Nightingale News - Summer 2026

The newsletter for all patients and staff at Nightingale Practice

Welcome to our Autumn 2025 newsletter. And it’s a bumper edition!

In this edition, we focus on ‘continuity of care’ and why it’s seen as so important by the Nightingale.

We also explain why our practice could use some more five-star reviews on Google and we repeat our polite request to everyone who can, to start using the NHS App to book appointments. (There are very good reasons why we ask you to use the app – so thank you if you are already doing this.)

We also bring you up to date with news from our Together Better group. Our gatherings and activities continue to thrive. You can read about some of what we get up to here.

Sadly, we are saying goodbye to our Together Better coordinator, Tom Fearon. We thank Tom for his years of service and wish him the very best for his future career, whatever that may bring.

Continuity of Care

What does that mean and why is it important?

‘Continuity of care’ means making sure that, whenever possible, you see the same clinician (e.g. doctor, nurse) whenever you come to the Nightingale.

At the Friends of the Nightingale meeting held on 19 February, Dr Nisha Patel explained that our practice is keen to try to make continuity of care work – although it can’t always happen.

Dr Patel said she felt there were obvious benefits for the individual patients. If your clinician has seen you before, you can save a lot of time because you don’t have to repeat your medical history.

Dr Patel went on to say that that the clinicians like continuity of care as well. “We get greater job satisfaction if we can really get to know our patients properly. Surveys show that continuity of care, if it can be managed, means better outcomes for most patients. They have better trust in their doctor and tend to live longer.”

There are a few important things to make clear about continuity of care.

Although the Nightingale strongly supports the principle of continuity of care, the practice operates an ‘on the day’ system. Because the individual clinicians don’t work every day, you may get a text to tell you to re-book on a day when your clinician is next working. The text message you get will provide a link to that clinician’s usual working days, so you know when they will be in.

However, you can be totally reassured that a doctor has read your message on the day you send it – whether you have sent it to us online or whether you have spoken on the phone to a receptionist who has typed up your message for you.

That doctor will then make a clinical judgement about your care. They will decide whether you need to be contacted and/or seen on the day or whether, for continuity of care, you should see the same clinician you usually see.

The nature and urgency of your medical problem will dictate what happens. You will never be told to rebook with your own clinician at a future date if you have a serious problem that needs to be dealt with immediately

We really need your feedback!

Please support our Nightingale practice by going online and posting your feedback. We need to get as much patient feedback as possible – that’s positive feedback, of course, if we can.

We are very, very proud of the service we offer our patients. We try hard to get it right and, if we don’t get things right, we are very open to hearing any comments or complaints. We will listen to you and take action to put things right. If we can’t do what you are asking for, we will explain clearly why not.

Advertising what we do has always been a challenge for us. We have a four-star rating on Google, which is good. But some local practices have five stars, and we want to be up there with them. So, we need more great reviews.

If we get more 5* reviews, we can perhaps attract more patients to our list. And we need more patients on our list, as this is how we will increase our funding.

How you can help your surguery

Go online now and give us a Google review. (Please note … it is Google reviews that we need, please.)

If you don’t use a computer or a smart phone, please consider asking a young relative or maybe a friend to post your review for you.

Please let local friends, family and neighbours know about the Nightingale. For example, if someone asks you if you ‘know of a GP’, feel free to say that you are a Nightingale patient and direct them to our website for more information.

Please, Please Book Your Appointments via the NHS App if You Possibly Can – Thank You

We are sorry to repeat ourselves because we know we have said this before but, if you can, please use the NHS App to book your appointments at the Nightingale.

This helps the surgery so much and leaves the phone lines as free as possible for those patients who really cannot use computers or smart phones.

At most other practices, 75% of the patients now use online booking. We were at 75% but we have dropped to just 60% and that is not so good.

If you need help with learning to use the NHS App, help is available at the surgery. Please just ask at reception for details.

Patients tell us they are frightened that using the app means they “won’t be speaking to a human being.”

Think about it this way. Using the app is simply you making the appointment to speak to a doctor. It’s just the same as you calling Reception.

True, if you call Reception you are speaking to a human being – but the receptionist is not a doctor.

The receptionist will simply type what you say into the same online form you could have used yourself, much more quickly.

By using the NHS App, you are not missing out on human contact. The app message is just the 1st step to ensure you will speak to a “real human” medical professional.

