South Reddish Medical Centre Spring/Summer 2018 Newsletter
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South Reddish Medical Centre Dr Gupta’s Surgery South Reddish Medical Centre Spring/Summer 2018 Newsletter Emergency Surgery Inside this issue: We are trying our best to We would urge all patients keep emergency surgeries to book pre bookable non Emergency Surgery running, as we know this is urgent slots for follow up or important to our patients. routine appointments and Staff News However, demand is in- to only use same day Service creasing, and it is becoming emergency surgery for Developments increasingly difficult to urgent problems that Important Reminders manage these surgeries. cannot safely wait until By doing this we hope to the next available Travel Vaccinations increase the capacity for appointment. Hay fever routine appointments. This Dementia will help to ensure that It is hoped that it will Information there are more routine ap- improve access to Doctor appointments considerably, pointments available with Dr Gupta. and allow them to concen- trate their efforts on provid- ing care for the more com- plex patients with chronic co-morbidities and complicated treatment regimes. Staff News Welcome to our new GP, Congratulations to Dr Kim Thomas who Practice Nurse, commenced at the Practice Katherine Bradford upon on 2nd January 2018. completion of her Dr Thomas undertakes Principles of General surgeries on Tuesday and Practice Nursing Course Fridays. undertaken through Manchester Metropolitan University. Well done Katherine! South Reddish Medical Centre Service Developments 7 Day Access Pilots Weekend and now weekday appointments for routine care with GPs and prac- tice nurses will be provided by Mastercall Healthcare from 04/06/18-30/06/18 (inclusive). Working in conjunction with Viaduct Health, we are offering this service because we believe it delivers the maximum benefit for local clinicians as well as patients. Appointments will be available Monday-Friday (01/04/18-30/06/18) as below: Day Hours of Operation Clinicians Available Mon 16:00-20:00 GP Tues 16:00-20:00 GP and PN Wed 16:00-20:00 GP Thurs 16:00-20:00 GP Fri 16:00-20:00 GP Sat 09:00-13:00 GP and PN Sun 09:00-13:00 GP What kind of appointments are available through this service? GPs Any non-urgent problem Practice Nurses Review of any chronic disease (not just QOF) Routine Smear tests Routine venepuncture Contraceptive reviews (Please note: this does not in- 7 day access clude giving injections or inserting coils or implants) NHS Health Checks Brinnington Health Centre has been chosen as the initial location for the Tame Valley 7 day service (Hub) and will work on an alternate weekly basis with the Heaton’s 7 day service (Hub) located at Heaton Moor Medical Prac- tice. Practice patients will be able to access either of these services, subject to the data sharing agreement being signed off in the next few weeks. Please see below for more details Hubs are accessible by the whole population of Stockport. There will be 8 Hubs – 4 operational each weekend. Each Hub will be staffed by 1 GP, 1 Practice Nurse, 1 HCA and 1 Receptionist, and will offer pre-bookable access to Pri- mary Care routine appointments on the following basis: 09:00-13:00—Open Saturday & Sunday (4 hours) 09:00-13:00—Open Bank Holiday (4 hours) Page 2 South Reddish Medical Centre Choose to Change Weight Management Service Fed up of dieting and want to learn how to manage your weight? Are you ready to make positive lifestyle changes to improve your health? If so, then join our FREE weight management service Choose to Change Choose to Change is a specialist weight management service helping adults make lifestyle changes that will enable them to How Can You Join? lose weight and improve their health. If you are committed to making a The FREE programme differs from traditional weight loss pro- positive change, you can ask your GP grammes as it encourages lifelong changes to eating habits or practice nurse to refer you to the rather than short term diets. It helps people overcome their bar- programme. You must be over 18-years-old, have a riers to weight loss, make sensible food choices and become BMI of >35 and have a chronic illness more active. It has produced many successful results. (e.g. diabetes). How It Works For further information, contact the Once you have been successfully referred, the Choose to Choose to Change team on: Change team will support you on every step of your journey - Tel: 0161 870 6492 Email: helping you change your lifestyle, lose weight and become fit- [email protected] ter, healthier and happier. www.choose-to-change.co.uk What Can You Expect From The Programme? A GP assessment. A therapy and lifestyle assessment. Please see photos of the 11 fortnightly sessions over six months. promotional stand that Support from a range of weight management specialists. was set up in the Follow up sessions, newsletters and continuing support. Practice to coincide with our Diabetes Prevention Programme blood test What Can You Expect From Each Session? session on the 30th May A supportive and caring environment. 