OntheRidge …ummer 2009

Tiny TipThe importance of water to thebody cannot be emphasisedstrongly enough. We are alwaysbeing encouraged to drink morewater, but it is often easier said thandone, and we can forget. If you taketablets regularly, how about drinking afull glass of water with them, insteadof just a mouthful to wash themdown? And the occasional glass ofwater INSTEAD of a coffee or teawould probably mean you wouldn’thave that biscuit!

Newsletter from the Ridgeway Surgery Patient Group

Polyclinic Opening

In this issue…Alexandra Ave Polyclinic openshow will it affect you?YOUR HEALTH! YOUR LIFE!Swine Flu informationHelping the Doctors run on timeRSPG Events : Arthritis Eve &

‘Thinking of Starting a Family?’The Importance of WaterStop SmokingIBS ProgrammeHousebound LibraryUseful Numbers

The opening of the Alexandra Ave Polyclinic was an opportunity, for some ofus from the RSPG, to look round the facilities and see some of the state of theart equipment in place, as well as meet some of the other invited guestsincluding MP Gareth Thomas, The Mayor, the PCT (Primary Care Trust) ChiefExecutive and Claire Rayner. Read more on pages 6 & 7.

Swine flu is spreading fast in the UK with several hundred new cases beingconfirmed daily. Typical Symptoms are sudden fever (a high body tempera-ture of over 38C or 100.4F), and sore throat. Other symptoms may includesudden cough, headache, tiredness, chills, aching muscles, limb or jointpain,diarrhoea or stomach upset, runny nose, sneezing, and loss of appetite.If you have these symptons and are concerned, stay at home and call yourGP . If swine flu is confirmed, ask a healthy friend or relative to visit your GPto pick up a document entitling you to antiviral medication. Your GP will thenadvise them where to pick the medication up from (a local pharmacy orsimilar). High Risk categories include people over 65 and under 5yrs,pregnant women, people with: chronic (long-standing) lung disease, chronicheart disease, chronic kidney disease, chronic liver disease, chronicneurological disease (neurological disorders include MotorNeuron disease, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease),immunosuppression, diabetes and people who have had asthma drugs withinthe last 3 years. It is vital that people in these higher-risk groups who catchswine flu get antivirals and start taking them as soon as possible.If you have access to the internet - for up to date information go to tothe following link:

http://www.nhs.uk/AlertsEmergencies/Pages/Pandemicflualert.aspx

We invite all Ridgeway Surgery Patients to:the 2nd year healthy living event

Fresh fruit & vegetablesCheck your bloodpressure

Come and find outWhy Walking Works!YOUR HEALTH!

YOUR LIFE!

Do you know youralcohol measures?

HEALTHY TEETH& GUMS

Find out your BMIBody Mass Index

(bodyfat)

Cholesterol Advice

SWINE FLU (information as of 17th July)

Helping Us Run on Time…by Dr Small on behalf of the Doctors & Nurses

We know from experience and from our Patient Surveys that one of the thingsyou would like us to improve the most is to run more to time. We also knowthat you understand that sometimes we are unable to run to time becauseunexpected things happen and occasionally people in front of you need thatlittle bit more time to explain things.However, in collaboration with our Ridgeway Surgery Patient Group, we havecome up with a few ideas that we can all do to help us provide a better service:

What you can do to help:· Arrive on time – we know this sounds strange when we are running late!

However, often we lose time when people are late and we have to try andfit them back in. Sometimes this isn’t possible and they have to rebook butwe do try.

· Book a “Double Appointment” if you have a lot to discuss, need to use aninterpreter or you have been asked to do so when you were last seen.

· Appreciate there is a limit to the number of conditions we can discuss in a10 minute appointment. If you want to discuss 4 things that would only be2.5 minutes per problem, which is unlikely to do them justice. So if you havemore than 1 thing to discuss – tell us at the beginning so we can try tomanage the time better

· Each appointment is for one person. If you want to discuss your child oranother family member then you will need to book 2 appointments.

· Specimens – if you think you will need to provide a urine specimen then askfor a white pot at reception. This is true for all pregnant women for allappointments.

