If You Have Heart Problems, If You Suffer from Angina Or Heart Failure

NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 2008

TEL: 01264 361424 FAX: 01264 336792 www.stmaryssurgery.co.uk Email: [email protected]

GREAT NORTH AND SOUTH RUNS Dr Stone would like to thank everyone who sponsored him for the Great North and South Runs. The 5th October in Newcastle was a very fine, sunny day unlike the 26th October in Portsmouth, when it was raining! He would like to thank everyone for their support and for all of your donations which raised over £800 for Traidcraft - a charity that helps people in the third world to escape poverty. Dr Byrne and his wife also ran the Great South Run to raise funds for Naomi House. They would like to thank everyone for their kind donations are pleased that they raised £2,000. Dr Byrne is now preparing for the London Marathon 2009, also to raise funds for Naomi House.

FLU CLINICS 2008 If you underestimate the dangers of flu, you could be putting your life at risk! If you are over 65 or fall into one of the 'at risk' groups, you are more vulnerable to the effects of flu, even if you are fit and healthy, and could develop more serious illnesses, such as bronchitis and pneumonia, which could lead to hospitalization. Each year many elderly people die from complications caused by flu.

Those patients who are eligible are:- All those Patients who are aged 65 and over. All those Patients who are in the following 'at risk' groups.

If you have Heart problems, if you suffer from angina or heart failure

If you have Asthma or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Bronchitis, Emphysema, Chronic Fibrosis and Bronchiectasis.

If you have Diabetes

If you have Kidney Disease, are undergoing dialysis treatment or have had a kidney transplant.

If you have a weak immune system i.e. Cancer, HIV or are having treatments such as high dose steroids, radiotherapy or chemotherapy.

If you receive a Carer's allowance or you are pregnant or have a serious allergy to eggs or chicken protein, please speak to St Marys if you have any concerns.

Antibiotics are no use to treat flu as it is caused by a virus. Only immunisation can help to protect your from the Flu virus. BABY HEALTH CHECK CLINICS - 23rd DECEMBER 2008 The clinic held at Harris Hall, next to St Marys Surgery, will not be open on 23rd December 2008, due to refurbishment works at the hall. It will run as usual on 16th December and 5th January 2009. If you should need to contact the Health Visitors you can leave a message on their answerphone at Adelaide Surgery. Tel No: 01264 355062

GOODBYE TO DISTRICT NURSE LIZ SALHOLM 'It is with regret that I say goodbye to St Marys' patients and staff in December. I have worked with the District Nurse team at St Marys for over 20 wonderful years. It has been a pleasure to look after so many patients - I have seen some of these patients as children and now as adults! I now have a role as Team Leader for all of the Andover District Nurses, Community Matrons and Hospital Rehabilitation Team. I will be based at Andover Hospital. I have had such wonderful support from all at the surgery and will miss everyone. Be happy and stay healthy. Best wishes from Liz Salholm'

DRESSING AND LEG ULCER CLINIC After many years trying to set up a Leg Ulcer clinic, we now have the exciting opportunity to have a clinic in Andover Hospital. This clinic will be on a Tuesday which will be Nurse led. Your District Nursing team will refer you if appropriate to this clinic, if you have a wound or leg ulcer. The clinic will start at the end of November. We look forward to seeing you there if your need us. Liz Salholm, (Team Leader)

10 TIPS TO KEEP WARM THIS WINTER FOR OUR OLDER PATIENTS 1. Eat regular hot meals and drinks for warmth. 2. Keep moving - any activity even housework and cleaning! 3. Dress appropriately and warmly in several layers of clothing. 4. Keep your home between 21 - 24 degrees centigrade or 70 - 75 degrees Fahrenheit. 5. Keep warm at night by wearing the right clothing to bed. 6. Insulate your home with double glazing, loft insulation and even thick curtains can make a difference. 7. Get a flu jab yearly and make sure you have had pneumonia jab 8. Sleep with the windows closed. 9. Claim your rightful benefits and grants - over 60s should claim Winter Fuel payments. (contact Seniorline for more information on 0800 800 6565) 10. Apply for grants and programmes such as British Gas's 'Here to Help'. (Contact your fuel supplier for more information)

SURGERY SESSIONS St Marys Surgery is open from 7.30am to 6.30pm Mondays to Fridays excluding Bank Holidays. Doctors appointments are offered from 7.35am to 11am, 1pm to 3pm and 3.45pm to 5.40pm most days.

The appointments before 8.30am are particularly useful for patients who want to come before they go to work and we would hope that patients who are able to come at later times during the day, do not ask for one of these early appointments.

Nurse's appointment times vary but usually run at the same times as the Doctors. All Doctors and Nurse sessions are booked by appointment only. We do not offer a 'Walk In' service.

We also offer alternate Saturday morning clinics for routine appointments, with the patients, who find it difficult to attend the Surgery during our usual weekday sessions, particularly in mind. This is not an Emergency clinic. For all problems that will not wait, please phone our Out of Hours service on 0844 811 3060.

CHANGE OF ADDRESS When you move house please inform us of your change of address, you will also have to pass the same information onto any hospitals that you are under the care of. It is very important that you tell all Medical teams that you are seeing, any new telephone numbers, especially mobile details when you upgrade. It takes a lot of time to track down some patients when we , or the Hospitals do not have the correct details.

