Elgar House NewsletterOur aim is to assist our patients to achieve a state of wellbeing, using the best primary and

secondary health care available to us.

Elgar House website

Please take a look at our website

www.elgarhousesurgery.co.uk

You will find information about the surgery and the services we offer. You will also find information about self-help and dealing with certain medical conditions and minor illnesses.

STAY HEALTHY THIS WINTER

With winter arriving, we are advising patients to be prepared and to look after themselves. Here we give you some tips for getting through winter and staying healthy.

If you are eligible for a flu jab and not already had one, please ring us to book an appointment for one as soon as possible, and certainly before we run out of stocks. Ask your doctor or nurse to give you a flu jab whilst you are at your appointment. Flu jabs help to protect you against serious complications of flu. See further info below.

If you get a cold, there’s no need to see the GP – antibiotics don’t work for viruses and you will get better simply by looking after yourself with paracetamol, drinking plenty and avoiding strenuous physical activity. Make sure you use disposable tissues and wash hands and surfaces regularly. Doing so will also help prevent the spread of the diarrhoea illness, norovirus, also called ‘Winter Vomiting Bug’. If your condition does deteriorate, or you don’t get better as quickly as you expect, please contact us or call NHS 111 for advice.

Make sure your medicine cabinet is stocked up with appropriate over the counter treatments like painkillers, antiseptic cream, plasters and cold remedies. Your pharmacist can advise you further on home remedies and self-help treatment for many minor conditions without the need to consult a doctor.

If you do need to see a doctor, ring us earlier in the day rather than later. We can always give advice. This helps us to plan our day effectively and give us more time to deal with your condition. If we are closed, you can always ring NHS 111 for advice. Walk-in centres are also available.

It sounds simple, but remember to stay warm at home, aiming to keep your main living area at 18-21ºC (64-70ºF) and the rest of the house at 16ºC (61ºF).

Look after yourself through winter and at all times of the year by eating healthily, getting enough sleep, avoiding smoking and excessive drinking and keeping your social contacts going. Every bit helps.

Don’t forget to fetch your repeat prescription well in time before the holidays. Even better, use our online service at www.patient.co.uk and order your prescriptions any time of day or night.

Finally check our website or NHS choices for further help and advice.

Should I get the Flu Vaccination?

For most people, flu is unpleasant but not serious. You will usually recover within a week.

However, certain people are at greater risk of developing serious complications of flu, such as bronchitis and pneumonia. These conditions may require hospital treatment.

The flu vaccine is offered free to people who are at risk, to protect them from catching flu and developing serious complications.

At Risk groups

It is recommended that you have a flu jab if you fall into one or more of the following categories:

are 65 years old or over

all pregnant women  (including those women who become pregnant during the flu  season)

all those aged two, three, and four years old (but not five years or older) on 31.8.16

all school-aged children who are part of the pilot childhood programme 

have a serious medical condition (see below)

are living in a long-stay residential care home or other long-stay care facility (not including prisons,

young offender institutions or university halls of residence)

people who are in receipt of a carer’s allowance, or those who are the main carer of an older or

disabled person whose welfare may be at risk if the carer falls ill 

are a frontline health or social care worker (see below)

If you are the parent of a child who is over six months old and has a long-term condition on the list below,

speak to your GP about the flu vaccine. Your child's condition may get worse if they catch flu.

Pregnant womenIt is recommended that all pregnant women should have the flu vaccine, whatever stage of pregnancy

they're in.

This is because there is good evidence that pregnant women have an increased risk of developing

complications if they get flu, particularly from the H1N1 strain.

Studies have shown that the flu vaccine can be safely and effectively given during any trimester of

pregnancy. The vaccine does not carry risks for either the mother or baby. In fact, studies have shown that

mothers who have had the vaccine while pregnant pass some protection to their babies, which lasts for the

first few months of their lives.

People with medical conditionsThe flu vaccine is offered free to anyone who is over six months of age and has one of the following

medical conditions:

chronic (long-term) respiratory disease, such as severe asthma that requires steroids or previous

hospital admission, COPD or bronchitis

chronic heart disease, such as heart failure

chronic kidney disease at stage three, four or five

chronic liver disease, such as hepatitis

chronic neurological disease, such as a stroke, TIA or post-polio syndrome

diabetes

a weakened immune system due to conditions such as HIV, or treatments that suppress the

immune system such as chemotherapy

If you live with someone who has a weakened immune system.

ChildrenAn annual nasal spray flu vaccine will be offered to all children aged two, three or four years on 1

September 2016 as part of the NHS childhood vaccination programme.

