GREENS NORTON AND WEEDON
MEDICAL PRACTICE
GREENS NORTON MEDICAL CENTRE
NEWSLETTER
SUMMER 2013
Patient Participation Panel Annual Meeting
Parkinson’s UK and
Mike and Team Pedal2Paris4Parkinson’sUK
Greens Norton Patient Participation Panel will be holding their Annual Meeting on Monday 29 th July 2013 at
7.00pm in the Community Centre, Towcester Road, Greens Norton. All patients of the Practice or their
representatives are invited to attend. There is currently one vacancy on the Panel and anyone wishing to be
considered for election should submit a short statement about themselves in writing to Gina Thompson, Practice
Manager or email to Gn.ppp@nhs.net before the 26th July. Anyone wishing to know more about the Patient
Panel can contact any of the current members in person (member names are on the Patient Panel notice board in
the waiting room) or by leaving details at reception and one of the members will contact you.
This year’s speaker will be a representative from Parkinson’s UK. It is a disease affecting one person in every 500,
that's about 127,000 people in the UK. Many of you will already know that Dr Mike Greenhalgh was diagnosed
with Parkinson’s disease 2 years ago. He is doing incredibly well adapting to life with Parkinson’s and a few
months ago Dr Mike came up with a challenge, a challenge to cycle to Paris with his family and friends. This
challenge is big and the cycle will be starting from the Medical Centre on Friday 30th August. The team will be
pedalling all the way to Paris in the space of 6 days to raise money for Parkinson's UK, a charity whose ultimate
ambition is to find a cure, and improve life for everyone affected by Parkinson's
Anyone wishing to donate can leave their donation at reception or donate on-line at:
www.justgiving.com/Pedal2Paris4Parkinsons
Please come along on the night of the Annual Meeting and learn more about Parkinson’s and this very worthy
fundraising venture.
GREENS NORTON MEDICAL CENTRE NEWSLETTER SUMMER 2013
THE WASTE MEDICINES INITIATIVE
DISPOSAL OF SHARPS
A report by the Department of Health estimates
that unused medicines cost the NHS around
£300 million every year. This could pay for:
If you use needles to inject medication, it’s your
responsibility to dispose of them safely. For
example, if you have:
 diabetes and use a syringe, injection pen or
insulin pen for regular insulin injections
 diabetes and need regular finger-prick blood
tests using a lancet, to check your glucose
level
 a severe allergy for which you may need to
inject adrenaline from a preloaded syringe
or injection pen.
11,778 MORE community nurses or
80,906 MORE hip replacements or
19,799 MORE drug treatment courses for
breast cancer or
300,000 MORE drug treatment courses for
Alzheimer's or
312,175 MORE cataract operations
The NHS is keen to tackle this growing problem.
There are a number of ways that patients can
help to reduce the issue of wasted medicines
and save money for the NHS.
Only order the medicines that you need
 Let your GP or pharmacist know if you’ve
stopped taking any of your medicines.
 Check which medicines you still have at
home before re-ordering. Only re-order
what you really need. If you have problems
pronouncing the name of your medication,
your pharmacist or dispenser can read out
your repeat medications for you.
 You should attend for a regular medication
review with your GP or pharmacist to ensure
your repeat medication list is up to date and
accurate.
 If you need to go into hospital, please
remember to take all your medicines with
you in a clearly marked bag.
Remember that unused medicines cannot be
recycled
 Even if you never open them, once
medicines have left the pharmacy or
dispensary, they cannot be recycled or used
by anyone else.
 You should return any unused medicines to
the dispensary for safe disposal.
Further information regarding this initiative is
available at http://www.medicinewaste.com/
Used needles or other sharps should not be put
into
 your household waste bin or any other
general refuse bin
 a container that's not specifically designated
for the disposal of sharps
After you’ve used needles they should be put
into a sharps bin immediately. Sharps bins are
available on prescription so ask at the surgery.
Once you have disposed of sharps in the bin you
should not try to take them out again. Your box
must only be filled to the manufacturers’ line,
and it should be disposed of every three months
even if it’s not full.
While your sharps bin is in use or waiting to be
collected, keep it in a safe place so that it's not a
risk to other people and out of the reach of
children.
Local councils provide a free service to collect full
boxes – DO NOT bring them back to the surgery
for disposal. To arrange collection of full boxes
call:
South Northants Council Environmental Services
on 01327 322344
GREENS NORTON MEDICAL CENTRE NEWSLETTER SUMMER 2013
PRESCRIPTION CHARGES
The current NHS prescription charge is £7.85 per
item from the 1st April 2013. Should you need 4
or more items in a 3 month period you could
save money by buying a Prescription Prepayment certificate. Ask for form FP95 from
either reception or the dispensary or visit
www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/pcc or telephone the order
line on 0845 8500030. The cost of a 3 month
certificate remains unchanged at £29.10 and an
annual certificate will remain at £104.
Please be aware that renewal of a certificate is
your responsibility and a valid certificate should
be shown each time you collect your medication.
MEDICAL EXEMPTION CERTIFICATES
People with certain medical conditions can get
free NHS prescriptions if:
 they have one of the conditions listed below;
and
 they hold a valid Medical Exemption
Certificate.
Medical Exemption Certificates are issued on
application to people who have:
 A permanent
fistula
(for
example
caecostomy, colostomy, laryngostomy or
ileostomy) requiring continuous surgical
dressing or requiring an appliance
 A form of hypoadrenalism (for example
Addison's disease) for which specific
substitution therapy is essential
 Diabetes insipidus or other forms of
hypopituitarism
 Diabetes mellitus, except where treatment is
by diet alone
 Hypoparathyroidism
 Myasthenia gravis
 Myxoedema
(that is, hypothyroidism
requiring thyroid hormone replacement)
 Epilepsy requiring continuous anticonvulsive
therapy

A continuing physical disability which means
the person cannot go out without the help
of another person. (Temporary disabilities
do not count even if they last for several
months).
 Or are undergoing treatment for cancer:
 including the effects of cancer; or
 the effects of current or previous cancer
treatment.
Please ask for form FP92A. A Medical Exemption
Certificate is valid for 5 years.
REPEAT PRESCRIBING
New legislation surrounding the dispensing of
medication means that the practice cannot issue
repeat medication until the prescription has first
been signed by a doctor. Can we remind patients
that 48 hours notice or two working days is
required when making a request for repeat
medications.
Please make sure you plan ahead for holidays.
The new legislation makes it difficult to turn
around requests any quicker than the stipulated
48 hours.
SYSTMONLINE
Consultations are by appointment, made in
person or by telephone (01327 358287) between
8:30 and 18:30. Bookings can also be made online – you will need to register for this service –
please bring some form of photographic ID into
reception and ask to be registered for
SystmOnline. Once registered you will also be
able to make and cancel certain appointments
and order your repeat medication on-line 24
hours a day, seven days a week.
SMS TEXT REMINDERS
Appointment reminders to a mobile phone by
SMS text messaging is available – to opt in please
ensure we have your up to date contact details.