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December Newsletter
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for the patients of The Roseland Surgeries
Christmas and New Year Bank Holidays
As I type this, I feel we’re hurtling towards
Christmas at an alarming rate – and not a
Christmas Card written!! Below is a note of our
opening times over the Festive Season.
Thurs 24th Dec – Xmas Eve – open to 5 pm with
emergency cover to 6.30 pm.
Fri 25th Dec – Christmas Day – CLOSED
Sat 26th Dec–Boxing Day– CLOSED as normal
Sun 27th Dec – surgery CLOSED as normal
Mon 28th Dec–Bank Holiday – CLOSED
Tues 29th Dec – open as usual 08.30 am
Wed 30th Dec – open as usual
Thurs 31st Dec – open as usual
Friday 1st January 2016 – surgery CLOSED
Mon 4th January 2016 – open as usual 8.30 am
Medication Quantities
Some patients have asked if they could have two
months’ worth of medication to cover them over
the festive season. Unfortunately, we cannot do
this for reasons of patient safety. We respectfully
remind our patients that we are only closed for
two working days and provided patients have
ordered their usual medication to cover them over
the two day closure, there is no need for
additional quantities of medication to be
dispensed.
Pharmacy Opening Hours
Some pharmacies are open over the Christmas
and New Year bank holidays to provide
emergency dispensing of medication. The Out of
Hours service should be able to tell you which
pharmacies are open. However, I thought it might
be helpful to outline who is open and when:Xmas Day – Boots Carlyon Road St Austell,
11.30 to 12.30.
Boots Truro Health Park, Infirmary Hill 2 – 3 pm
Boxing Day – Boots Carlyon Road, Boots at
Mount Charles, and Day Lewis Pharmacy– all in
St Austell from 9 am to 1 pm
Sun 27 Dec – Sainsburys, Truro – 10 am to 4 pm
Tesco at Garras Wharf – 10 to 4 pm
Mon 28 Dec – Sainsburys, Truro
9 am to 7 pm
Superdrug, Boscawen Str, Truro
10 to 5 pm
Tesco, Garras Wharf, Truro – 9 am to 6 pm
New Year’s Day – Asda, St Austell – 11 to 1 pm
and 2 pm to 6 pm
Boots, Fore Street, St Austell – 10 to 5 pm
Boots, Pydar Street, Truro – 10.30 to 4.30 pm
Sainsburys, Truro – 10 am to 5 pm
St Mawes Pharmacy is not open on any of the
above dates. There are, of course, other
pharmacies across the county that will be open,
but these shown are our nearest. All offer help
with minor ailments and the Pharmacist is able to
offer direct help with such problems as: urine
infections, conjunctivitis, oral thrush and nappy
rash.
Healthy Weight Clinics
Almost all of us over-indulge at some point
during the holiday season, and we’re very pleased
to inform our patients that there are a number of
Healthy Weight clinics which will be starting up
in January. If one of your resolutions will be to
eat more healthily, but you need some support to
keep that going, you may want to avail yourself of
this service.
Clinics are taking place in Liskeard, Callington,
Truro, Penzance, Camborne, St Austell,
Falmouth, Pool, Camelford and Newquay – and
timings of the clinics vary from mid morning
through to the evening, so one of these will suit!
You don’t need a referral from the GP as such,
but in order to secure a place, you’ll need to
complete an application form and send that off
giving your 1st and 2nd choice clinics. Please ask
at reception for a form.
These clinics are also being offered to children
from the ages of 4 to 17 years.
New Year’s Resolution Number 2??
As well as eating more healthily, you might have
decided that 2016 is the year you finally give up
smoking. Please don’t forget that we are here to
help and can offer you assistance with what can
be, for many people, a real struggle.
If you think you might need help to stop smoking,
or you want to discuss how you might stop and
what’s out there to help you, for example, using
nicotine
patches,
nicotine
replacement
gum/tablets etc., please book an appointment to
see one of the Practice Nurses in the first
instance.
With the average cost of a packet of 20 cigarettes
at £8.39, if you smoke 20 per day over the whole
year you could spend something in the region of
£3062!! If you’ve got a special holiday planned,
maybe for an anniversary or birthday, this might
be all the incentive you need to give up once and
for all.
Non-NHS charges
From time to time, we undertake what is known
as non-NHS work – this could be a medical
examination for an HGV licence, or a Sea Farer’s
Medical, a passport form that needs signing or a
holiday cancellation form. As these items (and
others) are not deemed to be part of our NHS
contract, GPs are able to make a ‘private’ charge.
A list of these fees can be found in reception and
there are leaflets available also. There are certain
travel vaccinations which we must charge for as
they are not available on the NHS.
Unfortunately, we have undertaken some of this
work, and patients have omitted to pay in some
circumstances. This might be because the letter
they asked for is no longer needed – but we have
taken time out of the ‘NHS’ day to do this work
and therefore, we do need to cover those
expenses.
Therefore if you should require a medical
examination, a letter, a form to be completed, or
travel vaccinations that are chargeable, we must
ask that patients pay for this BEFORE we can
authorise the work.
Communicating with Reception Staff
Often patients will telephone the surgery and ask
to speak to a specific GP. The receptionist has to
ask you what it is in connection with. This is not
only to find out if it is an emergency, but also
which way to direct your call. For example, some
patients may not realise that the doctors do not
deal with travel advice – this is a job that the
Nurses do and if we have this information, we can
accurately deal with your call. If you have a
problem with your medication, tell the
receptionist what the problem is – this way, the
doctor can then work out how urgent your query
is………can it wait until after surgery? Does it
need to be dealt with immediately?.....etc.
A startling number of patients will telephone us
when they are having chest pain, which could be a
sign of a heart attack. Please do not waste
valuable time by phoning us – get straight onto
the ambulance service by calling 999. Equally, if
you are phoning because someone has collapsed
and is unconscious, it would be appropriate to call
for an ambulance.
We certainly do not mind you telephoning us –
but it is vital that you give the receptionist all the
information you can. All members of our team
must sign a confidentiality clause as part of their
contract of employment. Please don’t feel that the
receptionist is being ‘nosy’ by asking questions the doctor will not be able to deal with your
query, if he/she doesn’t know what it’s about!
And by giving us as much information as
possible, you really do help us to help you.
Roseland Surgery Patient Group News
Our Patient Group continues to organise activities
for members of the community and you may have
seen details of forthcoming events in the Roseland
Magazine and on posters around the Peninsula.
Clay sculpture and art classes are organised for
January and Walking in Company continues.
If you would like further information on any of
the activities, or if you would like to become a
member of the group, please contact Nicola, the
Practice Manager for more information.
Christmas Wishes
As this will be the last newsletter before the
festivities commence, the partners, staff and I
should like to take this opportunity to wish our
patients and their families a very Merry Christmas
and a happy (and healthy!) New Year.
Nicola Hayward
Practice Manager
Dr. Mike Black MB ChB MRCGP DRCOG FP Cert
Dr. Will Hynds MA MB BChir MRCGP DRCOG DCH
Dr. Terese Tubman BMed MRCGP DipFFP
Dr Jonathan Jacoby MB BCh BSc (Hons) MRCGP