2018, which was run in Review of eating habits and updating of a monitoring diary. conjunction with Stock- Tips on healthy eating. port Public Health Guided weight loss advice. Department. Information on how to maintain weight loss. Physical activity adapted for all abilities. Guidance on lifelong lifestyle and behavioural changes. Personal activity and nutrition goal setting at the end of each session. Page 3 South Reddish Medical Centre Important Reminders Update your contact details Reminder that the Practice introduced MJog, a Patient Messaging Ser- vice in August last year to improve uptake and to reduce administrative costs ie postage, stationery. This allows text messages to be sent to patients to remind them of their appointments (and to cancel if neces- sary) to book their review, NHS health check or flu vaccination appoint- ment if required To support introduction and further expansion of this new service, it is essential that we update your records. Safeguards have been put in place to ensure that emails & text messages are only sent to those pa- tients where consent has been recorded to undertake this form of communication by requesting that patients when either contacting or visiting the surgery complete a Communication Consent Form to pro- vide us with both mobile numbers and email addresses. Medication Reviews Reminder The Practice would like to stress the importance of the need for regular review of repeat medication. Please remember to attend your review appointment, as medication may not be issued as you may re- quire blood tests to support the Dr reauthorising your medication on repeat prescription. Extended Hours Surgeries Reminder that Extended Hours appointments were introduced to help patients access care if they are prevented by work commitments from at- tending surgery during our core hours of 8.00am – 6.30pm. Under the Extended Hours Scheme, we provide a range of options including: Doctor Nurse HCA Tuesday 18:30-19.30 18:30-19:30 Thursday 07:30-08:00 07:30-08:00 Sat (1 per month) 08:00-10:00 08:00-10:00 08:00-10:00 The Practice provides an average 4 hours of additional Doctor/Nurse led appointments per week under this scheme, so it is important that patients telephone the Practice to check for specific surgery availability. Page 4 South Reddish Medical Centre Travel Vaccinations Reminder with summer holidays on the horizon!! Book your appointment for travel vaccinations 6 weeks in advance of your holiday otherwise it may be difficult to accommodate you as we have a lim- ited number of appointment slots available. We are obliged to provide a travel vaccination service to practice registered patients on the following basis: Tetanus, Typhoid and Hepatitis A vaccination Advice on other recommended travel vaccinations The practice is not a designated Yellow Fever Vaccination Centre (YFVC) It should be noted that although we can provide advice and guidance on oth- er travel vaccinations you may need to attend a private travel clinic at a cost to yourself to receive them. Malaria tablets can be purchased from many chemists and supermarkets. Please speak to our Practice Nurse for further information. It should also be noted that to offer you full protection the vaccinations nec- essary or recommended for the country or area you are visiting must be ad- ministered at least 2 weeks prior to departure on your holiday. THEREFORE PLEASE BOOK YOUR APPOINTMENT EARLY TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT!! A reminder for back packers or people with complex itineraries to book asap as some private vaccines need to be given over a couple of months. Page 5 NHS Hay Fever Hay fever, also called allergic rhinitis is most common in early spring and the summer months. It occurs as a reaction to pollen from grass, tress and weeds, affecting both adults and children. What are the symptoms? Itchy eyes/ throat Sneezing, blocked/runny nose Watering, red eyes (allergic conjunctivitis) Headaches, blocked sinuses Shortness of breath Tiredness The sensation of mucus running down the back of the throat, which can also be a symptom, is called ‘post-nasal drip’ How Do I Manage Hay Fever? Avoiding the allergen and appropriate use of antihistamine tablets Find our 3 top tips below: 1. Monitor pollen forecasts daily and stay indoors wherever possible when the count is high (generally on warmer, dry days). Rain washes pollen from the air so counts should be lower on cooler, wet days 2. On high pollen days, shower and wash your hair after arriving home and change your clothing Avoid drying washing on a clothes-line outside when pollen counts are high Antihistamines can be purchased from most supermarkets for a small cost (eg £1.99 from Superdrug).