· Prescriptions – if you need a repeat prescription, then please don’t ask forit during the consultation, but request it via reception.

· Paperwork – if you need a form completed then please don’t expect it to bedone during the appointment as it could be done at the end and picked uplater.

What we can do as well:· Start on time – we sometimes are unrealistic about how much we can

achieve before our surgeries start, but we will try harder to start on time.· Reduce interruptions – we will try to reduce the things that interrupt us

during our surgery time.· Plan for known problems – we are often interrupted when we are on call for

emergencies but we will try to adapt our surgeries to give us some spaceto deal with these.

· Keep you better informed about delays – if we are runningparticularly late, we will try and keep you informed.

Thinking of Starting a Family?Thurs May 7th

Mr A Priddy, ConsultantGynaecologist from TheNorth West London Hos-pitals NHS Trust, talkedto us about how to stayhealthy both before andduring pregnancy. Theimportance of needingFolic Acid early and thedanger of Rubella wasalso covered in this veryinformative presenta-tion.

Folic acid is important in protecting your unborn baby fromneural tube defects such as spina bifida.Folic acid is a B vitamin. It occurs naturally in foods such as beansand pulses (e.g. lentils), green vegetables, and yeast and beef extracts.Some foods are also fortified with folic acid (this means they have folic acidadded to them), such as certain breads and breakfast cereals. Check thelabels on the packaging. Products with extra folic acid should display around symbol with the letter F in the centre.How will folic acid protect my baby?When a baby’s spine doesn’t develop properly in the womb, it's born withwhat's known as a neural tube defect (NTD). A well-known NTD isa condition called spina bifida. This can potentially happen during anypregnancy.However, research shows that taking the right amounts of folic acidcan significantly reduce the chances of your baby being born with an NTD.How long do I need extra folic acid for?The Department of Health recommends that you start taking folic acid assoon as you stop using contraception. This is because it can be hard toknow exactly when you'll conceive, and the baby’s spine develops verysoon after conception.Folic acid should be taken until your 12th week of pregnancy. You shouldtake a 400 microgram (400mcg) supplement of folic acid every day and eatfoods that are rich in folic acid.

For more information go to www.nhs.uk and search for Folic Acid

What an overwhelming response we had to our Arthritis Informationevening held in June. We had 40 acceptances but had over 70 bodieson the night! We will be discussing ways in which we could make itmore comfortable for future events. A sound system perhaps, and wewould have to ask for all seats to be booked in advance so that we knowthe number of people coming and if numbers are high, we could hold it atanother venue.We would appreciate your opinions on this. Perhaps a local church hall (butwe would have to hire that) or we could repeat the evening - although thatwould have its own expenses. What do you think?Drop us a line via Reception, or email us on rspatientgroup@hotmail.com.

Dr Brian Doherty gave us a general talk on Arthritis covering the reasonswe get Osteoarthritis (‘wear & tear’ arthritis) and some things we can do toreduce the impact of it on our lives. Kay Baker, physiotherapist, was goingto do some easy exercises with us, but space denied her that option so sheadvised us on movement and fitness and emphasised that moving jointsfrequently and not sitting for too long in one position was the key to keepingthe pain away. She had some exercise sheets that were distributed. DianeBatt from Arthritis Care found much of her talk had been covered by theother two speakers, but she spoke of a few personal experiences and hadsome interesting hand outs that people took away with them.

Please do let us know what type of Information Evenings you would finduseful. So far we have covered Relaxation, Diabetes, ‘Thinking of Startinga Family’, Arthritis and of course our Healthy Living Event last September.

Sat October 10th is the date this year... See page 2!

