Swadlincote Surgery
www.swadlincote.gpsurgery.net
Newsletter - Winter 2011-12
Surgery Extension & New Pharmacy
Inside this issue:
Headlines:
Surgery Extension & New
Pharmacy
Annual Check Ups
Winter Vomiting Bug
Swadlincote Surgery News
Patient Participation Group
Building work is finished and apart from a few finishing touches the
extension and refurbishment of Swadlincote Surgery is now complete. Our
new larger waiting room is in full use and the new in-house branch of
Brennan’s Pharmacy has opened. We would like to thank our patients and
neighbours for their patience over the last few months and hope that they
agree that the resulting transformation of the surgery makes it all
worthwhile.
The surgery extension and pharmacy were officially opened by MP Heather
Wheeler on 5th January.
There are still a several finishing touches that need to be completed and
these will be addressed over the coming weeks. These include:
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Online Appointment Booking
and Repeat Prescription
Requests
If you have not already
registered for our online
appointment booking and repeat
prescription request services
please consider doing so – all
you need to do is complete a
registration form and you will
then be sent a username and
password.
Installing the new system for calling patients in to see the doctor or
nurse
Renumbering the consulting rooms in a more logical way and to
include the new consulting rooms
New sign posts within the surgery to help patients find their way
around
Installing a baby changing table in the disabled toilet
Annual ‘Check-Ups’ for Chronic Medical
Conditions
We run an annual ‘check-up’ system for patients with the following
conditions:
 Diabetes
 Heart Disease (Heart Attacks, Angina, Heart Failure)
 Strokes & Transient Ischaemic Attacks (TIAs)
 Chronic Kidney Disease
 Peripheral Vascular Disease
 High Blood Pressure (Hypertension)
 Asthma
 Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD, Emphysema)
 Hypothyroidism (Under-active Thyroid)
We do this because people who have these conditions need to be
monitored regularly and are often taking several different medications.
Annual check-ups are carried out by our practice nursing team.
Registration forms are available
at the front reception desk or can
be printed from the library
section of our website (under the
‘other information’ tab).
Booking an Appointment
You can book an appointment in advance either in person at reception or
over the phone. Simply tell the receptionist which of the above conditions
you have (it may be more than one) and ask for an appointment for an
Annual Check-Up. The receptionist will then be able to book the appropriate
appointment(s) for you (often an appointment for a blood test first then
another one for review a few days later).
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What will happen during my appointment?
During your appointment with the nurse the following areas may be checked/discussed depending on your
medical condition:
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Your general wellbeing and symptoms
A physical examination if appropriate
Review of your blood tests results
Blood Pressure
A Urine test (please bring a urine sample)
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Weight
Lung Function Tests
Advice about a healthy lifestyle
A review of your medication
Leaflets and information sheets are available for you to take away with you
Please try to remember when your annual check-up is due and book it well in advance if possible
Norovirus, (the ‘winter vomiting bug’)
This is the most common stomach bug in the UK, affecting people of all ages. The virus is highly contagious and
causes vomiting and diarrhoea. Norovirus can be unpleasant to experience, but it's not generally dangerous and
most people make a full recovery within a couple of days, without having to see a doctor.
Between 600,000 and one million people in the UK catch norovirus every year. You may have heard of it as the
“winter vomiting bug” because the illness is more common in winter. However, the virus can be caught at any time
of the year.
Symptoms:
The first sign of norovirus is usually a sudden sick feeling followed by forceful vomiting and watery diarrhoea.
Some people may also have:
 a raised temperature (over 38C/100.4F)
 headaches
 stomach cramps
 aching limbs
Symptoms usually appear one to two days after you become infected but they can start sooner. Most people make
a full recovery within a couple of days. Apart from the risk of dehydration, the illness is not generally dangerous and
there are usually no long-lasting effects from having norovirus. However, it can be pretty unpleasant while you have
it.
Dehydration
The main risk from norovirus is dehydration from your body losing water and salts from vomiting and diarrhoea.
The first sign of dehydration is thirst. Other symptoms are:
 dizziness or light-headedness
 headache
 tiredness
 dry mouth, lips and eyes
 dark, concentrated urine
 passing only small amounts of urine (fewer than three or four times a day)
Mild dehydration is common and can be easily reversed by making sure you have plenty to drink.
Dehydration is more of a risk in the very young and the elderly. It's important that you get medical attention straight
away if you think your child is becoming dehydrated.
Treatment
There is no specific treatment for norovirus. It's best to let the illness run its course and your body usually fights off
the infection within a couple of days. You don't usually need to see a doctor.
If you have norovirus, the following steps should help ease your symptoms:
 Drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration.
 Take paracetamol for any fever or aches and pains.
 If you feel like eating, eat foods that are easy to digest.
 Stay at home and don't go to the doctor, because norovirus is contagious and there is nothing the doctor
can do while you have it. However, you may wish to contact your GP if your symptoms last longer than a
few days or if you have another medical condition such as Diabetes
Extra care should be taken to prevent babies and small children who are vomiting or have diarrhoea from
dehydrating, by giving them plenty of fluids. Babies should continue with their normal feeds. Infants and small
children should receive frequent sips of water even if they vomit. A small amount of fluid is better than none. Avoid
giving fruit juices and carbonated drinks to children under the age of five, as these can worsen diarrhoea.
