QUACK NEWSLETTER
Welcome to the Autumn edition of Quack, the newsletter of Emsworth Surgery.
Flu Vaccinations
You can book online or at reception. From this year we can only vaccinate people in the
following groups:
- Everyone aged 65 or over on 31st March 2013
- People with: heart disease, kidney or liver or neurological disease,
respiratory disease including asthma, diabetes
- Immunosuppressed (eg taking steroid medication)
- Pregnant women
- Carers
Anyone who is not in the above groups but would still like to be vaccinated against flu
can do so at Southbourne Surgery (01243 388740) for a fee of £10 (Due to NHS
regulations GP surgeries are not permitted to charge their own NHS patients for flu
vaccination but can charge people who are not their patients).
Shingles Vaccine
Shingles is an infection affecting nerves caused by the chicken pox virus (Varicella Zoster).
It causes pain and a rash along a band of skin supplied by the affected nerve. Symptoms
usually go within 2 - 4 weeks. Pain sometimes persists after the rash has gone, more
commonly in people over the age of 50. The pain can last for many weeks and is called
Post-Herpetic Neuralgia
There is now a vaccine to prevent this painful condition available to all patients aged over
50 years. It can also prevent shingles in those patients who have already suffered an
attack.
One in four people who have had chicken pox will get shingles. Of those that get shingles
about one in five will get Post-Herpetic Neuralgia.
Further information about shingles is available on
www.shinglesaware.co.uk/patients/information-for-patients.html.
Initially we aim to target those patient most at risk aged over 70 and eventually role out
the vaccination to all adults aged over 50.
The vaccine is safe and effective and has been recommended for use by the Joint
Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.
Patient Participation Group Update
The Patient Participation Group (PPG) Committee for Emsworth Surgery, keen as ever to
help our wonderful Practice, took a stall at the Emsworth Show on August Bank Holiday
Monday to let people know what we do. Great credit must go to Tony Harris who has
now retired as Chair of the group, for his very hard work in organising the stall. Children
were kept amused at the stall by drawing around their hands and then colouring it in.
What very talented and artistic children we have! Their efforts can be seen in the
Emsworth Surgery in a montage created by Billie Shamash and Sue Ellis. A number of
patients joined our ‘virtual’ PPG which enables the PPG to inform patients via email of
surgery news and developments as well as sending a copy of the Quack newsletter.
We are now very busy helping to organise the Saturday Flu clinics. If you would like to get
involved with the PPG then please contact us at: emsworth.surgery.ppg@gmail.com or
write to the PPG via the surgery. At the last committee meeting unanimous praise was
extended to the outgoing Chair Tony Harris for all his work and Jim Strudwick was elected
in his place.
Jim Strudwick, Chair
Use of Accident & Emergency Departments
For some years now Casualty Departments in all parts of the country have seen a steady
increase in the number of people coming with problems that are not serious
emergencies. The problem really is about public education. We thought it would be
useful to remind everyone what options are available for dealing with an urgent problem.
The surgery has urgent appointments every weekday from 8.00am to 6.30 pm. We also
run a Minor Injury Service (cuts, sprains, bruises, mild burns) during the same period.
There is an Out of Hours GP on duty at all other times. The service will arrange a
telephone consultation, a base surgery appointment or a home visit as appropriate.
The District Nurses also operate through this service. If it is felt your problem is more
urgent, an ambulance or hospital review can be arranged at the Doctor's/Nurse's
discretion.
You can ring NHS Direct on 0845 4647 for advice. They have a useful website
http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/ where you can look up your symptoms and find out what
to do. Discussing the problem on the phone with a GP from the surgery or the Out of
Hours service will usually mean that you are seen by the right person who may well be
more experienced than a young doctor in Casualty.
The ambulance should be called on 999 if the problem is chest pain or severe
breathlessness, or if the patient has genuinely collapsed.