to mainland Scotland. It later grew to become a market town and was noted for its trade with Scandinavian and Baltic ports from as early as the 14th century.

Thurso is the largest town in Caithness. Situated on the Pentland Firth in the beautiful sheltered Thurso Bay, it is the most northerly town on the Scottish mainland. The bay sweeps from Holborn Head in the west to Dunnet Head in the east. Thurso has a fine harbour and beach and looks out over the Firth to the Orkney Island of Hoy and the famous towering Old Man of Hoy. The dramatic north coast stretches away to the west, while inland is the vast area of blanket bog known as the 'Flow Country'. This is a truly beautiful part of the country offering an excellent work/life balance, with a very low crime rate.

Thurso’s visitor attractions include the Swanson Gallery and the glass blowing studio, Glass Creations. Situated on the shore of the Pentland Firth, it is also popular with surfing enthusiasts, who add a real splash of summer colour. Indeed Thurso has hosted the World Surfing Championships in recent times.

Thurso is well catered for from both an arts and sports point of view with fishing, golf and other outdoor pursuits available at low cost. For those who prefer indoor sport, Thurso has excellent facilities available including squash, badminton, a swimming pool and local gyms. The Lyth Arts Centre attracts companies on tour to provide music and plays and the most northerly mainland opera house is situated 25 miles from the town at Ackergill Tower. We are also only 20 minutes from the Castle of Mey visitor attraction. The Thurso Town Hall has recently been redeveloped into a high quality multi purpose community, visitor, information centre and museum known as Caithness Horizons (www.caithnesshorizons.co.uk).

We have an excellent comprehensive secondary school with three first class primary schools in town. A strong sense of community still prevails and children enjoy a sense of freedom sadly lacking in some other areas of the country.

There are numerous high quality eating places in the area serving local produce including the Captain’s Galley (an award winning seafood restaurant).

Halkirk is a village on the River Thurso. It is approximately six miles from the town of Thurso and is said by local people to be Scotland’s first planned village. It is a small farming village and is well catered for by local shops and amenities. Every summer up to 5,000 visitors and locals flock to the village for a day of traditional and spectacular Scottish sports at the Halkirk Highland Games one of the biggest such events in Scotland with athletes attending from all over the world. Another highly-anticipated event in Halkirk is the Northern Nashville Caithness Country Music Festival, staged over Easter weekend. Held in the Indoor Riding Centre – an important and popular local facility – this event too attracts visitors from around the globe.

For further information about property available in the area visit www.caithnessproperty.co.uk.

For further information about the area in general please visit the excellent, and award winning website at www.caithness.org.

THE PRACTICE

Our practice has a steady population of around 6,200 patients with an interesting mix of town and country, the young and the old. We operate from two surgeries. The Princes Street Surgery is in Thurso and is situated close to the Dunbar Hospital (GP led community hospital). We are approximately 25 minutes from the Caithness General Hospital in Wick and just over 100 miles north of Inverness. Flight times from Wick to Aberdeen and Edinburgh are approximately 35 minutes and 1 hour respectively. Our dispensing practice is in Halkirk, and serves approximately 1,200 patients in total. Both surgeries are well equipped. It is a busy practice but offers plenty of scope for clinical experience and maintains a friendly and informal atmosphere.

We are a GMS practice and in addition to the nGMS essential/additional services, offer a wide selection of local, directed and national enhanced services. We have been high QOF achievers and have also scored highly in the national patient satisfaction survey.

The practice is paperlight, using the INPS clinical system (Vision), FrontDesk and Docman.

Consultations are by appointment at ten minute intervals. We offer a minimum of two GP surgeries (morning and afternoon) in our Thurso surgery with one surgery most days in Halkirk. We operate a Nurse Triage system to ensure patients get to see the most appropriate person as quickly as possible.

There is no on call requirement but opportunities do exist locally. We do however offer an early morning and evening surgery as part of our Extended Hours Enhanced Service.

THE PRACTICE TEAM

The Practice currently has three GP Partners and a Management Partner. The practice is strongly committed to education and the pursuit of personal and professional development. We have an extensive library with computer/internet access. We also have an onsite video conferencing facility in our large conference room which is used for both meetings and training purposes. The GP Partners special interests include: Training/Education, Women’s Health/Family Planning, Mental Health, Palliative Care and Minor Surgery.

Other members of our clinical team include an experienced Advanced Nurse Practitioner and Practice Nurses who carry out a wide range of treatment duties in addition to chronic disease management and Triage.

The Management Partner is responsible for the administration/management of the Practice and works closely with the NHS Highland Primary Care team. She has a particular interest in Finance, Information Technology and the political aspects of general practice.