The Polyclinic Openingand how it will affect Ridgeway Patients

The two questions Lord AraDarzi ‘the brains behind polyclinics’askedme as chair of the Patient Group, atthe official opening of our first poly-clinic in Harrow were: 1. Were the

views of the Ridgeway Patient Group sought prior to the Practice becomingin the Polyclinic? And 2. What do patients of the practice think aboutservices at the Polyclinic? On behalf of the group I was able to tell him that‘yes we had been asked our views’; namely that we wanted assurances thatthe involvement of practice staff in the venture would not have any adverseeffect on the services in existence and would in fact make for an improvedservice for patients of the practice, as well as others.A number of patients, knowing my involvement in the patient group hadalready ‘collared’ me and without any prompting on my part had told me thatthey had greatly appreciated being able to access a doctor or nurse fromthe practice particularly on a weekend or in the evening. A number of otherHarrow residents had said how they felt that the service enabled them toget medical help quickly and conveniently when their own Practice was notable to give them an appointment for several days. In one case the patientsaid that if it had not been available they may have gone to accident andemergency!Continuity of care was a real concern of some. Ridgeway patients have theadded benefit of seeing one of ‘our’ Practice Doctors who has access to ourrecords. For patients of other practices, the 12 hour, 7 day a week accessis the feature they appreciate and of course it provides a service also topeople who have not yet registered with any doctor – making healthcaremore readily available to a wide range of people.Now that the bunting and balloons have gone, the work to improve thehealth of us all continues. We are working on a brief questionnaire toevaluate the opinion of patients about the polyclinic. Please keep an eyeopen for it and spare a few minutes to let us know your experience andviews. We are also trying to influence the powers that be, to get a direct busservice from North Harrow to the Polyclinic.If you have not already ‘signed up’ as a member of the Patient Group, dopick up a form from the notice board, fill in your details and give it in toreception, we will the try to keep you informed of our activities.Paula Crouch

POLYCLINICWhat is a Polyclinic?A Polyclinic is a Centre which offers a range of different services includingsome that you would normally find within a hospital; such as out patientappointments and community services including Family Planning clinics,Podiatry (foot care) services, minor surgery operations and GP services.

Alexandra Avenue Centre is also the site where other community servicesare provided such as Child and Adolescent Mental Health services andSocial Care Family Centres.

We will be providing GP services to our registered patients, patients regis-tered with other GPs and to those who are not registered with any GP.Appointments are bookable or patients can walk in and wait to be seen.What will this mean for me?This is great news for Ridgeway Surgery patients. The range of appoint-ments and services provided at the Ridgeway Surgery site will remainunchanged but in addition,you will have access to the services atAlexandra Avenue. You will be able to book an appointment at the clinicduring our opening times to see either a doctor or a nurse. We will also havesome appointments for blood tests both during the week and at the weekend.

Does this mean our doctors and nurses will be based there instead?No. All the doctors and nurses will spend some time each week at theAlexandra Avenue site but we will all still be providing our surgeries at theRidgeway. This could mean that your usual doctor may be at the AlexandraAve site on a particular session that you wish to book for. You arewelcome to book to see them there instead, or pick another surgery timeduring the week. We will be having additional doctors and nurses join theteam in the coming months and some will be familiar faces.

Will you still have access to all of my notes at Alexandra AvenueYes. We will have the same electronic system operating at both sites andthe doctors and nurses who see you will see everything that is currently inyour electronic records. If you need to see us at the weekend or in theevening, you are now able to see a doctor who will have access to yourmedical history in exactly the same way as they would during the week.

Will the telephone number be different?Alexandra Avenue Centre does have a different telephone number -Tel: 0208966 6300 - but you will still be able to phone the surgery to make a bookingif you prefer.

See our Notice board for the full list of questions & answers.

But why is water so importantto our body?Blood is mostly water, and yourmuscles, lungs, and brain all containlarge amounts of water too.Your body needs water to:· regulate body temperature· help dissolve minerals and nutri-

ents to make them accessible tothe body

· provides the means for these nutri-ents to travel to all your organs.

· transport oxygen to your cells:via the blood stream, nutrients,oxygen, glucose and fats are trans-ported to the various tissues andcells

· Flush out waste and so lessen theburden on the liver and kidneys

· lubricate and protect your joints andorgans

· be a component of tears which lubri-cate the eyes and of saliva to pro-vide lubrication to food which aidschewing, swallowing and digestionof food.

