Welcome to Weobley & Staunton-On-Wye Surgeries

Weobley and Staunton on Wye Surgeries Quarterly Newsletter

Please click on the link below to access our online newsletter for the latest Practice Updates. You can also find this on our Facebook page and physical copies are located in the Reception area at each site.

Christmas Newsletter 2023

COVID AND FLU CLINIC 2023 - UPDATE

The GP Patient Survey is an independent survey run by Ipsos on behalf of NHS England. The survey is sent out to over two million people across the UK. The results show how people feel about their GP practice.

Please click on the link to view the results for Weobley & Staunton Surgeries.  

https://gp-patient.co.uk/report?w=1&practicecode=M81018

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PATIENT FUND

We are very pleased to let our patients know that due to our generous patients, we have been able to purchase an ECG machine for each Surgery site.

These were kindly paid for with thanks to the patient fund. These will be extremely useful and we are very grateful that the patient fund has enabled us to purchase these for the use of all of our patients.

If any patients would like to donate to the patient fund, please call the surgery for more information on how to donate.

PRACTICE UPDATE

We are continuing to provide services as we have been throughout the Covid 19 pandemic and we are still there for anyone who may need care for an urgent need, but would ask for patience and respect.

Please don’t forget there are many services available for you, depending on your condition. These include:

· Self-care – This is the best choice to treat minor illnesses and injuries such as hangovers, coughs, colds, grazes, small cuts, norovirus or sore throats. Many of these can be treated at home, simply with over-the-counter medicines and plenty of rest.

· Pharmacy – Pharmacists can give advice on and treat a range of symptoms. They can support you with things such as diarrhoea, earaches, painful coughs, sticky eyes, teething and rashes.

· NHS 111 – You can access 111 online or via the telephone. This is for any urgent but non-life threatening health concerns. They will be able to signpost you to the relevant service and provide advice where appropriate or arrange for a healthcare professional to call you.

· A&E / 999 – You should only attend A&E or dial 999 in a life-threatening emergency such as severe bleeding, breathing difficulties and severe chest pain.

If you are now eligible for your COVID-19 booster please book it as soon as you can. It is vital as many people as possible get boosted as soon as possible. Please do not ring the practice regarding your booster, instead visit https://herefordshireandworcestershireccg.nhs.uk/covid-19-vaccine/vaccination-sites or call 119 to book an appointment.

If you are a housebound patient, there is a community team which will be coming out to you to vaccinate you, so please do not contact your GP as the team will be making contact with you.

Thank you for your patience towards our team who are continuing to work hard to support the vital vaccine booster programme roll out.

Thank you

Shared Care Update

New Shared Care Record delivering better, safer care for all our patients

We wanted to let you know that we are finally connecting our systems to offer joined-up health and care records, which will enable better, safer care and treatment for all our patients.

As a GP, it is difficult to provide joined-up care with so many separate systems for handling patient information. These were not connected, meaning that you often had to repeat your story each time you received care at a different organisation, or with a different health professional. The Shared Care Record means up-to-date records will be immediately available to professionals caring for you as a patient, when you need direct care.

It will mean, for instance, a doctor in a hospital, or a paramedic who attends a 999 call will be able to confidentially access the same crucial information that we can at the Practice, such as details of any allergies and current medications, bringing potentially life-saving benefits.

Robust security measures are in place to protect your health information and all staff must follow the law on keeping your information confidential.

The Shared Care Record is not the same as the General Practice Data for Planning and Research Directions (GPDPR), which is a national NHS Digital initiative to use GP practice data for research and planning purposes.

The Shared Care Record is a local initiative to share information with organisations directly involved in your care to ensure that you receive prompt and appropriate treatment when you need it. 

For more information, please visit: https://herefordshireandworcestershireccg.nhs.uk/health-services/shared-care-record

Shared Care Record - Privacy Notice Oct 22 - Updated 6/10/2022

COVID VACCINATION CERTIFICATES

We are unable to issue this certificate at the practice.

Please see https://www.gov.uk/guidance/demonstrating-your-covid-19-vaccination-status-when-travelling-abroad for further information.

Proof of your vaccination status will be available on the NHSapp.

The NHSapp can be downloaded from https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/nhs-app/id1388411277 for iPhone or https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nhs.online.nhsonline for android.

Alternatively you can call the NHS helpline on 119 and ask for a letter to be posted to you. This must be at least 5 days after you’ve completed your course of the vaccine, the letter may to take up to 5 days to reach you.

Kind regards 

Hayfever Sufferers

If we have identified you as having hayfever we would recommend you start to think about your treatment before the hayfever season starts. The NHS is not able to prescribe over the counter treatments for hayfever if the symptoms only last a few months.

Depending on what symptoms you usually develop please pick up the required medication over the counter now. It will make a big difference to your usual symptoms if you START YOUR STEROID NOSE SPRAY AND EYE DROPS ATLEAST 4-6 WEEKS BEFORE THE START OF THE SEASON. This will mean your symptoms are greatly reduced when the pollen arrives.

Before phoning to speak to a GP about your hayfever please make sure you have been taking the below for at least 6 weeks:

1. Beconase / alternative over-the-counter steroid spray
2. Sodium cromoglycate eye drops (one drop 4 times a day into both eyes) (or alternative mast cell stabiliser)
3. Anti-histamine of your choice eg certirizine / loratadine / piriton

For further information please see below links:

Hay Fever and Seasonal Allergies | Causes and Remedies | Patient

Hayfever 8pp DL (09022)_7_16.indd (entuk.org)

Blandford Fly Bites Advice

Coronavirus & Pregnancy - Guidelines from the Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists

The Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists have released comprehensive guidance on Coronavirus and pregnancy.

https://www.rcog.org.uk/en/guidelines-research-services/guidelines/coronavirus-pregnancy/covid-19-virus-infection-and-pregnancy/

Update Your Details with the Practice

We have recently made some updates to our new patient registration form and we would therefore wish to provide a medium for patients who are already registered at our Practice to update any relevant details with the Reception Team.