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To reduce the risk of passing the virus onto others, wash your hands regularly and stay at home until you are clear
of symptoms for 48 hours.
How to stop it spreading
The virus is easily spread by contact with an infected person, especially through their hands. You can also catch it
through contaminated food or drink or by touching contaminated surfaces or objects.
The following measures should help prevent the virus from spreading further:
 Wash your hands frequently.
 Do not share towels and flannels.
 Disinfect any surfaces that an infected person has touched.
For further information visit the NHS Choices Website
http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Norovirus/Pages/Introduction.aspx
Swadlincote Surgery News
Helping the Environment
We use a recycling company to shred and dispose of all our paper waste and have so far this year have saved
over 44 trees!
We have had solar panels fitted to the roof of the surgery to generate some of the energy we have to use in an
eco-friendly way.
Training Practice
We are a GP training practice as part of the Derby Vocational Training Scheme. Dr Patton and Dr Hendriksen are
both accredited GP trainers and we usually have up to two GP Registrars working with us at the surgery. You may
therefore be offered an appointment with a GP registrar. GP registrars are fully qualified doctors who are in the
process of undertaking specialist training in general practice.
We currently have 1 GP registrar working at the surgery: Dr Mayha Mirfattahi, who has been working at
Swadlincote Surgery since August 2011 and will be with us for a period of 12 months. She is in the final stage of
her GP training and previously spent 4 months training at the surgery in 2010.
Retirement
Janet Vennings has been working as a receptionist at Swadlincote Surgery for almost 25 years and will be retiring
at the end of January. She is a valuable member of the team and will be greatly missed by her friends and
colleagues at the surgery. We wish her a long and happy retirement.
Patient Participation Group
Some of our patients have recently formed a group to help improve the link between patients, doctors and staff.
The purpose of the new Patient Participation Group is to:
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Give Patients a voice
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Help, listen and care about patient’s concerns
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Improve services for everyone’s benefit
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Promote Health and Wellbeing
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Assist patients in getting the best from the service
Patient Participation Groups have formed in many areas but there are only a few operating locally. This will be the
first group linked to the Swadlincote Surgery.
Patient Participation Groups make an important contribution to the well-being of their communities. Their activities
include health promotion, information provision, service delivery, fundraising and strategic input to the practice.
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The group meets every month and always spends part of the meeting considering the comments and suggestions
sent in by patients. There is a doctor present at group meetings so the feedback from patients has a very direct
influence on the practice. Every comment is carefully considered and records are kept of any actions that will be
taken to improve services in the light of patient feedback.
When the surgery building work is complete the group will have its own notice board which will be regularly
updated with news about the things that have been done as a response to patient comments and suggestions.
So please do consider sending the group some comments and suggestions, we want to help make Swadlincote
Surgery the best that it can possibly be and to do that we need to hear from as many people as possible.
The group would like to hear from anyone who uses the Swadlincote Surgery who wishes to give comments and
feedback that might help improve services for everyone’s benefit.
You can contact the group by…
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Posting comments in the feedback box in the surgery reception
Emailing SwadSurgeryPPG@gmail.com
Leaving a message for the Patient Participation Group in reception with your contact details – someone
from the group will get in touch
You can also find the group on Facebook under Swadlincote Surgery Patient Participation Group.
You don’t need to put your name on comments posted in the feedback box but if you do give any personal details
they will be treated by the group in the strictest confidence.
Andrew J. Colclough
Chair of the Swadlincote Surgery Patient Participation Group
News from the Patient Participation Group
Over the last few months the group has undertaken the following on behalf of patients:
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Comments and feedback about the changes to the surgery
Feedback on development of the Patient Access Questionnaire
Development of a questionnaire to seek feedback from frail and vulnerable patients (currently being
circulated).
Comment on plans for the new Swadlincote Community Care Centre being built as part of the housing
development for the over 55s in Hall Farm Road (where the cranes are!)
Work with other local patient groups to establish a network including working towards patient involvement
in the new NHS commissioning framework.
Now that building work is complete we will be setting up a new notice board and comments box. Some patients
have commented that the Swadlincote Surgery is one of the best in our area and there really isn’t anything they are
unhappy with… please remember that the comments box is not just for moans and groans it’s for you to suggest
things that might make what is already good even better. Your feedback is really important as it helps improve
things for everyone’s benefit.
Find Us on Facebook
The Patient Participation Group aims to keep in touch with patients in lots of different ways. One of
the new ways we are starting to use is Facebook. If you are on Facebook please do visit us and click
“Like” on our page so that we can keep in touch. You can find us at
www.facebook.com/SwadSurgeryPPG
Thank you
I would like to say a big thank you on behalf of the Patient Participation Group to all the receptionists,
administrators, managers, nurses and doctors who have worked so hard in very difficult circumstances to
keep the surgery open during the recent building work. I’m sure we were all frustrated at times by the
parking, the noise and the mess but I often thought to myself how lucky I was to be just a visitor when the
reception staff had to put up with it all day every day. It is great to see everything finally coming together
and I hope that we can all now breathe a sigh of relief. To have completed this major development without
closing the surgery for even a single day was a remarkable achievement; well done and thank you!
Andrew Colclough (Chair of the Patient Participation Group)
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