· Moisten tissues, such as thosein the eyes, mouth and nose

· Help prevent constipation

Your body is estimated to be about 60 to 70 percent water.Next to oxygen, water is the most essential element to humanlife, we can survive only a few days without it. Most of usunderstand that staying hydrated is an important part of a healthy lifestyle.When we become dehydrated there are many complications that could set in.Dehydration occurs on several levels including cellular. When you are dehy-drated, the very cells that populate every organ & system of your body, aredehydrated. So, every system & organ can be affected by cells that functionless effectively potentially leading to all kinds of disorders.If you are not getting enough water, your body will react by pulling it from otherplaces, including your blood. This causes the closing of some smaller vessels(capillaries), making your blood thicker and more susceptible to clotting.

Studies show that themajority of healthy peo-ple meet their daily hy-dration needs by lettingthirst be their guide.Recognising your thirstand your body's ongoing need forwater is essential to the health andproper functioning of your body.Even dry lips are a tell-tale signyou are already dehydrated.We are ‘using up’ the water in ourbodies even when we breathe! Haveyou noticed how thirsty you are whenyou wake in the mornings.

� The average person losesaround 2.5 litres of water a day.Some water is replacedthrough food but we still needto consume at least 1500ml ofwater per day from drinks, tomake up the remainder.

� In the hot weather, when wealso lose water through sweating,drink regularly even if you do notfeel thirsty. Try to avoid alcohol,tea and coffee and eat more coldfood, particularly salads and fruit,which contain water.

Non NHS vaccinations & medicinesIn line with other surgeries in the area, the Ridgeway has reluctantlydecided to charge patients for providing a prescription for non NHSvaccinations and medicines. Private prescriptions will be charged at £10 aprescription.

R.I.B.S.The Ridgeway Irritable Bowel Syndrome (R.I.B.S) self help group meets

on the first Tuesday of most months in the surgery 7.30pm-9 pm

Tue 1st Sept: Anna Lovelock - Stott Pilates Instructor‘PILATES, POSTURE and IBS’

Tues 6th Oct: Andrea Cooke MCAHyp. Hypnotherapist‘GUT FEELINGS'

Tue 3rd Nov: Vanitha Subba Dietician Northwick Park Hospital‘EAT WELL THIS CHRISTMAS'

For additional information you will find the printed programme for theyear on the notice board inside the front door of the surgery.

Sheila Monaghan 020 8357 0780

Stop Smoking – Start Living!Your local NHS stop smoking service offers free andconfidential help and advice from fully trained staff. Withour help, you are 4 times more likely to succeed than going it alone.We provide specialist stop smoking groups and one to one sessions at var-ious locations in the community and workplaces.

The six week group sessions will give you help and support from a trainedadvisor together with other smokers who also want to quit. If you’d preferone to one sessions, these are available at various pharmacies acrossborough. They are flexible and you can book the weekly appointments at atime and place suitable for you over the five weeks Specialist support andadvice is also available for pregnant smokers.

Both parts of the service provide nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) – it isfree if you get free NHS prescriptions or a one-off prescription charge of£7.20 covers the 5 weeks if you usually pay for prescriptions. You’ll getweekly carbon monoxide (CO) readings to show you how you’re improvingand to help keep you on track.If you would like more information or want to use our service please giveus a call. Harrow Stop Smoking Team on 0208 966 1008.

“This service is a lifeline!”We often hear these words in the course of our work as we travel

around the borough in a council van. We have even been told “You havechanged our lives!”Who are we? Staff and volunteers of the Housebound Library Service, partof Harrow Libraries. What is in the van? Books!What do we do? We deliver books every four weeks to people in their ownhomes who, for one reason or another, are unable to get to a library, but arekeen readers. We also visit care homes and sheltered accommodation.

The books come in a variety of formats. We have books in standard print,LARGE PRINT, and audio books on cassette and compact disc. We are askedfor every subject imaginable, from Mills & Boon romances to Quantum physics,and from the latest bestselling novel to particular interests such as art, sport orhistory. Customers are encouraged to make requests for specific books. Thereis no limit to the number of books they can have each month.

For those who wish to read about a particular condition or illness we havebooks to keep them informed. We can also help people relax with books writ-ten by their favourite authors.

