Sunlight Group Practice Winter Newsletter

Transcription

1 Sunlight Group Practice Winter Newsletter Flu vaccination is part of the Stay Well This Winter campaign, a joint initiative from NHS England and Public Health England, to help the public ward off common winter illnesses. Flu is a highly infectious disease and can lead to serious complications if you have a long-term health condition like COPD; bronchitis, emphysema; diabetes; heart, kidney or liver disease or have suffered a stroke, flu on top of health conditions like these can easily develop into something very serious and could land you in hospital. People with these and other long-term health conditions are eligible for a free flu jab through their GP or pharmacist. If you are eligible for the flu vaccine get it now it s free because you need it. Contact your GP or midwife to the get the flu jab. If you have any of the following you may be eligible for a flu vaccination Please contact the surgery to book this appointment

2 CHRISTMAS OPENING TIMES Below you will find our opening hours across the Christmas and New Year period. If you require any medical assistance during these times please contact NHS111 by calling 111 on your telephone or visit one of our local walk in centres/minor injuries centres or visit your local pharmacy. Victoria Central Hospital Mill Lane, Liscard Opens 8am-10pm Monday to Sunday including Bank Holidays. (X-ray facilities are at this walk in centre) Arrowe Park Hospital Arrowe Park Road, Upton Open 8am-10pm Monday to Sunday including Bank Holidays The walk in centres can treat the following infections and rashes, emergency contraception and advice, bruises, burns and strains, blood pressure checks, coughs, colds and flu-like symptoms, sore throats and earache, hayfever, bites and stings, minor cuts and wounds wound care and dressings, skin complaints - rashes, sunburn, headlice, smoking cessation support, stomach ache, indigestion, constipation, vomiting and diarrhoea, women's health problems, e.g. thrush, menstrual advice, men's health problems

3 Please find below our prescription chart which explains when your prescription will be ready over the Christmas and New Year period based upon the day you hand it in. REVIEWS FOR CHRONIC CONDITIONS If you have a chronic condition (Diabetes, Chronic Heart Disease, COPD, Asthma or Chronic Kidney Disease) you will require an annual health check. This is to ensure you are on the correct medication/treatment for your condition and it may require some blood tests. Any other important health matters will also be discussed during these annual reviews. If this applies to you please contact reception to book an appointment. You may also be eligible for a flu vaccine as mentioned on our first page of the newsletter.

4 GP TRAINING PRACTICE Sunlight Group Practice is a GP Training Practice. This means that we have the following trainees on placement with us A GP registrar (ST1, ST2 or ST3) consults with patients alone as they are a qualified doctor specialising in General Practice. They are in training to become a GP and they may seek extra advice from their colleagues. A Foundation Doctor (F2) who is a qualified doctor gaining invaluable GP experience before they make their decision in what they are going to specialise in. You will see the Foundation doctor alone and they are qualified to treat you, they may seek extra support from their GP trainer. A Medical Student is a doctor in training; they are not yet qualified as a doctor but are here to see patients under the direct supervision of their GP trainer. You will see the student and then the GP trainer with these appointments. We are also Wirral s Enhanced Training Practice, this means we have Student Nurse Placement s, Student Paramedic Placements and Student Physician Associate placements. They are all hear to learn how to carry out their role to their full potential, learning form some very experienced, knowledgeable staff we are lucky to have working with us. We will let you know if any students are in with one of the doctors, if you do not wish to be seen with a student please let reception know when you arrive for your appointment. This time studying patient consultations is an invaluable learning experience, and we wish to thank all of our patients who have seen students and junior doctors here at the Practice.

5 STAFF CHANGES Nobody likes goodbyes but sometimes in life they happen and with this we would like to wish our receptionist Amy Reilly all the best in the future, she has worked with us since leaving high school! We would also like to wish our F2 doctor Harj Riyat all the best in her new position on the trainee rotation. We would like to welcome back our administrator Louise who has returned from maternity leave! We would also like to welcome our new members of staff to the reception team Louisa and Megan. We are sure you will see these on your visits to the surgery. OUR APPOINTMENTS POLICY CHANGED! From 3rd July our appointment booking policy changed. Reception will no longer have access to directly book GP appointments on the day anymore. This means if you call at 8am with an urgent issue you will be placed onto the triage list for the on-call clinician to call you. The triage clinician will decide if you need to be seen on the day (and will book this appointment) or if the issue can wait for a routine appointment. We will still have appointments bookable 4 weeks ahead which are available online these have always been available and haven't changed. We will have 4 day in advance bookable appointments available online these are released by the system 1 week before the date at 8am and 12 noon. We still offer appointments for workers/school children/those who have commitments & we still offer telephone calls for all patients. N.B telephone calls are not to be used to request repeat medication from the GP. For those patients who have communication difficulties, you can book appointments online as well as ordering prescriptions online. If you do have communication difficulties we can offer triage advice via to wiccg.reception-sunlight@nhs.net or via patient messaging option on patient access website.