You can download the form from here and drop it back into the Reception Team at either Practice

or

you can ask at Reception for a form to complete and return

Sepsis Awareness

Sepsis is a life-threatening condition and needs emergency treatment, usually in hospital. The symptoms of sepsis may be vague and not specific so seek medical advice immediately if you have concerns. Currently around 250,000 people a year develop sepsis in the UK and of these about 46,000 die. You should always seek help if you, or anyone you're with, develop the symptoms. The Practice will be providing a copy of the Sepsis Leaflet below with all acute prescriptions of antibiotics to provide awareness, information and advice to patients and their carers and families on what to look out for.

Sepsis Information and Advice for Patients

Military Veterans Covenant

GP Practices are supporting the initiative to become 'Veteran Friendly'. As per the Armed Forces Covenant, all veterans are entitled to priority access to NHS care (including hospital, primary or community care) for conditions associated to their time within the armed forces (service related). However, this is always subject to clinical need and does not entitle you to jump the queue ahead of someone with a higher clinical need. Since the initiative started we have asked all our new patients whether they have ever been in the forces on our registration form, however those patients that have been registered at the Practice for some time may not be aware of this. If you have ever been a serving member of the Armed Forces do please let the Reception Team know and they will ensure your records are annotated with this information.

Further information is available within the Practice's Military Veterans Treatment Priority Policy

Admiral Nurses

We know that living with dementia can sometimes be a hard and lonely experience. Admiral nurses work together with families to provide the one to one support, expert guidance and practical solutions they need to live more positively with dementia each and every day.

Please talk to your GP about this new initiative.

Admiral Nurse Information

Are you Fit and Ready for your Surgery?

Herefordshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) recognises that lifestyle factors have a significant impact on the health of our population and place an increasing burden on our health economy. This trend is set to continue unless we make some changes to our lifestyle choices and in our approach to healthcare delivery. We recognise that we all have a part to play in making our communities healthier and we must work closely with the patients we serve and our highly skilled health workers who provide the support services to achieve this end. We set out to inspire you to get involved and share responsibility by taking the positive steps to ensure that you are fit for surgery and our investing in your lifelong health. Our aim is to support you to reduce your individual risk of complications before, during and after surgery and have the best possible outcome of care and enjoy an improved healthier lifestyle. By optimising your health, you may be able to influence the immediate outcome of surgery and impact on the level of benefit that you get from the procedure.

Further information is available below:

• Optimising your Health Guidance
• Are you Fit and Ready for Surgery Leaflet?

Helping Patients to Manage their own Online Referral

More referrals are being made electronically with the NHS e-Referral Service (e-RS). Using e-RS means practices have the chance to save time by helping patients manage their referral online.

The e-RS Manage Your Referral website is easy for patients to use. It allows you to book, check, change and cancel your appointments online without help from the practice.

Patients can take control and book their own appointment on a convenient date and time and at their preferred hospital or clinic if there is a choice. This means no more worried patients contacting the practice to find out what is happening with their appointment. Further information is available by clicking on the link below:

Manage Your Referral Online Leaflet

Social Media Patient Policy

There are many social media platforms that are widely used by both staff and patients; these include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn. At Weobley & Staunton on Wye Surgeries we have a Facebook page which provides a range of useful information for our patient population.

The Practice has a duty to maintain patient confidentiality and to safeguard vulnerable patients. You can help us achieve this by adhering to the Code of Conduct outlined in the policy below.

Social Media Patient Policy

Are you Living with Cancer?

Free Local support available for anyone affected by cancer. See Living with Cancer Leaflet for more details.

Accessible Information Standards

All organisations that provide NHS or adult social care must following the Accessible Information Standards (AIS) in full from 31st July 2016.

The AIS aims to make sure that disabled people have access to information that they can understand and any communication support they might need.

The standards tells organisations how to make information accessible to the following people:

• Patients
• Service users
• Their carers and parents

This includes making sure that people get information in different formats if they need it, such as:

• Large print
• Braille
• Easy read
• Via email

The AIS also tells organisations how to support people's communication needs. As part of the AIS organisations must:

• Ask people if they have information or communication needs and find out how to meet their needs
• Record those needs in a set way
• Highlight a person's file so it is clear that they have information or communication needs, and clearly explain how those needs should be met
• Share information about a person's needs with other NHS and adult social care providers, when they have permission or consent to do so
• Make sure that people get information in an accessible way and communication support if they need it

We will always do our best to try and provide this information as soon as possible but in some cases this may not be an instant service and further enquiries may need to be made.

Additional information can be found by following the links below:

• Accessible Information Patient Leaflet
• Access Information Guidance - NHS England
  

Partners in Care

Once registered, patients and healthcare professionals work together to ensure the most appropriate care is provided. This partnership philosophy extends even further and our active patient group exists to make sure that patient needs and the practice offering are always heading in the same direction.

Access

We have suitable facilities at both surgeries to accommodate patients and visitors who use a wheelchair. Both surgeries have parking and all facilities are accessible on the ground floor. Should you require help a member of staff will be pleased to assist you.

Feedback to the Practice

We always welcome constructive feedback from our patients as we continually strive to provide a better service for all. We would be most grateful if you would complete the questionnaire by clicking the link below.