If you don’t use the NHS App, or if you did use it but then stopped for whatever reason, please reconsider and try to use it, or try again. You will be helping us so much – and other patients. Thank you.

Improving our patients' experience at the Nightingale

Money allocated to us annually – an Improvement Grant – is being spent on a variety of things to help Nightingale staff and patients. We have bought a new vaccine fridge and the ‘pod’ in Reception that many patients use to check their blood pressure, for example, is being upgraded.

Money will also be spent to support the continuation of the screens in Reception that help deaf patients see when their GP or nurse is calling them. We are also continuing with the trial of our so-called ‘virtual’ receptionists, who work nine hours a day to help us answer the phones. (Did you know: they have already helped bring your waiting time down from 15 to five minutes?)

An important thing to stress (because this was raised at the last Friends of the Nightingale meeting) is that our virtual receptionists are real people – not AI bots. These individuals work off-site but that is the only difference between them and our Nightingale-based receptionists. They have been fully briefed about the practice and trained. They are, of course, GDPR complaint. (GDPR stands for General Data Protection Regulation. It means your conversations and any personal data are completely confidential and protected.)

Our Practice News - Comings and Goings

Congratulations to Dr Gabrielle Zealand on the birth of a baby girl. And a warm welcome to Dr Lily McDougall, who is the maternity locum covering for Dr Zealand while she’s away.

We are also pleased to welcome Dr Suneetha Venugopal to the practice, and also our newest Registrar, Dr Keya Patel.

Meanwhile, we are saying goodbye to Dr Katharine Tooley who is leaving us to return to her home city of Sheffield. Thanks for everything, Dr Tooley. You will be very much missed by all your patients in Hackney!

Hackney Downs Health equality event a great succes

On 31 January, the Nightingale hosted a Hackey Downs Health Equity event called ‘Taking care of your Blood Pressure Together’ specifically for the black communities. It turned out to be a wonderful and engaging event, during which some of our patients were invited for their annual reviews with our nursing and pharmacy teams.

We also had a variety of stallholders attend from our local area including Asvacare Pharmacy; Healthier Together; Gloji: Smokefree Hackney; Made in Hackney; cancer screening support from CAN; Damali Beautiful vision, and STUK CIC who put on a demonstration exercise class in our waiting area!

Our local Councillor and Deputy Mayor of Hackney, Anntoinette Bramble, attended for the launch of ‘Black Health Legacy’ in Hackney – see photo, below left. Black Health Legacy is the UK’s largest research study dedicated to understanding diseases that affect black people.

Patients also had the opportunity to review the final draft of our new patient information leaflet about hypertension (high blood pressure) that has been specifically produced for and by the black communities.

Maria helps local hospitals support patients with autium and learning difficulties

Congratulations to Maria Barrett who has been successfully appointed as a Tier 2 trainer, working in local hospitals to support medical staff who treat patients with learning disabilities and/or autism.

Maria, who is a valued member of our Together Better group, had to give a presentation to secure her new role. She passed with flying colours.

The aim of Maria’s new job is to help health and social care staff better understand the needs of people with learning disabilities and/or autism.

Maria says: “I want Hackney to be a place where people with learning disabilities and autism are valued.”

When it comes to accessing medical services, Maria adds: “I think the NHS App is great but it’s not accessible for people with learning disabilities - for example, if they can’t read or write. It is not inclusive enough.”

Maria is a strong supporter of something called the Medii App. The Medi App was piloted in Hackney. It is an app that provides a more accessible way for people with learning disabilities and/or autism to manage their health.

Last year, Maria was nominated for a People’s Participation Award as a ‘Digital Champion’ for her work with the Medii App pilot. She is clearly building on that achievement!

Remember Christmas?

Spring is not really a time to look back but just to record that Together Better friends gathered for their usual shared Christmas meal in December (above). This year, we were hosted by the Landfield Community Centre – our temporary home for many activities while they rebuild the Nightingale facilities. Grateful thanks to Landfield, to our Together Better Coordinator, Tom Fearon, and to everyone who helped make the event a success.

Festive celebrations continued when the Community Lunch Club held their annual event. Many Together Better group members also belong to the lunch club.

