for the patients of The Roseland Surgeries
mothers had not had the
vaccination.
We would
encourage all pregnant women to
take
up
this
vaccination.
Whooping cough is an extremely distressing
illness but if you are pregnant and have any
concerns about this vaccine, please do discuss
this with your midwife or GP.
Flu Vaccination Clinics
More scams……..
Just a reminder that Flu Vaccination Clinics are
currently underway. We have a few slots left here
and there with appointments available at all three
surgery sites through October to the beginning of
November.
Renewing your driving licence in the UK is FREE
for drivers aged 70 and over. There are some
third party websites offering to handle your
driving licence renewal for a fee – these are
scams! Please do not click on any links or feel
that you need to ‘sign up’ to anything in order to
renew your licence.
****************************
October Newsletter
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Please don’t wait for your invitation letter – book
your appointment as soon as you can. Your GP
recommends a flu jab if you are over 65 years of
age. We are also keen to target anyone who is
immunosuppressed, pregnant, a healthcare/social
care worker or in receipt of Carer’s Allowance.
As in previous years, if you suffer from a disease
of the heart, kidneys, lungs, liver, nervous system
or are affected by asthma or diabetes, you should
also have the jab.
Other organisations may approach you offering to
provide an alternative service, but please
remember they will not have access to your
medical records and cannot give other
immunisations, such as those to protect you again
pneumonia, which are often given at the same
time.
Whooping Cough
New surveillance figures from Public Health
England confirm that whooping cough remains at
raised levels in England (1744 cases to June 2015
as opposed to 1412 cases at the same time last
year). Confirmed cases of whooping cough in
babies under the age of 3 months however remain
low, and this is largely due to the immunisation
programme offered to pregnant women.
Vaccinating whilst pregnant offers a protection to
the baby up to them reaching 8 weeks of age
when they receive the first of their baby
immunisations (including diphtheria, polio and
tetanus)
Public Health England research shows that babies
born to women who were vaccinated at least a
week before birth had a 91% reduced risk of
becoming ill with whooping cough in their first
weeks of life compared to those babies whose
The DVLA will NOT email you a link to verify
your driving licence. Please delete any emails
that ask you to verify your licence this way. The
official DVLA pages are found at www.gov.uk
only.
Roseland Surgeries Patient Group
Are you aware that as a patient of Roseland
Surgeries, you are a member of the Patient
Group? You may be a dormant member now, but
if you would like to join the group, they’d be very
pleased to see you! The group meets every month
on a Wednesday between 5 and 6 pm here at
Portscatho Surgery.
Group members co-ordinate lots of different
activities, walking, photography, arts and there’s
even been a recent suggestion to hold cookery
sessions – do check out the noticeboards at each
surgery site for more information. For those of
you who are ‘internet-savvy’ the group also has a
Facebook page and details of events are also
posted there.
Working with the group enables you to work with
your community for the benefit of everyone.
They’re not only looking for new members but
people with new ideas on how we can improve
things both inside and outside of the surgery. If
you would like more information, feel free to
contact Nicola, the Practice Manager at the
surgery but you may also just turn up at the next
meeting: Wednesday 21st October at 5 pm.
cont/………….
DNA rates
Most of our patients attend their appointments as
they are booked, and on time. Like other NHS
providers however, we do have a problem with a
few who do not attend appointments, and do so
without cancelling them. This means it is too late
to give the appointment slot to another patient, so
wastes clinical time for the nurse or doctor
involved. This of course, actually costs the NHS
a significant amount of money, which in the
current financial climate we cannot afford to
waste. In one week alone in September, we had
23 patients booked in to see either the doctor or
the Practice Nurse who did not attend for their
appointment. This equates to almost 4 hours of
wasted clinical time. With mounting pressures on
appointment availability (and given that we’re
heading into the Winter season), we would really
appreciate your help.
appointment to see the Doctor who will then
examine your ear canals.
Are you having an ECG?
If your GP has recommended we undertake an
ECG on you, you will need to book an
appointment with our Practice Nurses for this to
be done.
Could we remind patients that on the day of their
ECG appointment, you should NOT use any
moisturising lotion, sun creams, emollients or oil
of any kind on your body (including your arms
and legs). Lotions of this kind render the sticky
‘tabs’ connecting you to the ECG machine as
almost useless. We need a really good ‘fix’ to
your body to enable a good tracing of your heart!
Thanks for your help with this.
Vaccinations for travel abroad
We understand that circumstances change but
please contact reception and cancel if you can't
attend your appointment and we will try to
arrange another time for you.
Ordering your repeat prescription
Just a little reminder that patients can order
medication via email…… our address is:prescriptions.portscatho@nhs.net
All we need is your name and address or date of
birth together with the details of the medication
you need. A day time telephone number is also
useful, just in case we need to discuss your
request with you.
Additionally, if you want to drop us a line about
something other than your medication, you can
also do this online via our reception email:
letters.portscatho@nhs.net
However, we would respectfully ask that you do
not use the email facility for anything urgent – if
you need us quickly, please contact the reception
team by telephone in the usual way.
To oil…..or not to oil…….?
Occasionally, patients will be troubled by a build
up of wax in their ears. With the use of warm
olive oil dropped into the ear canal for a minimum
of 2 weeks, more often than not the wax will
gently slip away without the need for further
intervention.
If, after two weeks of using olive oil drops, you
still find you are troubled, please book an
If you’re considering a holiday to foreign climes,
please don’t forget to check if you need
vaccinations for your chosen destination.
Venturing beyond Europe will often require a jab
or two. Our advice in the first instance is to check
out the MASTA website:
www.masta-travel-health.com
When you select your country of choice and
travel date, you’ll eventually be shown a list of
recommended (or essential) vaccinations. Most
vaccinations can be given here free of charge.
However, some are not available on the NHS and
thus a charge must be made. Such vaccines
would be: Japanese B encephalitis, Rabies and
Tick-borne encephalitis. If you need a Yellow
Fever vaccine, this can be given at a registered
Yellow Fever Centre.
Once you have your list of recommended
vaccinations, contact the reception team to book
an appropriate appointment with our Practice
Nurses. We can often tell you in advance whether
any charge is payable.
Lastly, please ensure you allow enough time for
your vaccination programme to take effect – 6 to
8 weeks before you leave would be optimum.
Nicola Hayward
Practice Manager
Dr. Mike Black
Dr. Will Hynds
Dr. Terese Tubman
Dr Jonathan Jacoby
The Roseland Surgeries