Exercises:

1.Complete the table with words from А, В and С. Put a stress mark in front of the stressed syllable in each word.

Verb Noun
ad'mit
assess
discharge
operate
refer
treat

2.Make word combinations using a word from each box. Look at С to help you.

acutely assessment on referral waiting

unit letter list duty ill

3.Which hospital departments would be most appropriate for the following patients? Look at А, В and С to help you.

1. a patient in diabetic coma

2. a patient who has just had an operation

3. a patient with a sudden asthma attack

4. a pregnant woman

5. a patient who needs a consultation of a cardiologist

4.Complete the extract from an information leaflet for patients. Choose from the following words:

day, admitted, department, hospital, referred, tests, treatment, discharged

Information for outpatients

When you arrive at the (1)....................., please tell the receptionist who will welcome you, check your details, and direct you to the waiting area. The length of your visit will depend on the (2)...................you're going to have. You may need to have some (3)....................., such as an X-ray, which could mean going to another (4).......................Or you may be (5)......................to other professionals, such as a physiotherapist or dietician. You may need to revisit the clinic. If staff at the clinic want to see you again, another appointment will be arranged for you. If you need to be (6).....................to hospital for more treatment, either as an inpatient or for (7).....................surgery, you will be told when this is likely to happen. If you do not need further treatment you will be (8) ........................to your GP's care.

Unit 6 Primary Care Lesson 1

The National Health Service

The National Health Service (NHS) is responsible for health care for everyone in the UK, although a small number choose to pay for private care. Treatment is free but there is a prescription charge for drugs and appliances, with exemptions for some patients such as children and the elderly.

Primary care is provided by general practitioners, or GPs (sometimes known as family doctors), nurses, dentists, pharmacists and opticians. GPs work in practices of 1 to 20. Practices are based in a surgery and look after the health of from 1,000 to 15,000 people in their local community. They also provide health education in areas such as smoking and diet, run clinics, give vaccinations, for example for influenza, and may perform minor surgery. If a patient needs specialist care, the GP will make a referral — refer the patient to a consultant in secondary care.

Patients are normally seen on an appointment basis. Home visits are made when patients are housebound — unable to leave their homes — or too ill to attend surgery. Out — of — hours (OOH) treatment, from 6 pm to 8 am, is provided by the local Primary Care Trust, which organizes shifts of GPs and locum GPs to cover if someone is absent.

Note: The noun surgery has three meanings:

● the building where GPs work — The practice has moved to a new surgery on the High Street.

● a time when GPs see patients — Morning surgery is from 8.30 to 12.30.

● the work of surgeons — The patient needs urgent surgery.

The practice team

A typical GP practice employs receptionists. They are responsible for initial patient contact, making appointments, taking requests for repeat prescriptions, taking messages from patients and other health care providers, and for filling and scanning documents into patient records. The practice manager has responsibility for finance and sometimes for IT, supervises reception staff, hires locums, and helps prepare the practice development plan. Practice nurses run asthma, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease clinics.

In addition to practice staff, GPs work with a number of health professionals

● District nurses visit temporarily housebound patients, such as recently discharged hospital patients, to change dressings.

● Health visitors visit families to carry out check-ups on young children — particularly under-fives — to make sure they are healthy. Special attention is paid to families in need, such as those living in poverty. They also do baby immunizations.

● Midwives run clinics for antenatal patients.

● Physiotherapists provide hands-on treatment but also teach patients exercises the can do to improve their condition after an accident or operation.