We have a wide range of non clinical staff members including:

• Assistant Practice Manager
• Medical Records Officer
• Registration Officer
• Administration Officer
• Summariser/Coder
• Dispenser
• 4 Receptionists/Administrators

We have an excellent extended primary health care team who also have a broad mix of skills and experience. Our Community Nurses are next door and have special interests in palliative care and wound management. We also have a visiting Physiotherapist on a weekly basis.

GP TRAINING

We are proud to be a training practice, helping qualified doctors complete the final stages of their GP Training.

We believe that achieving and maintaining training practice status enhances the quality of the medical care that we provide at the practice. It also enables patients to see a wider range of clinicans whilst allowing the surgery to benefit from the fresh ideas and approaches brought by young enthusiastic doctors. You can of course still elect to see your chosen regular doctor but sometimes this may require you to plan your appointment.

The feedback from patients regarding our Trainees has been overwhelmingly positive. The doctors tend to be in the surgery for between 6 and 12 months, becoming an integral part of the practice team and an invaluable resource for patients.

Video Recordings 

As a training practice video recordings are sometimes made of consultations. These are made for teaching purposes only. Video recordings are only done with your consent and you do have the right to refuse. However, we would stress that all aspects of general practice, including training, are governed by rules of strict confidentiality.

No intimate examinations are filmed.

MEDICAL STUDENTS

We may have medical students in the Practice from time to time. The students will always be supervised and will not be allowed to diagnose or treat patients on their own although they may conduct the initial part of the consultation alone.

WE WOULD LIKE YOU TO BE INVOLVED

We may ask for your participation in some of the learning activities we organise for our students. This may take several forms. For example:

• A patient may be asked to come to the surgery to discuss with the student last year’s heart attack and how this may have changed his/her life.
• A patient may see the nurse for a tetanus booster and be asked if they mind if a student watches how the injection is given and how the nurse records the procedure on the computer.

GPS AND LOCUMS

Comments by Dr AW

"Working in the Princes Street Surgery was a great experience that I enjoyed tremendously.  The surgery is well run with fantastic support from the nursing and admin team who take a lot of the weight off the GPs in an innovative way, and the other doctors are hard working, motivated and involved in the community (and often have a wealth of information about the patients!).  I enjoyed having more respect and responsibility working in a rural practice, and encountered some very interesting patients.  The conditions and severity were different from what I tend to experience in the city, and there were a number of diagnostic challenges which I really enjoyed working out.  Overall this is a friendly, supportive practice and I'd heartily recommend locum posts here if you get the chance."

Comments by Dr HM

"The Princes Street Surgery in Thurso is a practice where I have worked regularly as a locum GP.  The practice is well organised with friendly and helpful staff.  Daily Nurse Triage has been very effective in managing the workload and using appointments efficiently.  It is a great practice to work in."

Comments by Dr DM

"Having worked as a Locum for a long time, I can say that the Princes Street Surgery was one of the most enjoyable and satisfying locums I have undertaken. The practice was very well run, and clinical practice was of a very high standard. Record keeping and support/administrative staff were excellent. It is a busy practice but good organisation together with excellent patient care and education made it rewardingly so. Essentially, in addition to very good clinical practice, happy and pleasant staff contributed to a very tangible team ethic, and I would recommend the practice to locums or indeed anyone looking to take up a permanent post."

Comments by Dr JS

"A Locum, who had worked with you previously, told me that it is one of the best performing practices in the country. A third party has said the same to me independently. Perhaps I could add to his praise…" "The Staff are wonderful" "..very helpful and made this stranger very welcome, staff, nurses and doctors" "At most practices I work for, even the very best, the clerical ladies down tools and leave on time, but not in your practice. You are lucky to have staff with such an attitude."

Comments by Dr TP

"Thank you for the opportunity to work in the Princes Street Surgery. I have enjoyed my stay. You have an impressive building and the practice staff are supportive and helpful. From an outside perspective, the organisation and running of the practice is exemplary."

Comments by Dr VM

"Thank you for the support and assistance during my stay as a Locum. Everyone has been very helpful and friendly despite their own busy schedule. The practice is very well organised and runs like a well oiled machine.” “If I was staying in the UK I would definitely locum again without a moment’s hesitation."

Comments by Dr PC

"I am just writing a short email to thank you all for employing and supporting me through a short locum spell. I found staff to be patient and helpful. You have a busy practice but I felt you all worked well together. Admin staff were all gems and the practice is lucky to have such nice staff.” “Hopefully I would be welcome back."