IN S I D E TH I S I S S U E

RCGP practice accreditation Disease focus – Fibromyalgia

NHS reforms – Public Health England

Self Help group – British Thyroid Foundation

Benefits – Personal Independence Payment (PIP)

Winte r 2013

Volume13 I ssue 2

Moor Green Lane Newsletter

News at the surgery

We say goodbye to Dr. Hema Sagal who has completed her attachment at the surgery and moves on with her further training as a GP and we also welcome Dr.Tara Khan our new FY2 trainee

National annual GP awards- Moor Green Lane was shortlisted as one of the finalists for the Cardiovascular disease team of the year 2014.

Dr.Ramachandram’s respiratory work for the trust was also recognised as one of the finalists for the Respiratory team award and Commissioner of the Year award with the previous HOB PCT. Read more about this on our website address below:

Go to www.nhschoices and type in postcode B13 8QS to

find us.

We are proud to announce that Moor Green Lane Medical Centre has been awarded the prestigious Royal College of General Practitioner (RCGP) Practice Accreditation Award. Practice Accreditation (PA) is a quality standard aimed and tailored specifically for General Practice. PA is a thoroughly tested framework that enables practice teams to improve their organisational systems and processes to deliver safe and quality care to their patients. This is similar to achieving the ISO standards or BSI kitemark in industry, ensuring that products and services are safe, reliable and of high quality. The PA have been developed in partnership with the University of Manchester and in collaboration with the General Medical Council, Royal College of Nursing, Care Quality Commission, Department of Health, NHS Confederation Primary Care Trusts and Patient Participation Groups. To achieve accreditation, practices must submit evidence to show that they meet 78 criteria within the domains of health inequalities, provider management, premises management, provider teams, learning organisations and supporting patients and carers. The evidence is then assessed by trained RCGP assessors. Practices have 18 months from registration to complete the process and once accredited, the award is valid for three years. Our journey to achieve accreditation took 12 months led by our senior nurse Phil Ward. Everybody worked exceptionally hard and we would like to thank all our staff and patients for their unremitting support & contribution to this award. Achieving PA has enabled our practice to demonstrate that it has appropriate systems in place to protect patients and provide continually improving quality and responsiveness in patient care. We are the first practice in Birmingham to achieve this award and one of only 7 practices in the UK (over 10,000 practices) with this award. This is a great achievement and we are delighted to share it with you.

Merry Christmas and Merry Christmas and Merry Christmas and Merry Christmas and Happy Happy Happy Happy New YearNew YearNew YearNew Year Surgery Opening Times Tue 24/12/2013 – 8am -6.30pm Wed & Thurs 25

th & 26

th Dec -Closed

Fri 27/ 12/2013 – 8am-6.30pm Sat 28

th & Sun 29

th Closed

Mon 30/12/2013 – 8am -6.30pm Tues 31/12/2013 – 8am -6.30 pm Wed 01 /01/2014 – Closed

Thurs 2/1/2014 onwards normal opening times

Page 2 Moor Green Lane Newsletter

Local authorities have been given renewed

responsibility for public health as part of the health and

social care reforms introduced in April 2013, alongside

dedicated funding and a new public health outcomes

framework. Public Health England (PHE) was

established on April 1 2013 to bring together public

health specialists from more than 70 organisations,

including the former Health Protection Agency (HPA),

into a single public health service. PHE employs 5,500

staff, mostly scientists, researchers and public health

professionals. PHE operates from 15 local centres and

four regions (north of England, south of England,

Midlands and east of England, and London). PHE works

closely with public health professionals in Wales,

Scotland and Northern Ireland, and internationally.

Their mission is to protect and improve the nation’s

health and to address inequalities. Some of their

responsibilities include making the public healthier by

encouraging discussions, advising government &

supporting action by local government, the NHS and

other people and organisations. Another key task is

protecting the nation’s health through the national

health protection service, and preparing for public

health emergencies.