It will also be offered to children aged 2-18 with long-term health conditions like diabetes, heart disease and

lung disease.

Children aged six months to 2 years with long-term health conditions aren't able to have the nasal spray

and will get the injected flu vaccine instead.

Online Services

We are now offering new and improved online services.

You can:

Order repeat prescriptions

Book appointments with a Doctor 

View your medication, allergies and immunisation records.

View coded medical information

View documents dated from 1.2.16

To be able to use these services each patient will personally need to come in to surgery.  Please bring

photographic ID with you - passport or driving license.  (If you do not have photo ID we may accept 2

current utility bills showing your name and address.)

Please note this service is only available to patients aged 16 or over. 

Once you have been into surgery and registered, you will need to return

to collect your online ID.  

Once you have collected this please use the following link to patient

access and follow the simple instructions.

www.patient.co.uk

PRESCRIPTIONS

A New Way to Get Your Medications The Electronic Prescription Service

(EPS) is an NHS service which allows your GP to electronically send your

prescription for medication or appliances directly to a place of your

choice, this may be nearer home, work or where you shop.

Ask your pharmacy or dispensing appliance contractor to arrange this for

you. We cannot do this at the surgery.

EPS is reliable, secure and confidential. Your electronic prescription will

be seen by the same people in the GP practice, pharmacy, NHS

prescription payment and fraud agencies that currently see your paper

prescription now.

For more info visit www.hscic.gov.uk/epspatients.

An urgent message about appointments

Demand in the NHS is at an all-time high. This is reflected in rising

demand for appointments. We are as frustrated as you that we cannot

offer routine appointments any sooner. Please be patient with our staff

who are doing the best they can to offer you the appointments you want.

At a time of unprecedented stress in the system we need your support

more than ever and this starts with simple courtesy to our hard working

and dedicated practice team.

We are very grateful for your patience, and wish to assure you that we are

trying our best to make more appointments available as quickly as we

can.

Asking the reason for your appointment

With immediate effect, our receptionists may now be asking all patients for a brief reason for booking an appointment. This is to ensure that, where possible, you are booked with the most appropriate clinician. In some cases, once a reason has been given, it may become apparent that another service is more appropriate, for instance, A&E in case of an accident, a dentist if you have toothache or 999 in case of a suspected heart attack or stroke. In other case, another practitioner may be needed, such as a physiotherapist, or the district nurse.

We have a zero tolerance policy to abuse – our job is difficult enough as it is without having to deal with verbal or physical abuse or threats of abuse. We aim to treat our patients courteously at all times and expect our patients to treat our staff in a similar respectful way. Patients who abuse us will be removed from our list.

Have you signed up for the new online Diabetes Programme yet?This is an interactive and informative online programme that can help you manage your diabetes. If you are interested in having a free account all we need is your email address and we will do the rest.

HOME VISITS

Patients do not have an automatic right to a home visit.

Under their terms of working doctors are required to consider home visits for medical reasons only.

If you think you need a house call please ring the surgery before 10.30.

All visit requests will be medically assessed to check if appropriate.

MISSED APPOINTMENTS

Try not to miss your apt. We offer text reminders of your appointment and will confirm your appointment time and date with you when you book. Despite this, we do still however have many patients who miss their appt. By doing so, such patients waste precious appointment time, and will deprive other needy patients from seeing the doctor. Please be considerate: if you cannot attend, please let us know as soon as you can so that we can offer your appt to another patient.  

By asking the reason, our receptionists can then advise accordingly or book you in more appropriately. This is to improve the quality of the care that you receive.

If you wish to help yourself and be able to access the most appropriate care for your given reason or condition, please visit our symptom checker on NHS choices. You will be able to search for your problem online and be told who to turn to in the first instance. Many services are self-referral services, and will often enable you to get help more quickly than seeing a doctor or nurse.

We would like to reassure all patients that our staff adhere to a strict confidentiality policy and will not pry or ask detailed questions on the telephone. We respect your right to privacy and should you decline to give a reason, we will still book an appointment for you, but be aware that this may not always provide you with the most timely and appropriate care.

Changes!

GP

Dr Newman will return from maternity leave in March 2017.

Dr Shah is now working here full time.

Staff

From December, Leanne Wood will be our new Reception Manager. If you have any queries in relation to the services provided by our reception team please ask to speak to her.

We will also have a new Lead medical secretary – Susan Zaleska. If you have any queries in relation to referrals, solicitor or insurance reports etc please ask to speak to her.

Thank you for reading our newsletter.

If you have any ideas or suggestions on how we can improve the service we offer to our patients please come into surgery and fill out a suggestion form or contact us via our website.