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In August 2003 the Department of Health began a Pneumoccal vaccination campaign for people aged 80 and over. This part of the campaign has been completed and the invitation is now extended to those aged 65 and over and also to those people who were born with, or have developed any of, the following medical conditions.
Chronic heart disease
Chronic respiratory disease
Diabetes
Chronic kidney disease
Chronic liver disease
A weak immune system
An absent or poor functioning spleen
Cochlear implant(s)
A CSF shunt
Children under 5 years old who have previously experienced invasive pneumococcal disease should also be vaccinated.
We have recently introduced a new Practice Nurse to our surgery. Andrea comes to us with a wealth of experience, having worked both in the NHS and the Ministry of Defence. Andrea will be doing clinics for us on a Tuesday and a Wednesday.
The Practice today welcomes back Mrs.Lisa Sullivan from maternity leave.
The "fort" has been held by our Practice asst manager Mrs.Andrea Younger who has done a sterling job in Lisas temporary absence.
All the staff at Ludlow Hill Surgery would like to wish our patients the very best for the Christmas period,and a healthy 2006.
Please see the website in early December for the opening times.
Patients may notice that we are embarking on a repainting of the surgery.
This may cause a little upheaval at times,but we think that staff and patients will notice the benefit.
The main surgery will be done first,followed by reception and then the Doctor and Nursing s rooms
After a short absence whilst the site was upgraded,there has been little new News from LHS.
We apologise for this and hope that we will now bring monthly updates from the practice.
It was with some sadness that Ludlow Hill said goodbye and happy retirement to Beryl Mitchell (nee Brentnall) our long standing senior receptionist.
Beryl was one of the first receptionists at Ludlow Hill being here 11 years,and has seen the practice grow from a one doctor practice in a portakabin to our current size.
We wish Beryl and her husband Ray,all the very best for the future and she knows that she will be missed by all,and many of our patients who showered her with gifts in her last few days.
As mentioned in previous news items,there has been a new GP contract with multiple points for reaching quality standards.
The contract maximum score was 1050 based on clinical and administrative targets.
We were delighted with our final score of 1044,which is amongst the highest of the small practices in Nottingham.
Great credit for the work goes to all our staff,especially our practice manager Lisa Sullivan ,who drove through many of the changes needed to reach our targets.
All patients over 65 are now advised to have a pneumococcal vaccination.
The pneumococcal bug which causes pneumonia and other unpleasant illnesses has a number of different types.
The vaccine immunises against the commonest ones ,which can prevent 95% of pneumonias due to the bacteria.
Recently we have had a very successful influenza campaign,which was recognised by the local PCT as one of the most successful in Nottingham.
We hope to continue with the high standards we set for ourselves,and repeat this with the Pneumonia vaccine.
Prevention is better and easier than cure,so please see one of our nurses for this vaccine,which is only needed once.
Cover up with hats ,t-shirts and sunglasses-remember UV light gets through clouds,so you can burn even if the suns not visible.
Try to avoid sunbathing between 11 am and 3pm when the sun is at its highest.
Use a minimum Sun protection 15 cream ,every 2hours minimum.
Use this especially in children: remember getting burnt 6 times in childhood can more than double your risk of skin cancer.
Try to keep babies out of the sun at all times.
More than 7000 people were diagnosed with malignant melanomas last year,and UK has more deaths from skin cancer than Australia.
Melanoma is now the 3rd most common cancer amongst people age 15-39.
If you have a mole,then the following are signs that could indicate cancerous change;-
growth of the mole,bleeding ,itching,weeping,"uneven ,bubbly" surface,spider like edges.
If you see these changes,contact your doctor immediately.
If you want more useful information,try www.sunsmart.org.uk
We would like to welcome Mrs Andrea Younger,as Practice Secretary and Asst Practice Manager and Mrs Kate jackson our new practice assistant,who will be helping our Nursing team.
We wish them every success at "the Hill".
Our formal thanks to departing secretary Mrs Carole Bowles who left us after 11 years last month.
We wish Carole every happiness in the future.
Also a fond farewell to Nurse Cordy Maughan,who left us last month also.We wish her every success and happiness too.
As detailed in previous news,the staff at the surgery have been engaged on additional quality work,set for all GPs over the last 12months.
The Government through the local Primary care trust set a high target of 1050 points based on long term disease conditions eg heart,lung disease and diabetes.
We are delighted that as a result of excellent team work,that we believe that we will be amongst a handful of Rushcliffe practices to score maximally and hit the target we set ourselves of 1050.
Targets are controversial but they are here to stay in General Practice.
No doubt the goal posts will change as harder targets are set on a wider range of subjects.
