Christmas in the practice

With only fifteen days to go until the big day we have decorated our homes, started the Christmas shopping and planned the seating chart for our Turkey feasts. Over the festive period, it is important we get into the Christmas spirit while in work too, and start to prepare for the bank holidays soon to come. Here are AppLocum’s tips on how to make your practice festive and spread the Christmas cheer.

Deck the reception with boughs of holly

Falalalala-lalala-laaa! Decorating your practice is a fantastic way to improve patient satisfaction and cheer everyone up. Did you know that decorations actually make you happy? Psychoanalyst Steve McKeown explained that decorating for Christmas brings up feelings of nostalgia and can evoke strong feelings of childhood. Let go of your stress and rota anxiety, by adding some tinsel to the front desk see how your patient satisfaction ratings shoot up!

Ensure decorations are fresh or cleaned prior to putting them up to stick to disease control. Store your surgery decorations in a clean area, but remember; dust gathers easily and all decorations should be cleaned with antibacterial spray prior to trimming the tree. Keep up with hygiene within the surgery by dusting the decorations on a daily basis. Buying a fake Christmas tree avoids any kind of allergic reaction for patients.

Make your practice child friendly with colouring books, crayons, string and even safety scissors; this will give children the chance to create decorations for your tree and give a sense of community within the surgery. This lovely little idea will keep children visiting the GP busy during any long Winter waiting times and ease the stress on parents!

The practice party

Boosting practice morale and employee engagement is easily achieved over Christmas; a practice party is sure to boost moods and help rota worries fade away. The task of arranging a staff party is more often than not the duty of the Practice Manager. The Christmas party is a fantastic way to show your salaried members of staff how much you value their hard work over the year, so choose how you celebrate their success wisely.

Ensure staff are aware that this event is extremely important to attend and be sure that they make time to have a break from the hard work. Healthcare can be a very lonely profession within the Primary Care sector with GPs and Practice Nurses often working alone in very high intensity surgeries. Making time to celebrate the festive period is time to bond and create friendships between peers which is necessary for an efficient, friendly and well-run practice environment.

The inclusion of administration staff encourages good working relationships between clinicians and back office staff, so you can guarantee your practice will run smoothly throughout the year. Stay clear of office politics chat and work conversations, encourage staff to get to know each other better; discussing family, hobbies and personal lives.

Remember to cater for all requirements, whether it be vegan or non-alcoholic options; give the sense of equality and diversity so the atmosphere does not isolate anyone within the team.

Give the gift of empowerment

We have touched on Winter pressures over the weeks, discussing how surgeries are feeling the strain with a reduced number of staff. We come bearing good news; you can ease the stress on your clinics by placing posters and literature within your surgery with the aim to empower your patients to take care over the Winter.

Literature covering important seasonal health hazards will reduce strain on clinicians and ensure waiting times are in order. All literature can be found through NHS portals, we suggest focusing on subjects such as:

-Injury whilst decorating – Use of ladders

-Young children swallowing decorations / small toys

-What to do for a sore throat

-The common cold

-Winter vomiting bug

Directing your patients to make sure they are aware of where to turn to should they require assistance is extremely important this time of year. Many patients are unaware that they are able to attend a pharmacy for guidance with minor ailments. Patients should be made aware of services such as 111 and when to attend A&E over the festive time. Posters provided in the waiting room will ensure appointments within your surgery are definitely warranted and only taken up with cases a GP can solve.

We wish you a Merry Christmas

AppLocum don’t stop during the festive time! We are here every day, all day to answer all of your practice queries, should you need us – even with a belly for a Turkey and pigs in blankets! We know healthcare doesn’t stop just because the big fat man in the red hat comes to visit and neither do we! Although our office may be closed, you can always speak to a friendly consultant via our out of hours phone.

We wish you the very merriest of Christmases and all the best for the New Year!