Chronic Disease Management - Annual
Reviews
Chronic disease refers to medical conditions that
may have an ongoing impact on your health. In
particular we use this term to refer to the following
conditions:
High blood pressure (also known as
hypertension)
Diabetes
Asthma
COPD (Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,
CKD (Chronic kidney disease)
Mental Health conditions such as schizophrenia
or bipolar depression*
Ischaemic heart disease (previous or current
angina or heart attack)*
Heart Failure
Stroke or mini-stroke (TIA)*
Rheumatoid Arthritis*
Osteoporosis
Thyroid disease (over or underactive thyroid)*
Atrial Fibrillation (a condition of irregular
heartbeat)
Peripheral arterial disease (usually causing pain
in the legs when you walk)*
If you have one or more of the above conditions,
we recommend that you have an annual review.
Some of these conditions require monitoring with
blood tests or other tests such as breathing
assessments or urine tests. We will send you an
invitation to attend during the year.
We would like to ask for your help in this matter. By
taking responsibility for your medical condition you
can help ensure that you are having the best
possible care.
Reviewing your condition on an annual basis will
enable you to check that you are taking the correct
medications. It will also give you an opportunity to
ask your nurse or doctor questions about your
health and enable you to request repeat
prescriptions of certain medication.
NHS walk-in centres – Know how we can
help you
NHS walk-in centres (WICs) offer convenient access to a
range of treatment.
For you as a non registered patient to get the most out of
our service please note the following:

We are here to treat immediately necessary
conditions which cannot be self managed or need
more than pharmacist input and cannot wait until
your own surgery’s next appointment.

We are happy to offer cervical smears, weight
management advice and smoking cessation to
non registered patients, but these must booked in
advance with reception.

We do not issue repeat prescriptions for patients
who have a registered GP in Cornwall during their
own surgeries opening times. Repeat medication
requests should be made via your own GP.

We are not designed for treating long-term
conditions or immediately life-threatening
problems and cannot initiate routine referrals.

Please do not embarrass our clinicians by asking
for a second opinion in relation to care being
given by your registered GP.

Please contact us in advance if you are not sure
you can be treated at the centre.
Our service is GP led but we have a range of resources
and skill levels available with our walk in patients being
seen by advanced nurse practitioners as well as GP’s .
We aim to provide a complementary service to traditional
GP and A&E services which is convenient for you and
would ask for your help in allowing us to provide this by
using us when your medical condition fits the criteria we
are able to treat.
Hayfever
Hay fever is a common allergic condition that affects up to one in five people at some point in their life.
Symptoms of hay fever include:
sneezing
a runny nose
itchy eyes
Read more about the symptoms of hay fever.
The symptoms of hay fever are caused when a person has an allergic reaction to pollen.
Pollen is a fine powder released by plants as part of their reproductive cycle. Pollen contains proteins that can cause the nose, eyes, throat and sinuses (small airfilled cavities behind your cheekbones and forehead) to become swollen, irritated and inflamed.
You can have an allergy to:
o
tree pollen, released during spring
o
grass pollen, released during the end of spring and beginning of summer
o
weed pollen, released any time from early spring to late autumn
Treatment options for hay fever include antihistamines, which can help prevent an allergic reaction from happening and corticosteroids (steroids), which help reduce
levels of inflammation and swelling.
Many cases of hay fever can be controlled using over-the-counter medication available from your pharmacist. But if your symptoms are more troublesome it’s
worth speaking to your GP as you may require prescription medication.
It is sometimes possible to prevent the symptoms of hay fever by taking some basic precautions, such as:
o
wearing wraparound sunglasses to stop pollen getting in your eyes when you are outdoors
o
change your clothes and take a shower after being outdoors to remove the pollen on your body
o
try to stay indoors when the pollen count is high (over 50). See hay fever symptoms for an explanation of the pollen count
For information on how to enjoy the summer and stay safe in the sun, please visit the Sunsafe in Cornwall
website (http://www.sun-safe.org/).
They have loads of practical advice on protecting you and your family during the summer months with a
“Sunsafe Cornwall app” to download!
A Healthier You!!!
For support in improving your health and wellbeing visit the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Health Promotion
Service (http://www.healthpromcornwall.org).
They can provide help and support in a range of areas including weight management, smoking cessation,
workplace and sexual health.
Use your pharmacist.
Your pharmacist may well be the first port of call when you need advice regarding a minor illness.
They can offer free expert advice on a wide range of health issues, support for self-care and medicines to treat common complaints such as coughs and colds, flu,
sore throats, earache, backache, stomach upsets and cuts and grazes.
Cornwall also benefits from local services such as a local ailments scheme and an urgent repeat medicines scheme.
This normally runs outside of GP hours, however in holiday periods such as Christmas, Easter and summer holidays the service also operates in GP hours too.
Contact your local pharmacist to see if they provide any of the services mentioned above.
Registered Appointments
We have had some feedback from our registered patients regarding booked appointments running on time. We have reviewed this at the centre and identified some
possible reasons as to why you may not always be seen on time.
To help us to address this please consider the following:
Routine appointments
10 minute appointments - one appointment one problem
Patients are booked to see the doctor at 10 minute intervals. Please bear this in mind when making the appointment. If you have a large number of problems to deal
with please discuss with the doctor whether you should come back for a further appointment at a different time or book a double appointment.
Making an appointment / Need to be seen on the day
We operate a system for appointments that aims to deal with everyone in a timely manner.
We will accommodate patients who need to be seen on the same day if you think you cannot wait to be seen in a routine slot. These are not with a named doctor
and you may be triaged by an Advanced Nurse Practitioner.
These are not booked appointments and you will be placed on the walk in list and seen in turn, this service may involve a wait and should not be used for:

Med 3

Forms / letters

Routine referral discussions

Repeat medication

Test result discussions
We will endeavour to see all our patients on the day, to help us provide this service please think as to whether your problem really cannot wait until the next
routine slot.
If you are unable to keep your appointment
Please contact us as soon as possible to enable another patient to be seen.