But for the time being we can confirm that we have risen successfully to the challenge,and the Partners publically would like to praise our staff for their efforts.
Current advice is to have the following:-
-Babies of 2,3 and 4 months:-
5 in 1 vaccination of diphtheria,tetanus,polio,HIB (haemophilus) and pertussis (whooping cough)
-Pre school booster
3in 1 -diphtheria,tetanus and polio.
MMR
-at 12 months and a pre school booster
-dept of health recommend all under 25s should have received 2 doses of MMR at some time in their life(unless they have had the mumps illness).
If you need advice,or a vaccine,please see our nursing team
You may well be aware that a new contract is being developed for General Practice .
This is to be ready by april 2004.
Part of this is a quality agenda for the areas of heart disease,stroke,asthma/chronic pulmonary disease,high blood pressure,diabetes,epilepsy,underactive thyroid disease,cancer,mental health and cancer.
The knock on effect for practices is that practices will be aiming to "fill gaps" in patient care,where a patient is known to have a disease but has not been seen recently.
This means more patients will be called in ,or written to ,for repeat doctor and nurse reviews.
Practices will work in mini teams and discuss the results regularly.
http://www.visualproductions.co.uk/new%20contract/annex%20a.htm
This is a useful link if you wish to see more.
A recent study has suggested that 9 out 10 heart attacks can be predicted on the basis of 10 factors which increase risk.
They are:- 1.Smoking..smoking 6-10 a day doubles a persons risk of heart attack;20 a day increases risk 4 fold and 40 a day,a nine fold risk.
2.High blood pressure
3.Diabetes
4.Abdominal obesity
5.Low daily fruit
6.Low vegetable consumption
7.Low exercise levels
8 High personal stress levels
9 high cholesterol
10 a family history of heart disease under 55
If you feel that you are at risk of a heart attack,because of the presence of any of these factors,then please contact our practice nurses and doctors to discuss how we can help you to make healthier changes to your lifestyle.
It may be the best move you ever make!
http://www.dti.gov.uk/homesafetynetwork/pdf2004/adultcode.pdf
Researchers at the University of Derby have spent 198 months studying internet resources that offer advice on the treatment and symptoms of illnesses, and found that people using self-diagnoses sites can act on information which is incorrect. Most sites connected to societies, charities or professional bodies offered sound advice, but those set up by individuals contained startling inaccuracies.
Our Senior Nurse of 4 years,Jan Cox has sadly left us to move to Wales.
We wish Jan and her family all the very best for the future.
Jan practiced a high standard of nursing ,and it was to maintain our Nursing quality that we have appointed Helen Boyd to our team.
She will join us in late September.
Helen previously worked in Kent,and has a particular interest in Diabetes.
She worked on the long term disease programme,PRICCE which has made significant improvements in the health of the Kent population,and we look forward to learning from her about this,and developing Ludlow Hill further.
When the surgery is closed,your call will be diverted into the Out of hours service provided by NEMS (Nottingham Emergency Medical Services).
A call to the surgery will be directed to the out of hours service,without a second call being needed.
The local primary care trust has decided that it does not want to commission out of hours care from surgeries on a saturday morning,but instead has decided to commission all services from Nottingham Emergency Medical Services.
This is due to quality standards set by the Government which it feels will more likely be met by a larger organisation.
As a result of the expanded out of hours service,from 9th October we will no longer be offering our Saturday morning surgery.
We still aim to provide access on the day people wish to be seen from Monday to Friday,and our Doctors will be involved in our of hours care,working for the NEMS service providing care across Nottingham.
Earlier this year a survey of patients was carried out at Ludlow Hill Surgery.This was conducted as part of a larger study of patients opinions across the Rushcliffe area.
A display of the results can be found in the waiting area of the surgery, but here is a summary:
* 37% of respondents attend the surgery 3 or 4 times a year.
* 95% rated the reception staff as good to excellent
* 100% rated the surgery opening hours as fair to excellent
* 73% got to see the doctor of their choice within 1 day
...and 92% got to see any doctor within a day
* 85% found the availability of their usual doctor as good to excellent
...whilst 94% found the availability of any doctor as good to excellent
* 97% said they were able to urgently see a doctor on the same day
* 81% saw the doctor within 20 minutes of arrival
* 56% rated the waiting time in the surgery as good to excellent
...36% thought it was fair
* nearly 3 in 5 rated satisfaction with getting through on the practice phone as good to excellent
* 45% of respondents had never tried to speak to a doctor on the phone
* 4 in 5 had continuity of care - seeing thair usual doctor a lot of the time or more
* 77% rated satisfaction with continuity of care as good to excellent.
Various questions were asked relating to consultations with the doctors with regard to how well they listened, explained things, put you at your ease, involved you in decisions, and how they showed patience caring and concern.