In 2013 and 2014, PHE's priorities will be:

o helping people to live longer, healthier lives by

reducing preventable deaths and the burden of ill

health associated with smoking, high blood

pressure, obesity, poor diet, poor mental health,

insufficient exercise, and alcohol

o reducing the burden of disease and disability in life

by focusing on the prevention and recovery from

those conditions with the greatest impact, including

dementia, anxiety, depression, & drug dependency

o protecting the country from infectious diseases and

environmental hazards, including the growing

problem of antibiotics resistant infections

o supporting families to give children and young

people the best start in life, through working with

health visiting and school nursing, family nurse

partnerships, & the Troubled Families programme

o improving health in the workplace by encouraging

employers to support their staff, and those moving

into and out of the workforce, to lead healthier lives

o promoting the development of place-based public

health systems

o developing the capacity and capability to provide

professional, scientific and delivery expertise to

PHE partners

.

The patient participation group has met twice this year in July and in December. We helped with the 20th anniversary celebrations which was a great success. Over 110 patients & friends of the surgery attended and 82 flu vaccinations were given on the day. Several new members have joined the PPG and there are also a growing number of virtual group members. At our last meeting we discussed the RCGP award, the latest patient survey results, the surgery friends and family test pilot survey, trial of 15mins appt slots and briefing from our CCG partnership team. If you would like to get involved speak to Trish in reception.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP)

PIP helps with some of the extra costs caused by

long-term ill-health or a disability if you’re aged

16 to 64. You could get between £21 to £134.40

a week. You must have a long-term health

condition or disability and difficulties with

activities related to ‘daily living’ & or mobility e.g.

preparing or eating food, washing, bathing and

using the toilet, dressing and undressing,

communicating, managing your medicines,

making decisions about money etc. You may get

the mobility component of PIP if you need help

with going out or moving around.

The rate depends on how your condition affects

you, not the condition itself. You’ll need an

assessment to work out the level of help you get.

Your award will be regularly reassessed to make

sure you’re getting the right support.

PIP is usually paid every 4 weeks. It’s tax free

and you can get it whether you’re in or out of

work. It’s made up of 2 components (daily living

& mobility component). Whether you get 1 or

both of these depends on how your condition

affects you. You’ll get the enhanced daily living

component if you’re not expected to live more

than 6 months. The rate of mobility component

depends on your needs. To claim ring DWP -

Personal Independence Payment claims

Telephone: 0800 917 2222

Page 3

Fibromyalgia is a chronic (long-term) pain condition. The pain is felt in many different places in the body. The word fibromyalgia means pain (algia) coming from the muscles (my) and fibrous tissues (fibro) such as tendons and ligaments. People with fibromyalgia often don’t sleep well so they feel very tired a lot of the time. Fibromyalgia does not affect the joints, and so is not an arthritis. About 1 in 50 people develop fibromyalgia at some stage. It is seven times more common in women than in men. In most cases it first develops between the ages of 25 and 55. It is less common in younger adults and is uncommon in children. Causes It’s not known what causes fibromyalgia. A number of theories and studies are currently being investigated to try to pinpoint the cause so that effective treatments can be developed. Researchers have found that people with fibromyalgia have high levels of certain pain chemicals in their nervous system and low levels of chemicals that can damp down a pain response. For these reasons it seems possible that, if you have fibromyalgia, you have a heightened sense of pain that lasts longer than would be expected. This is called central sensitisation. This may be due to various minor changes in brain chemicals. You will need to have had symptoms for at least three months before your GP can make a diagnosis of fibromyalgia. Symptoms o muscular pain felt in many areas of your body o generally feeling stiff, especially when you wake up o constant tiredness & sleeping badly o Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) o difficulty thinking clearly or remembering things o anxiety and depression o numbness, burning and tingling of your skin o sensitivity to cold o headaches o jaw joint dysfunction, which causes pain in and around your jaw joint o painful periods o an irritable bladder o Raynaud’s phenomenon, which is a reduction in the blood supply to your fingers and toes – this usually causes

them get very cold Diagnosis Diagnosing fibromyalgia can be difficult, as there is no specific test that can diagnose the condition. The symptoms of fibromyalgia can be varied and similar to those of several other conditions. Your GP will diagnose fibromyalgia based on your symptoms and by ruling out other conditions that could be causing them. Your GP may use specific ‘tender points’ to help in your diagnosis. He or she will put pressure on up to 18 different points on your body that have been found to be painful in people with fibromyalgia. If 11 or more of these points are painful, it’s possible you may have fibromyalgia. There are no blood tests, X-rays or scans that can diagnose or rule out fibromyalgia. However, in many cases you may be offered blood tests to rule out other serious conditions that may have similar symptoms to fibromyalgia. Treatment There is no cure for fibromyalgia. Treatments aim to reduce symptoms as much as possible. Over the years a range of different treatments have been advocated with variable rates of success. In 2007, a team of experts from 11 countries got together. They published a guideline called 'EULAR evidence-based recommendations for the management of fibromyalgia syndrome' o Exercise does not always help, but studies have shown that it improves symptoms in a good number of cases.

