Doctors

Partners

Salaried GPs

Dr Emily Schofield (On Maternity Leave)

Dr Claire Reeve

Dr Emily Beirne

Dr Jennifer Devine (On Maternity Leave)

Dr Katie Emerson

Dr Ricardo Gabriel

Dr Rebecca Orr

General Practitioner Registrars

The Practice is a training Practice.  A Registrar is a qualified doctor new to general practice who will have spent the previous three of four years since qualifying working in hospitals.

Dr Nicole Machnikowski

Dr Dominic Rhatigan

Practice Nurses

The Nursing Team provide appointments for dressings, ear-syringing, blood tests, cervical smears, contraceptive advice and prescription, travel advice and vaccination, health promotion advice, first aid, suture and clip removals.

Appointments are also available to monitor chronic disease areas such as asthma  ischemic heart disease, diabetes, stroke and hypertension etc.

Please contact the Receptionists to make an appointment for any of the above.

Nurse Diana Laing

Nurse Susan McIlwaine

Practice Pharmacists

Health board pharmacists and pharmacy technicians are becoming more involved in the care of patients in General Practice. Having the pharmacy team working in our surgery provides valuable medicines support, a close link with our community pharmacy teams and allows our GPs to focus their skills and time where they are most needed for patients who have more complex needs. Pharmacists are experts in medicines and can talk to you about how to get the best from your medicines.  The pharmacy team is:

Hannah Ali Akbar – Specialist clinical pharmacist

Karolina Tkaczyk – Preregistration pharmacy technician

• Provide expertise on day-to-day medicines
• Give advice for patients taking multiple medications
• Carry out medication reviews and other medicines-related support, including discussing side effects
• Give help for patients with their medicines following a stay in hospital, particularly if there has been a change in regimen
• Answer medications and prescription-related questions
• Produce prescriptions
• Support managing patients’ long-term conditions, such as high blood pressure, COPD and Asthma

When you may get an appointment with one of the pharmacy team
Our pharmacists can provide telephone and face-to-face appointments. The pharmacists, pharmacy technicians or the doctors often review some or all of your medicines and may want to talk with you about the medicines you are currently taking. In the practice we like to review your medicine at least once a year, or more often if needed.

Medicines Review
You may have heard people referring to Polypharmacy. It means lots of medicines. A medicine review is particularly useful for people who take a lot of medicines; for these people their medicines review may be called a Polypharmacy Review. Further information is on the NHS Scotland’s website Polypharmacy: Manage medicines or the Managing Multiple Medicines app (available at: Polypharmacy: Manage Medicines). Information on how you and your doctor (or other healthcare professional) can work together to decide whether you need a medicine and, if so, which to prescribe, can be found in the Healthcare Improvement Scotland publication Medicines in Scotland: What’s the right treatment for me?. This booklet also explains the likely benefits and possible risks of medicines.

Tired of ordering your prescriptions? Then ask for information on Serial Prescribing – a new way to request repeat medicines.

Community Pharmacy
In Scotland, services at GP practices and community pharmacies are changing to better support people who take medicines for long-term conditions. The Medicines Care and Review service is available to anyone who is registered with a GP in Scotland.  This service allows the GP to issue a serial  prescription, which can be valid for up to a year, to be dispensed at your local Community Pharmacy. The  community Pharmacist will dispense your prescriptions at the interval agreed with your GP for up to a full year meaning you do not have to order your repeat prescriptions from the GP. This service is not only more convenient for patients but allows GPs and the community pharmacy to better manage
their prescription workload. You can talk to your community pharmacist about any worries or
concerns that you may have about the medicines you are taking. For more information on
this service can be found here.

Pharmacy First
You can go to your community pharmacy for advice and medicines for minor illnesses from
the Pharmacy First service. Minor illnesses include:

Acne, Allergies, Athletes Foot, Back Ache, Blocked or Runny Nose, Impetigo, Earache, Warts, Diarrhea and many other ailments

More information is available at NHS Pharmacy First Scotland.
Information about getting the right treatment for common viral illnesses such as colds and
coughs without encouraging antibiotic resistance can be found in the NHS publication Get
Well Soon Without Antibiotics.

Patients can access all of these services by telephoning the Receptionists on 0131 225 5220.

Physiotherapist

Rebecca Adam

If you are suffering from any bone, joint or muscle aches you can contact the practice physiotherapist.

She can:

• Assess and diagnose what’s going on.
• Provide advice and exercises to help you manage your problem or condition.
• Refer you on to specialist services such as x-ray, physiotherapy rehab and orthopaedics if required.

To book, call the practice and ask for an appointment with the physiotherapist. Unfortunately the physiotherapist is unable to see children under the age of 16.

Phlebotomist

Steffi Connolly

Phlebotomist duties and responsibilities concentrate on the obtaining and the handling of human blood. The basic services of the phlebotomist include taking blood samples from patients and correctly cataloguing them for lab analysis.

Our practice phlebotomist runs regular blood clinics. If you feel you may require a blood test, please contact reception to arrange an initial appointment with a GP to discuss.

Administration & Reception

Practice Manager

John McHale

Assistant Practice Manager

Lisa Snedden

Practice Secretary

Connie McDonald

Reception & General Reception Staff

The Practice has a team of receptionists without whom the Practice could not function. They have a very difficult and often stressful job attempting to balance the needs and wants of the patients with the availability of appointments and services. Their responsibilities include making appointments, telephone answering, switchboard operating, filing, patient registration, form filling and preparing repeat prescriptions.

Maureen, Hannah, Cloe, Erin, Megan, Georgette, Sara (On Maternity Leave) & Stacey 

Community (District) Nurses

Community (or District) nursing sisters are based at the Practice.  They care for patients in their own homes, usually at the request of a doctor.

• For messages and requests for the nurses during surgery hours ring 0131 524 0150.
• Out of hours the community nursing service can be contacted on 0131 334 3490 or 0131 666 2828.

Health Visitors

Health Visitors are at the Practice and are primarily responsible for the health and welfare of mothers and babies, children up to the age of five and the elderly and disabled.  They act as a link between the Practice and many social agencies.

Contact the Health Visitors on 0131 346 4686 and are usually available from 9am to 10 am on weekdays and at the Child Health Clinic.

Community Psychiatric Nurses (CPNs) and Psychotherapy Services

The Practice has Community Psychiatric Nurses attached for adults to age 65 and for the elderly.

Contact with them is usually arranged by one of the Doctors.

Community Midwife

The Midwife can be contacted on 0131 537 5268