for the patients of The Roseland Surgeries 

Forthcoming Bank Holidays:

Monday 26^th August – Surgery CLOSED

Pharmacy Opening Times over the Bank Hols 

The following pharmacies are open on Bank Holiday Monday and offer a Minor Ailments Service  so they can see you when surgeries are closed.  It is always worth considering getting some advice from a pharmacist for minor things like conjunctivitis, ear problems, urine infections etc.

They can also offer emergency supplies of medication if you run out unexpectedly:-

Asda Pharmacy St Austell open 9 am to 6 pm

Boots, Fore St, St Austell open 10 am to 4 pm

Boots, Pydar St, Truro open 8.30 to 5.30 pm

Tesco Pharmacy, Truro open 12 noon to 4 pm

Dr Mark Stephen 

Many patients will already have met Dr Stephen during his time with us as a salaried GP.  We are very pleased to announce that Dr Stephen will be joining The Roseland Surgeries as a Partner with effect from 1^st September.  Dr Stephen will be working at St Mawes and Portscatho Surgeries and will be with us 3½ days each week.

Changes to Appointments 

As a result of partnership changes, we have been able to make some improvements to our appointments system and offer patients some greater flexibility which we hope will be better all round.

St Mawes Surgery will have a Tuesday morning service from 8.30 am to 1 pm, instead of a very short afternoon surgery.  We are extending our opening hours at Portscatho with later appointments, and patients are now able to book early morning slots (from 7.30 am) with the Nurses over at Tregony and Portscatho.  We will also be offering pre-bookable telephone appointment slots throughout the day (from 7.30 am and after 6.30 pm as well),  so if you think you might just need a ‘phone call, rather than a face-to-face consultation, please do ask the receptionist.

If you are able to give the receptionist even the briefest of detail about the reason why you need to be seen, he/she will be able to direct your appointment needs more appropriately.  

Medications Delivery Service 

Following a recent patient survey, we have decided to improve our patient Medication Delivery Service.  We are currently delivering medications to patients on a Tuesday (any time during the day) for those who find it difficult to access the surgeries.  However, after patient input, we are happy to provide an additional service on a Friday afternoon. This will be especially useful for patients who need medications urgently before the weekend.

If you would like to avail yourself of this service, either for Tuesdays or Friday afternoons, please let Becky, our Dispensary Supervisor know and she will organise it for you.  Please note however, we are unable to leave medication if you are not at home to sign for it.  If you need to go out, please ensure that someone is available to take responsibility for the delivery.  If you pay for your medication, you will be asked to pay for the prescription charges ahead of the delivery as we are unable to ask the driver to accept payments.

Card Payments 

Thanks to some new technology, we are now able to take card payments from you for prescriptions, private letters/medicals, private immunisations etc.

Currently, this facility is only at Portscatho Surgery but we may be able to extend this to our other sites over the next few months.  We will keep you posted. 

Are you up to date with immunisations? 

For older teenagers planning to travel to Europe, going to festivals and large events, it is really important that they have their meningitis vaccination, together with two doses of MMR.  Anyone who is awaiting A level results should consider these vaccines IF they have not already had them done – and certainly we’d like to be able to do this before you go to University!

If you are thinking of getting pregnant, please get your immunisation status checked.

The HPV immunisation which offers protection against the human papillomavirus will be offered to boys as well as girls in Year 8 and upwards from September 2019.  Please keep an eye out for information from your child’s school.

If your little one has not had a full complement of vaccinations, for whatever reason, please do not worry – it is never too late and most vaccinations can be caught up with.

If you are at all concerned, please book an appointment to see the Practice Nurse. She will be happy to check your immunisation history and offer you any vaccines that you are overdue.

‘Flu Clinics for the 2019 Season 

If there’s one thing that rolls around with alarming regularity, it’s our ‘flu season.  Plans are now in place for our first Saturday clinic which will be held on 5^th October 2019.    Please make a note of this in your diary and give the reception team a call early September to book your appointment.  Notices will of course go up in each of the surgeries, and slips will be attached to your prescriptions – so keep an eye out for further information – please don’t wait for a letter!

Please note:  this date is subject to confirmation of our ‘flu vaccine delivery.

We will be holding additional clinics at Tregony and St Mawes during late October and November – but if you can get to Portscatho, get that vaccination done sooner rather than later!

Are you eligible for a FREE NHS Health Check? 

If you are aged between 30 and 74 years of age and have no ongoing chronic condition (such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease), we are able to offer you a FREE NHS Health Check.  Please ask at reception if you would like to take up this offer.

If you DO have an ongoing chronic condition, we will invite you in to see the nurse for your annual check up as usual in your birthday month. If your birthday passes, and you haven’t heard from us, it’s worthwhile contacting reception and asking to speak to a member of the Admin Team for clarification.

St Mawes Playgroup 

St Mawes Playgroup leaders have put together an online survey that asks for comments and needs for childcare, and would be grateful if you could complete their survey. If you are happy to do this then please use the following link:

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/GGKZDRJ

Roseland Surgeries Patient Group 

We have a very active, and pro-active, Patient Group which meets at Portscatho Surgery every month.

Thanks to the hard work of this group, we have lots of activites on offer for our patients – Arts, Painting for Fun, Singing for Fun, Walking groups in Portscatho and St Mawes, Ping Pong, our Café Roseland and Café Veryan and a drama group for our children.

These activities are available to all our patients,  often free of charge, asking only for a donation to help with running costs/refreshments.

If you’d like to know more, please check out the list of activities which can be found in the surgeries, on noticeboards around the Roseland – or just pop in and ask.

If you’d like to know more about becoming a member of the group please ask to speak to Nicola, the Practice Manager.  She will be very pleased to give you more information.

Sunscreen…….. 

At the time of writing this newsletter, the heavens have opened, the sky is grey and it does look a little bleak out there.  However, the summer is NOT over yet and reports are that it will get better towards the bank holiday.

Please remember that the sun is incredibly damaging to skin – especially for our little ones.  Whenever you are out, slap on that sunscreen (no lower than SPF30), and re-apply it at regular intervals.

Nicola Davies

Practice Manager

Dr. Will Hynds   MA  MB  BChir   MRCGP  DRCOG  DCH

Dr. Terese Tubman  BMed   MRCGP  DipFFP

Dr Jonathan Jacoby   MB  BCh  BSc (Hons)   MRCGP