6 HOW CAN I STAY HEALTHY IN WINTER? Cold temperatures can raise blood pressure and increase the risk of flu and other lungrelated problems. Our blood pressure takes longer to return to normal, and this can put you at greater risk of a heart attack or stroke. That s why it s so important to look after yourself in the winter. Keep moving even if you don t feel like it, staying active will not only keep you fit and healthy, it will also generate heat to keep you warm. If it s not too cold, take a short walk in the middle of the day Look for ways to keep active - get up and walk around, make yourself a warm drink and spread any chores throughout the day. Chair-based exercises are helpful if walking is difficult, along with moving your arms and legs and wiggling your toes. Eat well by eating lots of hot meals and drinks help to keep you warm, so eat at least one hot meal each day and have hot drinks throughout the day. Having a hot drink before bed and keeping one in a flask by your bedside are good ideas too. Include a good range of foods in your diet and aim for five portions of fruit and vegetables each day so you re getting plenty of nutrients and vitamins. Remember that frozen vegetables are as good as fresh. Keep basic food items in the cupboard or freezer in case it s too cold to go shopping. You could also do your food shopping online and get it delivered to your house. It s important to eat enough, especially in winter. If you re worried about a poor appetite, or are losing weight, speak to your GP. Have your yearly flu jab. The flu is not only unpleasant, it can also develop into something more serious, such as pneumonia. If you re over 65, or if you have certain health conditions the Government recommends that you get the flu jab every year. Flu viruses are constantly changing so vaccines are updated each year. You can get a free flu jab from your GP and some pharmacies if: you re 65 or over you receive Carer s Allowance, or you are the carer of a person whose welfare will be affected if you become unwell you have a long-term health condition such as diabetes, a heart condition, asthma or lung disease, a kidney or liver problem, Parkinson s, or if you have had a stroke you are living in a long-stay residential care home

7 Check if you ve had the pnuemo jab. Pnuemo or pneumococcal jab is a one-off jab that helps protect you against pneumonia, meningitis and septicaemia (a type of blood poisoning). If you re over 65 and haven t had one, ask your GP. Keep your hands clean as good hand hygiene is a simple way to avoid getting colds or flu and stop it spreading to other people. Wash your hands regularly with soap and warm water, or use alcohol-based gel or wipes. Make sure to clean surfaces you are in contact with regularly, like your telephone, door handles and keyboard as germs can live on them. Organise your medications It s important that you don t run out of your medications. Make sure you order prescriptions ahead of time, just in case there is bad weather or you re too unwell to go to the pharmacy. Also ask your pharmacy if they can deliver to you, if they don t usually do this. It s also a good idea to keep simple cold, flu and sore throat remedies at home, just in case you become unwell. Keep your spirits up, it s not unusual to feel down in winter particularly when the days are short and it can get dark by 3.30pm. It can help to do something you enjoy every day. Try to keep to your usual routine and if you can t visit friends or family, phone or Skype them often. Ask them if they could visit you more often. If you ve been feeling down for several weeks and it s stopping you going out, making you feel listless and lacking in energy, it s very important to share these feelings with someone perhaps a friend or your GP. This advice is from ageuk Please remember Accident and Emergency are under more pressure in the winter

8 NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme Dr D. Kennaugh I would like to take this opportunity to cover what the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme involves and what it can offer you. People who do the bowel cancer screening tests have a lower risk of dying from bowel cancer and for this reason the practice and I would strongly encourage you to do the test provided by the screening programme. Bowel cancer is also known as colon cancer, colorectal cancer or rectal cancer. It is the second highest cause of death from cancer in Britain and around 1 in 20 people will develop bowel cancer in their lifetime. The key to improving people who develop bowel cancer s survival rate and quality of life is recognising and picking up the cancer early. The good news with this, is that if detected early (we call this stage A), 9 in 10 people with bowel cancer can be completely cured of it. A lot of people with stage A bowel cancer do not have any symptoms. That is why the NHS have the bowel cancer screening programme, to try to pick up people with bowel cancer early when we know treatment can be so successful. So, who is offered the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme? Men and women are given an invitation to take part in the programme when they turn 60, normally within a few weeks of their sixtieth birthday. A test kit is then sent out shortly after that. This allows people to do the test in their own home. The test comes with a hygienic sealer, so when it is done it can be sent back in the freepost envelope provided in the test kit. You will continue to be invited to do bowel cancer screening from the ages of 60 to 74, every two years. People older than 74 are welcome to be tested, but need to ask for this specifically. By ringing the freephone screening helpline on

9 2 in 100 people will receive a positive result. This does not mean they have cancer. They will be invited to discuss the result at a bowel screening unit with a nurse, and be offered a detailed look at the bowel using a fibre-optic cable, called a colonoscopy. Of those who have colonoscopy, 4 in 10 people will be found to have a non-cancerous polyp. These can be painlessly removed and may prevent cancer from developing. About 1 in 10 people will be found to have cancer, and be managed by a specialist team, hopefully having been caught at an early stage due to the screening programme. What does the test involve? People with early stage bowel cancer often have small amounts of blood in their stool, this is often not visible to the naked eye. The test involves having samples of your stool tested for blood, called Faecal Occult Blood stool test. If the stool has been in contact with the toilet pan, it can affect the result. People normally either use folded pieces of toilet paper, their hand inside a small plastic bag or a clean disposable container. A cardboard stick that comes with the kit is used to smear a tiny amount of stool on to the test card. This is repeated with another stick to test stool from another part of the same motion. The process is repeated with stools from three separate motions. Whilst some people may find this type of test inconvenient or embarrassing, it is much easier than it sounds and is a quick way of reducing your risk of dying from bowel cancer. What do the results mean? 98 in 100 people will have a normal result. Remember that this does not mean you definitely don t have cancer. So if you have symptoms of changes in how often you pass stool, blood in your stool or weight loss make sure to see your GP. 4 in 100 people will receive an unclear result. They will be asked to repeat the test up to two times.

10 Our Practice Nurse Louise is now a Cancer Champion. Louise is now the clinician who has the skills and knowledge to engage with cancer patients and is able to act as a resource for patients and staff who may have questions about cancer. SUNLIGHT GROUP PRACTICE PPG Our patient participation group has now gone virtual meaning all information will now go electronically via . Our PPG has a say on changes in the practice & makes your opinions heard! Sunlight Group Practice Parkfield Medical Centre Sefton Road New Ferry CH62 5HS If you would like to join please us wiccg.reception-sunlight@nhs.net ( ) wiccg.reception-sunlight@nhs.net (tel) (fax)