CANCELLED APPOINTMENTS If you cannot attend an appointment please cancel it as soon as you know you are not coming. We can then offer it to others who need it. If you have future appointments but manage to get an earlier appointment, please ensure you cancel them too. PAYMENTS TO ST MARYS We now accept debit cards for payment of charges incurred at St Marys, for example, medicals, insurance forms, Doctors letters and some travel immunisations.

We also accept Cheques and cash but are unable to accept credit cards.

Our charges are:- Certificates and Forms

Private Sick Note £15.00

Short Letter/Simple Certificate £25.00

Passport Countersignature £25.00

Driving/Shotgun Licence £25.00

Private Prescription £15.00

Vaccination Certificate £15.00

Medical Reports and Examinations

Employment £80..00

HGV/PSV/LGV (payable at booking) £80.00

Taxi (payable at booking) £80.00

(50% Loss of fee if appointment is cancelled less than 24 hours notice)

Sporting Medical £80.00

Elderly Drivers Medical £25.00

Seat Belt Exemption £80.00

Letter for Patient Short £25.00

Long £35.00 Minimum

Travel

(Please see Travel Immunisation form for Travel Vaccines)

Private Prescription £15.00

Fit to Travel Letter £20.00

Fit to Travel plus Examination £65.00

Travel Cancellation Form £25.00

Access to Records under the Data Protection Act

Computerised Records Access under the 1990 Act £10.00 Plus Photocopies per Page £00..40

Manual Records or a combination of Manual and Computerised records £50..00

Private Patients

Surgery Appointment min. 15 minutes + pro rata thereafter £40..00

Home Visit min. + traveling Time £83..00

Nurses Appointment plus cost of dressings £30..00

ECG £47..00

OTHER MEDICAL SERVICES Please remember there are other services you can access to get help, for example, all injuries that have happened in the last 24 hours, should be seen at the Minor Injuries unit at Andover War Memorial Hospital, where they have instant access to the X-Ray department. All dental problems should be seen by your dentist as Doctors do not have skills in dentistry. Your Optician can deal with many eye problems. There are also private services you may wish to consider for your symptoms such as Osteopathy, Physiotherapy and Chiropody.

ELECTRONIC PRESCRIPTIONS SERVICE Approximately 1.5 million paper prescriptions are issued every day in England, of these 70% are repeat prescriptions. The NHS has introduced an Electronic Prescription Service, which in time will enable Doctors to generate and send prescriptions via their computers to the pharmacy. At present all you will notice is that some of your prescriptions will show a bar code on them.

ST MARYS HEALTH VISITORS The Health Visitor team at St Marys have joined the team at Adelaide Surgery. They have re-located their office to the Adelaide Surgery building. They maintain the baby clinic at Harris Hall, next to St Marys Surgery on a Tuesday afternoon between 1.15 p.m. and 3.00 p.m. They can be contacted on 01264 355062. If there is nobody available, please leave a message on their answerphone and somebody will call you back. The team is Maggie George, Jane Rolfe and Linda Green.

FREE BUS SERVICE BETWEEN ANDOVER AND WINCHESTER HOSPITALS There is now a free bus service operating between Andover War Memorial Hospital and the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester, for patients who need to travel to Winchester for treatment or to attend a clinic. This new service will ease the problems of getting to Winchester by public transport and the difficulties of parking at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital. The bus will collect patients from the Hospital entrances, also stopping at Andover Bus Station. This service must be pre- booked no later than 3pm the day before your appointment. To book this service, please phone 01428 751530 Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm. The times of the service are as follows:-

- Depart Andover 8.00am Arrive Winchester 8.50am - Depart Winchester 9.00am Arrive Andover 9.50am - Depart Andover 10.00am Arrive Winchester 10.50am - Depart Winchester 11.00am Arrive Andover 11.50am - Depart Andover 13.00pm Arrive Winchester 13.50pm - Depart Winchester 14.00pm Arrive Andover 14.50pm - Depart Andover 15.00pm Arrive Winchester 15.50pm - Depart Winchester 16.00pm Arrive Andover 16.50pm PRESCRIPTIONS Several of the local pharmacies collect scripts from the Surgery. To use this service, you need to ensure we receive your request in good time before you run out of medication. We print the script which will be collected by one of the pharmacies listed below. You can then collect your medication directly from the pharmacy, saving you an extra trip to the Surgery. They are also open on Saturdays for those who work. The Pharmacies who regularly collect scripts from St Marys are

- Alliance Pharmacy (Coopers) Tel: 01264 396611 - Superdrug Pharmacy Tel: 01264 352183 - Boots Chemist Tel: 01264 352180 (ask for pharmacy) - Lancol Pharmacy Tel: 01264 323844 - Shepherd’s Spring Pharmacy Tel: 01264 355700 - Asda Pharmacy Tel: 01264 367620 (ask for pharmacy)

Alliance Pharmacy and Superdrug also provide a home delivery service for those who find it hard to get out of their houses and will also dispose of any unwanted or out of date medicines you may have.

Dr M Stone Dr E Pritchard Dr M Ferris Dr J Byrne Dr A Latham