News and Views
The Blofield Surgery

Dr Amanda Vokins will be sadly leaving Blofield Surgery with her last working day as 23rd
October. Dr Vokins would like to share the following message with all our patients :

“Dear Blofield Patients, I wanted to let you know that I will be leaving the surgery at the end of October. It has been an
absolute pleasure and privilege to care for you and your families over the past 22 years. Thank you
for the kindness and gratitude you’ve shown me, not forgetting your patience too!
Love and best wishes“
Dr. Amanda Vokins’

The Partners and staff would like to thank Dr Vokins for her commitment and service to the practice
over the years which has helped guide the surgery to it’s current popularity and success. We will all
miss Amanda’s kindness and compassion and wish her all the very best for the future.

Dr Dave Ledward will also be leaving the surgery at the end of November with his last working
day being Tuesday 26th November. Dr Ledward will be pursuing the next chapter of his life and
career outside of general practice.

Having been a valued member of the team for 22 years Dave will be greatly missed by everyone at
the surgery. We extend our heartfelt thanks for his dedication, hard work, and the exceptional care
he has provided to patients, colleagues, and the wider medical community.

Dr Ledward wanted to say, “It has been an honour and a privilege to work at Blofield surgery and to
be trusted with the responsibility of caring for patients.
I feel I have received far more than I have given and am truly grateful to each and every one I have
come into contact with.
With warmest wishes“
Dr Dave Ledward’

If you would like to contribute some words and/or your memories of Dr Vokins or Dr Ledward we
would be delighted to accept these so we can create a book for Amanda, Dave. You can either take a
card (ask at reception desk or dispensary) or email or post your words to us. Email
address:blofield.reception@nhs.net There is also a comments book available at the reception entrance to
write in.

The Partners and staff would like to thank Dr Vokins, Dr Ledward for their commitment and
service to the practice over the years which has helped guide the surgery to it’s current popularity
and success. We will all miss Amanda’s and Dave’s kindness and compassion and wish them all the
very best for the future

Recruitment within Blofield Surgery.

Recruitment has begun to replace Drs Vokins and Ledward with advertisements placed locally and
nationally for general practitioners to apply. Further updates will be given in future newsletters once
we know how the recruitment has progressed. In the meantime, we have recruited a practice nurse
who will be joining us in January 2025 and will work with nurses Amy Cannell and Ali Vermeer.
An Advance Nurse Practitioner, Cheryl Grant joined us on 15th October on an ongoing locum basis.
Cheryl is a very experienced ANP and has joining our clinical team to work alongside our existing
ANP’s, Amanda Hunt, Helen Radlett and Helen Sercombe. We have also been lucky to secure a
further Healthcare Assistant to join us, Emily Thomas will be working alongside HCA Jackie
Edwards. Nurse Prescriber Maxine Ransom and Phlebotomist Gail Wilson remain part of our
fantastic nursing team

Opening of the Blofield Surgery extension.

The above recruitment with additional members joining our team to support our patients would
not have been possible without the new clinical space located in the extension to the surgery. An
opening ceremony was held on Thursday 3rd October in the afternoon with contractors, local
council members, members of the Patient Participation Group, previous GP partners and members
of staff and all who made the extension possible attended the event. A plaque commemorating
Celia Bondon was unveiled upstairs to thank Ms Bondon and her family for their kind donation to
the surgery and a 4 history boards showing the development of Blofield Surgery from the 19th
Century. A tree was also planted to replace a small number of trees which were felled when the
building programme commenced. You will see on the walls in the new building, near reception
several pieces of artwork for sale. These have kindly been donated by a patient who is selling
them, and all proceeds will be going to Cancer Research, charity. Unfortunately, we are unable to
accept further artwork for display or for sale.

NHS app

We will be holding events within the surgery during November and December to promote the use
of the digital NHS app to all patients. Demonstrations of the app will be given with help and advice
for installing the NHS app on your laptop, mobile telephones or device. Having the NHS app
installed on any of your IT devices will allow you to:
Manage hospital referrals and appointments, (for patients over the age of 16 only). The app will
also show waiting times and show where the patient is on the waiting list for their hospital
treatment.

Patients can send non urgent enquiries to the practice who can reply using our clinical system.
Messages and notifications can be sent rather than SMS text messages or letters.
Patients can view their prescriptions digitally within the NHS app, including repeat and one-off
prescriptions.
Register with a GP surgery.
Patients can view new health information in their own GP health record.
Linked profiles and proxy access – patients can access medical services for a child, or someone else
they care for. Once a GP has set up proxy access, a patient can use the linked profiles feature in the
NHS App.

Please contact a member of the reception team if you would like to hear more.