The Practice is currently undertaking work to achieve Young Person Accreditation.
This is a standard of service and accreditation granted by the Youth Association, which has been working to champion youth and youth work in society for over 100 years. In working towards accreditation, our practice has elected to:
1. Survey young people who are patients at the Practice to understand how they rate the service the Practice offers them and to suggest how it could be improved.
2. Be inspected by a team of young people who interview clinical and non-clinical staff about how they treat young people at the surgery.
The inspection team from the Youth Association will produce a report about their findings and make a recommendation about Young Person Friendly Accreditation for the Practice.
Surgery location and convenient opening hours.
We have just one surgery site (Friarwood), and this is on a bus route. Friarwood Surgery is open from Monday to Friday from 8.00 am – 6.30 pm.
C-Card (Condom Card Service)
Quite a few of our frontline staff have been given training on this service, so that we can offer it to young people from our surgery. The C-Card scheme is a free and confidential service to all young patients who are registered for the scheme. You can get free condoms from the surgery if you are aged between 13-25 years. Please go to www.wfact-ccard.org.uk for more information and how to register.
Contraception and Sexual Health
Friarwood currently has 3 GPs and 2 Advanced Nurse Practitioner (ANP) who are highly qualified and experienced in sexual health matters. If you feel you have the need to see this GP or ANP specialist, please make it known to our reception staff when calling or coming into the surgery.
The Contraception and Sexual Health service provided by Spectrum Community Services is free, friendly and confidential. Spectrum’s highly trained staff assist people of all ages in making informed and safe decisions about sex and sexual health. Their aim is to reduce the rates of sexually transmitted infections and teenage pregnancies in the Wakefield area. For more information, follow this link http://spectrumhealth.org.uk/services/sexual-health/contraception-2/
To make an appointment or for more information, phone 0800 121 4860. The closest local clinics to Friarwood are currently held at the Wakefield.
Mental Health and Support
Kooth is a free online service that will offer emotional and mental health support for children and young people. When you sign in you can choose an Avatar and this helps keeps you safe and anonymous. When you sign in you can have a ‘drop-in chat’ with a counsellor or therapist, or you can book a one-to-one session.
The counsellors and therapists are available 365 days a year up until 10pm. You can also chat to other young people anonymously on the forums whenever you wish.
When you sign up for Kooth this means you can have access to the online magazine and you maybe even be able to write an article for them.
Who is it suitable for?
Kooth is suitable for any children or young people aged 11-19 (25 in some areas). It can help with lots of different including:-
- Family Problems
- Eating Disorders
- Loneliness
- Bullying
- Anxiety and Depression
How Do I access it?
If you would like to sign up with Kooth then go to www.kooth.com – you will be asked to enter a user name and password. Once in select the drop down box to see if you have access to Kooth in your area.
If it is available in your area you will need to enter information about yourself. No other young people will be able to see this you so that you can stay safe and anonymous.
Will I have to Pay?
No this is free service but at the moment it is only available in certain areas.
Young People’s Drug & Alcohol Service
If you are under 18 and are having problems with drugs or alcohol you can access free and confidential advice from this service. They will not judge you or tell you what to do but they will be there to help you make changes if you wish.
To access this service you can telephone them on 01924 371579 or email heather.stables@cgl.org.uk or on www.changegrowlive.org
Confidentiality
The duty of confidentiality owed to a person under 16 is as great as the duty owed to any other person. All of our Drs, nurses, health care assistants and receptionists are bound by our confidentiality policy. This means that under 16 year olds can talk to any of our staff without parents or guardians being informed.
Under certain circumstances, for example in cases of abuse, we may need to pass details onto other agencies – but we would only do this if we thought you or someone else were at risk of harm.
All of our staff will be happy to discuss any problem – and point you in the right direction of who you need an appointment with if necessary.
Disrespect Nobody
If you are having problems or concerns about Relationship Abuse or Sexting you can now access a web site that will provide you with information that may help you. The web address is www.disrespectnobody.co.uk
Your Practice
At the practice we are trying to make it better for young people to access our service. We would like young people to feel at ease, feel they will be listened to and to feel that they can speak to the doctors in confidence. With this in mind we have allocated and ring fenced a number of appointments (telephone or face to face) especially for young people (13-19 years) every week. Please contact the practice to request to book any of these appointments
If you have any suggestions on how we can make it better for young people please do send your suggestion through on the ‘contact us’ link on the home page. Or alternatively, join our Patient Participation Group (PPG) who meet with the Practice manager/lead GP on a monthly basis and we also have a large number of patients who are part of the virtual PPG group as well, we would love for you to be involved in helping to shape our practice for the future.