90% of respondents rated the doctors as good to excellent in all areas.
* 87% said the doctor helped them to understand their problem/illness better
* 79% said the doctor helped them to cope better
AN OVERWHELMING 97% SAID THEY WERE SATISFIED WITH THE PRACTICE
Thank you to all those who completed questionnaires.
The final report of the world's longest running study on the health risks of tobacco, has found that 50% of all smokers will die from their nicotine dependence. Smokers die an average of 10 years earlier than non-smokers. The report - the last of a 50-year study by Professor Sir Richard Doll - showed that the health risks of smoking are even greater than originally suspected. The Doll research has followed the same men for more than half a century. The study found also that half of all people who start smoking in their teens and do not give up will eventually be killed by their addiction.
At Ludlow Hill Surgery,we are aware that not all smokers wish to stop smoking..but we also know that 2/3 do want to stop their nicotine dependence.
We are keen to offer smokers the chance to give up with the help of support services and drug prescriptions,without telling people how to live their lives.
Soon we will be asking all patients on booking in ,to fill in a form ,so we are able to update our records and offering people the chance to learn how they can give up ..for good.
The facts are there for all to see.
Please see one of health team,Dr or nurse,if you wish to give up.
Our website is linked to a number of stop smoking sites..see "smoking" on the links section.
A new website has been launched for information on heart disease in Nottingham.
www.nottingham.nhs.uk/hearts
This site aims to help people get active,give up cigarettes,improve diets and provide advice on heart disease.
Check it out and let us know what you think.
Since 1999,the practice has had a library service .
Items may be borrowed for up to 3 weeks ,at which time they should be renewed or returned.
Patients who borrow are responsible for their possession and a charge will be made if lost or damaged.
Subjects are as follows:
Adolescence;
Arthritis;
babies and children;
back/neck pain;
bowel and bladder problems;
cancer;
caring;
chest problems;
depression/anxiety;
diabetes;
diet;
epilepsy;
heart disease/stroke;
male health including erection difficulties;
older people;
parkinsons disease;
pregnancy;
sleep;
self help groups locally;
skin;smoking and stopping!
stress;
female health;
menopause/HRT;
The library is free,so feel free to use it and tell us if you think we should stock something.We will do our best to help you.
Unfortunately some people have been abusing this service recently by failing to return books on time or at all, which is very frustrating when other patients are waiting to borrow them. We will not be able to continue with the library if this continues. Please be considerate when making loans from the library.
Current research from some of the world's leading experts, including the World Health Organisation, advises that we increase our fruit and vegetable intake to a minimum of 5 portions a day.
HEALTH BENEFITS:-
Increasing your intake of fruit and vegetables may help to significantly reduce the risk of many chronic diseases including:-
- Heart Disease
- Stroke
- Cancer
Eating at least 5 portions of a variety of fruits and veg every day could reduce the risk of death from these diseases by 20%
Higher consumption of fruit and veg can also:-
- Help lower blood pressure
- Reduce the symptoms of asthma
- Delay the development of cataracts
- Improve bowel function
- Help to manage the symptoms of Diabetes
Fruit and veg are also a great source of energy and nutrition, and help to keep skin hair and teeth healthy.
Ideas to eat more fruit and veg throughout the day:-
Breakfast time - Have a glass of unsweetened fruit juice with your breakfast.
Snack Attack - Fresh fruit is the ultimate fresh food.
Sandwich filling- Low fat soft cheese with raisins and peppers.
Main meals - Roast some vegetables - peppers, aubergines, courgetts, mushrooms, garlic - in a small amount of olive oil in a hot oven.
For more information, see our display in the surgery, or check out these websites:-
www.doh.gov.uk/fiveaday/
www.healthyfood.org/
www.fooddudes.co.uk
Nationally there are approximately 1600 Gp websites.
These are gathered at www.gpwebsites.net.
They recently assessed our site as follows and gave it an 8/10 score .
"A lovely website design with pages created using php. Some nice touches and even a well laid out Useful Numbers page. The site has an excellent set of links. The navigation options were slightly obscure but after a few pages the style became easy. A worthwhile up to date news section.Worth a look."
Both ourselves and the designer are delighted with this,as the top score has been 9/10 by only 1 practice.
Please keep giving us your ideas to improve the site!
Plans have been confirmed that lings bar hospital is to take on a new role in the Primary care trust.The centre will be extended and several multi purpose rooms added.These rooms will be used for services such as a skin clinic ,community diabetic clinic and heart failure clinic.The new ECG and 24hr blood pressure monitoring service may also be moved there.Other possibilities include "one stop" health shop for the elderly and palliative community care.