Calverton practice newsletter March 2015
‘Know your family tree’
At the time of writing our CQC visit is over and done with, the verbal feedback was very positive but we are
still awaiting the formal report. Most practices rated since the new inspection rules arrived in October 2014
seem to have been deemed ‘Good’ (112/143) so we are hoping we will at least fall into that category.
Meanwhile, health and social care remain the ‘hot’ pre-election issue. This winter’s crisis in A&E, the rising
demands on GPs and the swathing cuts in social care funding are all having a real impact and are making the
news headlines. All the major parties are offering more funding (helpful) but few as yet seem ready to grasp
the really difficult problems and the lack of connected thinking (fuelling demands whilst not meeting needs)
frustrates all of us working in this field. Inevitably patients get confused and easy access can seem attractive,
however only last Friday, working as a GP in the emergency department at QMC, I saw a patient who’d had
abdominal discomfort and constipation for 3 months. He’d taken nothing and hadn’t seen anyone for advice
but still decided to attend his local casualty department. As in this case, people seeking care in the wrong place
uses up precious resources and perhaps some pharmacist advice for the weekend with an appropriate follow
up appointment with his GP would have been more appropriate. Surveys show that patients generally love
having an NHS, it’s still the envy of much of the world but we must use it wisely or it will potentially disappear.
Food for thought!
This month’s newsletter theme is to ask you to consider your family health tree. Some illnesses can run in
families and an awareness of this can lead to earlier diagnosis or even prevention of problems later in life. So
what should you watch out for?
Firstly heart disease, particularly in younger patients, should ring an alarm bell. As a general rule heart attacks
or angina starting below 50 should prompt a cholesterol check in close relatives (brothers/ sisters,
sons/daughters) - if this has not been done before. Some cholesterol disorders run in families and can be
detected and therefore treated in this way. Of course lifestyle is also important and we all recognise the role
that smoking, obesity, poor diet and lack of exercise can have.
Diabetes – particularly so called type 2 can run in families so if you have a brother or sister of a similar age
diagnosed, you might benefit from a check-up also.
Finally some cancers can run in families. Young onset breast cancer (particularly below 50), prostate cancer
(below 60), ovarian cancer and rarely thyroid cancer can all be linked. Different relatives may have different
cancers so any pattern of the above may be worth discussing. Similarly several close relatives with bowel
cancer could indicate an inherited problem. They do of course need to be blood relatives and the more distant
the relative, the less likely that you share any of the same genetic material.
Our health care assistants and practice nurses are well placed to offer advice, well person checks and
potentially a cholesterol check if not done in the past. For more complex family patterns of illness it would be
worth booking an appointment with your GP to discuss. Where needed we can refer onto hospital ‘family
history’ clinics and in some conditions eg familial breast or ovarian cancers, preventative surgery can be
curative (the recent example of course is actress Angelina Jolie who has had bilateral mastectomies to prevent
her almost certainly developing breast cancer later in life).
Next we have a few welcomes and fond farewells. Our long serving secretary Kaye Goode is moving on to
pastures new, similarly Dr Steve Thompson returns to a hospital post to continue his training as a Sports
Medicine consultant. He is replaced by Dr Philippa Turner joining us for a 6 months stint. Finally we also
welcome back Dr Munish Buchar from April for a further 4 months in the practice. Busy times indeed!
Phil Rayner, The Calverton Practice.