We deliver books in a wide range of languages to people whose first languageis not English. We also can provide music cassettes and CDs, videos andDVDs and jigsaws. If you would like to know more about this service, foryourself or for someone else, please contact:

Harrow Housebound Library ServiceTelephone: 020 8424 1058 Email: housebound.library@harrow.gov.uk

Attention all Patient Group ‘members’ !If you have already registered with us by filling in a form, you will have beenasked whether you would like your newsletter hand delivered to you.We now have nearly 900 members (fantastic!) and as the vast majority ofthose are NOT online members, we are having difficulty getting thenewsletters delivered. So we are reviewing our distribution policy andwould like you to complete this tear off slip and return it to reception asap (oremail reply to rspatientgroup@hotmail.com). I am happy to:� receive the newsletter & invitations to health events by email link

(confirm email address)............................................................................� collect a copy of the newsletter at the surgery or Polyclinic (tick) ........� I am unable to collect a newsletter & need one delivered (tick) ...........

Name & address PLEASE PRINT ..............................................................................................................................................Tel No...........................I would like to help on your delivery team! YES / NO (pls circle answer)Thank you ... please hand this in to reception

Glossary (list) of ‘Every Day Medical Terms

· phlebotomist (pro. Fleu-bot-o-mist) a person trained to drawblood, either for laboratory tests or for blood donations.

· triage (pro. Tree-arge) this is the process of assessing a condi-tion to see how important/urgent it is.

· antenatal (pro. anti-nae-tal) occurring before birth.

· Postnatal (pro post-nae-tal) occurring after birth.

· dermatology (pro. der-ma-tol-ojy) study of skin conditions

· hypertension (pro. hi-per-ten-shun) high blood pressure

· Anticoagulation (pro. anti-co-ag-u-lay-shun) the treatment ofgiving drugs to stop or slow down the thickening of the blood(blood clot)

Dehydration (pro. De-hi-dray-shun) Dryness resulting fromlack of water

Treatment Centres:

· GP Surgery - Local Doctors· GP Lead Health Clinic - a clinic with GP services, extended

hours and walk-in appointments. Nearest Alexandra Ave.· Polyclinic - all of the above with added services available in

the same building (see page 7). Nearest Alexandra Ave.· Urgent Care Centre - GP lead services. Nearest is situated

next door to A&E at Northwick Park Hospital. No x-ray facilities.These are usually for the patients that are sent by the A&Ewhen the patient does not need the hospital’s services.

· Minor Injury Unit - Minor Injuries Units are for less seriousinjuries, such as sprains, cuts and grazes. Many people go toA&E when they could be treated just as well and probablyquicker at a Minor Injuries Unit. Our Nearest MIU is at MountVernon Hospital with x-ray facilities.

If unsure of where to go, call - NHS Direct on 0845 4647

Useful numbers & websites

Alcoholics Anonymous National Helpline: 0845 769 7555

Allergy UK Helpline info@allergyuk.org 01322 619898

Alzheimer's Society Harrow & Hillingdon Branch 07923 823999

Asthma UK Adviceline 0800 121 6244

Beat - beating Eating Disorders help@b-eat.co.uk 0845 634 1414Beat Youthline fyp@b-eat.co.uk 0845 634 7650

Epilepsy Helpline 0808 800 5050

Lupus UK Head office 01708 731251

MS (Multiple Sclerosis) Helpline 0808 800 8000

National Eczema Society 0800 089 1122

Supportline helpline - need someone to talk to? 01708 765200

The Ridgeway Surgery71 Imperial Drive

North HarrowHA2 7DU

Tel: 020 8427 2470www.ridgeway-surgery.co.uk

The Surgery Reception Hours:Mon - Fri 8am - 6.30pm

What’s on Your Mind? send us a letter via ReceptionOr email us at rspatientgroup@hotmail.com

Alexandra Ave ClinicAlexandra Avenue

South HarrowHA2 9DX

Tel: 020 8966 6300Open daily Mon-Sun

8am - 8pm

No appointment necessary

Ridgeway Surgery Patient Group