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Winter Newsletter
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for the patients of The Roseland Surgeries
Christmas and New Year Bank Holidays
Christmas is round the corner – this year literally has just flown by!! So here is a little reminder of when the surgery will be open over the Festive Season.
Mon 25th Dec Xmas Day – surgery CLOSED
Tues 26th Dec Boxing Day – surgery CLOSED
Wed 27th Dec – open as usual 8.30 am
Thurs 28th Dec – open as usual 8.30 am
Friday 29th Dec – open as usual 8.30 am
Saturday 30th Dec – surgery CLOSED
Sunday 31st Dec – New Year’s Eve surgery CLOSED
Mon 1st January 2018 – surgery CLOSED
Tuesday 2nd Jan 2018 – open as usual 8.30 am
Although we are only closed for two working days over Christmas (as we always would be), this year the holiday straddles a weekend again and thus it will feel like we are closed for longer. If you will need medication over the holiday period, do please remember to order it in good time – perhaps no later than 15th December. This will allow the dispensary time to order any drugs that we don’t hold in stock and get your medications ready in plenty of time so you are not rushing around on Christmas Eve unnecessarily.
It would be inappropriate to use the emergency services to request regular, repeat medication when the surgery is closed. We are very grateful to our patients for their help and co-operation at this busy time.
Have you had your Flu Vaccination???
Just a reminder that Flu Vaccination Clinics are currently underway. We have a few vaccines left here and there with appointments available at all three surgery sites through November and December. We are offering the quadrivalent vaccine which provides protection against FOUR strains of the ‘flu virus. Do call us to book your appointment now. Remember, if you are in an ‘at risk’ group, your GP recommends this very important immunisation every year.
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 or shingles, which are often given at the same time.
Keep Warm and Well this Winter
Cornwall Council has launched its Winter Wellbeing programme for 2017 to keep you warm, well, happy and safe during the winter. More information can be found here:
http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/winterwellbeing
They have also launched a one stop telephone number to offer advice and support on things such as helping with fuel bills, insulation, switching energy tariffs and emergency funds for vulnerable people who can’t afford to heat their homes.
The telephone number is: 0800 954 1956
Our Nursing Team
We thought it would be helpful to let our patients know what tasks each of our Practice Nurses can undertake. Sue, our most experienced Practice Nurse is able to do everything you would expect a Practice Nurse to do and works 1½ days a week. Sue is our Lead Practice Nurse for Diabetes and works at both Tregony and Portscatho.
Jess is taking the lead for our Respiratory patients (asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). She works 4½ days a week and works at all three surgery sites.
Rosemary is our Treatment Room Nurse and in addition to taking bloods, she undertakes the lion’s share of our dressings. She can also provide ECGs and ear syringing. Rosemary works at both Portscatho and St Mawes surgeries.
Lesley is our phlebotomist, based at Tregony Surgery and she works two mornings a week. Lesley usually has appointments available at short notice.
St Mawes Surgery and Flu Clinics
A concern was raised from a patient who felt that we should be providing a ‘mass’ vaccination clinic over at St Mawes. Although we have held a few ‘flu clinics over at each of our surgery sites, we are unable to provide a ‘mass’ vaccination clinic to a larger-than-normal number of patients at St Mawes for a couple of reasons. We thought it would be helpful to outline those reasons here.
The car parking and the hall next door to the surgery provide excellent facilities but unfortunately, the issue is the surgery building itself. St Mawes Surgery has only one consulting room on the ground floor used by the GP seeing patients. We have two consulting rooms on the second floor for the nurses, but for patients with mobility issues, this presents a problem. The use of the hall after the vaccination, would be of great help, but it is the flow of traffic into the building prior to and just after vaccinations which presents the logistics issues given the number of patients we could potentially vaccinate in a ‘mass’ clinic
We are aware that some residents of St Mawes express their concern that the surgery is closing. This is untrue. We do understand that our patients in St Mawes expect to receive no less of a service than that which we provide at Portscatho. We therefore ensure that ‘flu clinics are offered at all three surgery sites so that if anyone cannot make a clinic at Portscatho, they have an opportunity to visit their local branch on another date.
Additional Help for the Housebound
If you are housebound, there may be healthcare services available to you at home such as dental checks and eye tests. Please call NHS on 111 to find out more. Some services provide additional support for people newly discharged from hospital, those at risk from falls, or worried about a friend or relative with early signs of dementia. You can contact the Age UK Cornwall Helpline (01872 266 383) to see what help is available to you.
The ‘Welcome Home’ Service is for people recently discharged from hospital, to have the help and support they need to manage. This looks at getting them settled at home, and the social networks around them – have they got friends, family or neighbours they can rely on for help and support or do they need volunteers or paid services bringing in to support them, to combat any loneliness and isolation? Welcome Home is delivered by trained volunteers. If you have recently been discharged from hospital and need a visit, their telephone number is: 01872 265 300.
If you are interested in becoming a volunteer for this service, please contact Volunteer Cornwall on 01872 266 988
Antibiotics are not for everything!
You may have seen an advertisement released by the Dept of Health to try and raise awareness of the over-use of antibiotic medicines. Antibiotics are important medicines for treating bacterial infections but we know that bacteria can adapt and find ways to resist treatment. This means antibiotics are losing their effectiveness at an increasing rate. The more we use antibiotics, the greater the chance bacteria will become resistant to them and they can no longer be used to treat infections. Antibiotic resistance is one of the most significant threats to patients’ safety is driven by their over-use.
To slow down the development of antibiotic resistance, it is important to use antibiotics in the right way by using the right drug, at the right dose, at the right time, for the right duration. Antibiotics should be taken as prescribed, and never saved for later or shared with others.
Antibiotics have no effect upon viral infections such as colds or flu and it is important that we limit antibiotic use only to bacterial infections that won’t get better on their own.
If your GP does not feel that antibiotics are an appropriate treatment, please be guided by their expertise and experience. Your GP will be able to offer advice on the most appropriate treatment for your symptoms if you have a viral illness.
Christmas Wishes
As this will be the last newsletter before the festivities commence, the partners, staff and I should like to take this opportunity to wish our patients and their families a very Merry Christmas and a happy (and healthy!) New Year.
Nicola Davies
Practice Manager
Dr. Will Hynds
Dr. Terese Tubman
Dr Jonathan Jacoby The Roseland Surgeries