If you are able, consider gradually building up to more and more exercise. Stretching exercises such as yoga or Tai Chi may also help. Aerobic exercises which cause little pounding, such as walking, cycling and swimming, are thought to be the best form of exercise to improve symptoms.

o Heated pool treatment (balneotherapy) has been shown to improve symptoms in some cases. o Talking therapy called cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) may be useful for you. It helps to challenge

negative thoughts, feelings and behaviours. It involves you in setting your aims for how you hope CBT will help you and completing tasks set by your therapist.

o Medicines - Painkillers such as paracetamol, anti-inflammatory painkillers such as ibuprofen, or codeine may help to ease pain. However, they often do not work very well in fibromyalgia. Low dose antidepressants (tricyclics) may help. They boost the levels of certain neurotransmitters, such as serotonin, noradrenaline and dopamine which ease the pain& improve sleep. For more information : Fibromyalgia Association UK PO Box 206, Stourbridge, West Midlands, DY9 8YL Tel (Helpline): 0844 887 2444 Web: www.fmauk.org

Moor Green Lane Newsletter

Page 4 Moor Green Lane Newsletter

Disease focus : Lupus NHS reforms : Professional Standards Authority Self Help Group: Anxiety UK Benefits : Carer’s Allowance

Remember you can access practice information 24 hours of the day @: www.nhschoices.uk

In the next ISSUE (don’t miss it)

Practice Notice Board

Please remember that a routine GP appointment

is for 10 minutes. It is not possible to deal with more than one or two problems during this time and you may be asked to make a further appointment if necessary. This will help us run our surgeries on time.

We do not like to keep our patients waiting before they see the doctor but sometimes this is unavoidable. Please be patient and help us run on time by arriving promptly for your appointment.

If you have to cancel your appointment please do this in good time so that we can offer the appointment to someone else.

Please remember that our doctors work part time (see timetable above) and it is not always possible to see the doctor of your choice especially if you require an emergency appointment.

Telephone consultations: We try to see most patients within 48 hours. As an alternative, why not consider a telephone consultation. You can speak to the duty doctor every weekday between 12.30 to 1pm. Please remember the telephone lines are busy between 8.30-11.30am

Do you have an email address? If you do not mind us contacting you via email please provide us with your email address.

Doctor’s availability Day mon tue Wed thur fri

Time am pm am pm am pm am pm am pm

RAJ X X X X X X ALT

GEETI X X X X

SALIM X X X X ALT

NAIPAUL X X ALT

X X X

CHOWDHURY x x x x x x x x

KHAN x x x x x x x x

We now offer 34 doctor surgeries per week.

Dr. Raj will be in the practice on certain days but unable to see patients due to teaching and administrative commitments. He is also responsible for respiratory services & commissioning for SmartCare that takes him away from the practice from time to time. ALT = alternate week Late night surgery Wednesdays till 8pm

The British Thyroid Foundation (BTF) is a

registered charity, launched in 1992. The

principle aims of the BTF are to provide the

sufferer and the medical profession with

information, to establish regional support

groups, and to raise funds for research. BTF

members receive the following:

o 3 newsletters per year which include:

articles by medical professionals on various

aspects of thyroid disease, case histories,

information on local group activities, letters

and comments from members.

o A selection of information pamphlets.

o Details about thyroid books.

o Access to a medical advisory service. The

website has leaflets, quick guides, fact

sheets, patient stories, newsletters, & how

to get involved.

Address: 2nd Floor, 3 Devonshire Place,

Harrogate HG1 4AA Tel: 01423 709707/709448

Web: www.btf-thyroid.org

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