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October Newsletter
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for the patients of The Roseland Surgeries
Flu Vaccination Clinics
Just a reminder that Flu Vaccination Clinics are currently underway. We have a few slots left here and there with appointments available at all three surgery sites through October to the beginning of November.
Please don’t wait for your invitation letter – book your appointment as soon as you can. Your GP recommends a flu jab if you are over 65 years of age. We are also keen to target anyone who is immunosuppressed, pregnant, a healthcare/social care worker or in receipt of Carer’s Allowance. As in previous years, if you suffer from a disease of the heart, kidneys, lungs, liver, nervous system or are affected by asthma or diabetes, you should also have the jab.
Other organisations may approach you offering to provide an alternative service, but please remember they will not have access to your medical records and cannot give other immunisations, such as those to protect you again pneumonia, which are often given at the same time.
Whooping Cough
New surveillance figures from Public Health England confirm that whooping cough remains at raised levels in England (1744 cases to June 2015 as opposed to 1412 cases at the same time last year). Confirmed cases of whooping cough in babies under the age of 3 months however remain low, and this is largely due to the immunisation programme offered to pregnant women. Vaccinating whilst pregnant offers a protection to the baby up to them reaching 8 weeks of age when they receive the first of their baby immunisations (including diphtheria, polio and tetanus)
Public Health England research shows that babies born to women who were vaccinated at least a week before birth had a 91{c8c3b3d140ed11cb7662417ff7b2dc686ffa9c2daf0848ac14f76e68f36d0c20} reduced risk of becoming ill with whooping cough in their first weeks of life compared to those babies whose mothers had not had the vaccination. We would encourage all pregnant women to take up this vaccination. Whooping cough is an extremely distressing illness but if you are pregnant and have any concerns about this vaccine, please do discuss this with your midwife or GP.
More scams……..
Renewing your driving licence in the UK is FREE for drivers aged 70 and over. There are some third party websites offering to handle your driving licence renewal for a fee – these are scams! Please do not click on any links or feel that you need to ‘sign up’ to anything in order to renew your licence.
The DVLA will NOT email you a link to verify your driving licence. Please delete any emails that ask you to verify your licence this way. The official DVLA pages are found at www.gov.uk only.
Roseland Surgeries Patient Group
Are you aware that as a patient of Roseland Surgeries, you are a member of the Patient Group? You may be a dormant member now, but if you would like to join the group, they’d be very pleased to see you! The group meets every month on a Wednesday between 5 and 6 pm here at Portscatho Surgery.
Group members co-ordinate lots of different activities, walking, photography, arts and there’s even been a recent suggestion to hold cookery sessions – do check out the noticeboards at each surgery site for more information. For those of you who are ‘internet-savvy’ the group also has a Facebook page and details of events are also posted there.
Working with the group enables you to work with your community for the benefit of everyone. They’re not only looking for new members but people with new ideas on how we can improve things both inside and outside of the surgery. If you would like more information, feel free to contact Nicola, the Practice Manager at the surgery but you may also just turn up at the next meeting: Wednesday 21st October at 5 pm.
DNA rates
Most of our patients attend their appointments as they are booked, and on time. Like other NHS providers however, we do have a problem with a few who do not attend appointments, and do so without cancelling them. This means it is too late to give the appointment slot to another patient, so wastes clinical time for the nurse or doctor involved. This of course, actually costs the NHS a significant amount of money, which in the current financial climate we cannot afford to waste. In one week alone in September, we had 23 patients booked in to see either the doctor or the Practice Nurse who did not attend for their appointment. This equates to almost 4 hours of wasted clinical time. With mounting pressures on appointment availability (and given that we’re heading into the Winter season), we would really appreciate your help.
We understand that circumstances change but please contact reception and cancel if you can’t attend your appointment and we will try to arrange another time for you.
Ordering your repeat prescription
Just a little reminder that patients can order medication via email…… our address is:-
prescriptions.portscatho@nhs.net
All we need is your name and address or date of birth together with the details of the medication you need. A day time telephone number is also useful, just in case we need to discuss your request with you.
Additionally, if you want to drop us a line about something other than your medication, you can also do this online via our reception email:
However, we would respectfully ask that you do not use the email facility for anything urgent – if you need us quickly, please contact the reception team by telephone in the usual way.
To oil…..or not to oil…….?
Occasionally, patients will be troubled by a build up of wax in their ears. With the use of warm olive oil dropped into the ear canal for a minimum of 2 weeks, more often than not the wax will gently slip away without the need for further intervention.
If, after two weeks of using olive oil drops, you still find you are troubled, please book an appointment to see the Doctor who will then examine your ear canals.
Are you having an ECG?
If your GP has recommended we undertake an ECG on you, you will need to book an appointment with our Practice Nurses for this to be done.
Could we remind patients that on the day of their ECG appointment, you should NOT use any moisturising lotion, sun creams, emollients or oil of any kind on your body (including your arms and legs). Lotions of this kind render the sticky ‘tabs’ connecting you to the ECG machine as almost useless. We need a really good ‘fix’ to your body to enable a good tracing of your heart! Thanks for your help with this.
Vaccinations for travel abroad
If you’re considering a holiday to foreign climes, please don’t forget to check if you need vaccinations for your chosen destination. Venturing beyond Europe will often require a jab or two. Our advice in the first instance is to check out the MASTA website:
When you select your country of choice and travel date, you’ll eventually be shown a list of recommended (or essential) vaccinations. Most vaccinations can be given here free of charge. However, some are not available on the NHS and thus a charge must be made. Such vaccines would be: Japanese B encephalitis, Rabies and Tick-borne encephalitis. If you need a Yellow Fever vaccine, this can be given at a registered Yellow Fever Centre.
Once you have your list of recommended vaccinations, contact the reception team to book an appropriate appointment with our Practice Nurses. We can often tell you in advance whether any charge is payable.
Lastly, please ensure you allow enough time for your vaccination programme to take effect – 6 to 8 weeks before you leave would be optimum.
Nicola Hayward
Practice Manager
Dr. Mike Black
Dr. Will Hynds
Dr. Terese Tubman
Dr Jonathan Jacoby The Roseland Surgeries