Did you know, it costs just £20 a year to become a lunch club member and there are many other events, apart from the Christmas meal, to enjoy throughout the year. If you are interested in joining and supporting this very worthwhile community organisation, contact our Together Better coordinators in the first instance. You can call or send a text to them on 07305 617 421

Together Better focuses of Energy Saving

We quite often have a speaker at our Thursday coffee mornings at the Nightingale surgery.

Recently we were delighted to welcome a representative from CREW Energy. CREW Energy works with Hackney Light & Power across the borough to provide free, impartial and friendly energy advice.

The Together Better group heard about ways to help to manage fuel bills, make our homes easier to heat and be more energy efficient.

Some of these tips were very simple. For example, it’s a good idea to put reflective radiator foil behind any radiators you have that sit on external walls.

For more information about saving money on your energy bill and how to use your heating more efficiently, please contact CREW Energy by calling them on 0800 086 2706 to ask for a copy of their very helpful leaflet ‘Your Top Energy Saving Recommendations’.

If you visit their excellent website at www.crewenergy.london you can find out if you are eligible for a warm home pack.

Goodbye to our good friend Tom

Tom Fearon, our much-loved Together Better Co-ordinator at the Nightingale, has left us this spring for pastures new.

Tom had led the Nightingale group with enthusiasm and commitment since the autumn of 2023 and his many friends here at the surgery are very sorry to see him go. We wish him all the best for his future.

Together Better at Nightingale Practice

“We’ve been together now for four full years, an’ it don’t seem a day too much!”

The Nightingale’s Together Better group was formed in March 2022 to help combat loneliness amongst patients in the post-pandemic world – and it continues to grow and thrive.

Sometimes classes or activities are cancelled at the last minute. If you are new to Together Better and you want to join a class or activity, you are most welcome – but we strongly recommend you check in first with the Together Better team, using the mobile phone number 07305 617421 – just to make sure the class you have chosen is going ahead.

A reminder: all the weekly activities we offer are free to join.

On Monday's

On Mondays we have Seated Exercise, noon until 1pm, at Landfield Community Hall in Stellman Close E5 8QZ. (It’s near Rectory Road station.)

On Tuesday's

On Tuesdays we have Step Aerobics, 10.30am until noon, also at Landfield Community Hall.

Also on Tuesdays, there is Table Tennis, from noon until 1pm, at Landfield Community Hall.

And on Tuesday afternoons, we have our Walking Group. We meet outside the Nightingale surgery at 2pm.

On Thursday's

On Thursdays there is always a Coffee Morning in the back room of the Nightingale surgery. Starting at 10am, it goes on until 11.30am and everyone is most welcome.

If you are new to Together Better, we recommend that the Coffee Morning is a good place to start to meet people.

Also on Thursdays, we have Circuit Training, from 11am until 1pm, at the Langfield Community Hall.

We also have Arts & Crafts on Thursdays, from 11.30am until 1pm, at the Nightingale surgery.

On Friday's

Finally, on Fridays on a fortnightly basis, we have Shiatsu Exercise, starting at 10.30am, at the Nightingale surgery.

Community crime fighting with the help of Met Engage

Have you heard about Met Engage? It’s a service run by the Metropolitan Police to help us work with them, as a united community, to combat crime.

The Met Police say: “We're transforming the Met to become a service that truly delivers for you. Through our new platform, Met Engage, you can get to know your local officers, help shape how we police your local area and have direct access to key information and advice.

“This isn't just a platform for us to tell you what we're doing in your area.

“It's an opportunity for you to tell us what's concerning you most, so we can take action on the things that truly matter to you.”

Met Engage aims to ensure their local officers are more visible.

One of our Together Better group members, Kate, recently attended a ‘meet and greet’ session held outside a local Co-op store in Hackney. Kate said afterwards:

“It only took about 15 minutes of my day, while I was out shopping, and it was really very nice to meet our local police officers in person.

“We spoke about concerns like car theft and vandalism and it was reassuring to be able to make the officers aware of what’s been happening in my own street.

“It’s good to know that the local officers are keen to meet local people and get to know Hackney even better than they do already.”

Have a look at the Met Engage website: www.metengage.co.uk You can find out more and sign up to receive regular email alerts and news about community meetings.

Sharing our cultural heritage

Our Together Better group is keen on eating. We generally focus on healthy eating but sometimes we spoil ourselves.

Recently, we had a cultural day where people brought in food to share. Countries and cultures whose delicious food was represented included Jamaica, Ireland, Scotland and India.

Published: Mar 4, 2026

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