Download Newsletter July 2015 - Humber Road Surgery

PATIENT PARTICIPATION GROUP
NEWSLETTER No. 12
PROTECT YOURSELVES!!
We all look forward to our summer holidays! We've
saved hard, look forward to getting away from it all,
usually in the summer sunshine; we feel and look
good with a healthy sun tan. But - and there's always a
"but" isn't there - the number of people developing skin
cancer (melanoma) is continuing to rise at an alarming
rate. In 2011, around 115,000 people were diagnosed
with skin cancer in the UK. More than 13,000 of these
cancers were malignant melanoma, the most serious
type of skin cancer. Each year, around 2,000 people
die from skin cancer.
Skin cancers are caused by damage from the sun’s
ultraviolet (UV) rays. Protecting the skin from the sun
can help prevent these cancers. Skin cancer can
affect anyone, but people most at risk have: fair skin
that burns in strong sun, red or fair hair, a lot of moles
or freckles, a personal or family history of skin cancer
or has already had sunburn, especially when young.
It's worth remembering though, sun damage doesn't
just happen when you're on holiday! It can happen
when you’re not expecting it, for example when you go
for a walk or sit in your garden. You can protect
yourself by following the SunSmart messages.
 Spend time in the shade between 11 and 3.
 Make sure you never burn.
 Aim to cover up with a T-shirt, hat and
sunglasses.
 Remember to take extra care with children.
 Then use factor 15+ sunscreen.
Always take special care of children’s skin - cover
them up and keep them in the shade.
DNA
That stands for "Did Not Attend" - and between 1st
April and 30th June this year there was a total of 258
missed appointments at our Practice. There's a
financial cost to that - but more importantly, by not
attending an appointment it takes away the opportunity
of an appointment for someone else.
If you cannot attend your appointment please notify
the Practice and give another patient the opportunity
to be seen.
July 2015
CQC INSPECTION
The CQC (Care Quality Commission) has a
comprehensive programme of inspecting every health
provider in England; the Humber Road surgery was
inspected in February this year. They have five areas
by which they measure service effectiveness - Safety,
Effectiveness, Caring, Responsive to People's Needs
and Leadership. The CQC base their findings upon
what they see and find during the inspection, but also
information given to them by patients, the public and
other organisations with whom the Practice has
dealings.
In all five areas which the CQC measure, the Practice
was rated "Good". It was also good for providing
services for older people, those with long term
conditions, families, children and young people, those
of working age, people living in vulnerable
circumstances and people experiencing poor mental
health (including dementia).
There were only three areas of recommended
improvement and these were all minor administrative
matters. In conclusion, the overall rating of "Good" is
great for everyone, Practice Partners, Clinical and
Admin staff and of course, us patients.
If you want to read the full CQC report go to Practice
website at www.humberroadsurgery.nhs.uk, click
on the Care Quality Commission link then click on the
link at the bottom of that page.
ONLINE SERVICES
There are a number of services we can access online,
including
- repeat prescriptions,
- making, changing or cancelling appointments,
- accessing our patient summary information
You'll need a Username and Password to access the
new System One, obtainable from Reception - you'll
need Photo ID and must be age 16+. If you then have
problems logging in or getting around the system, do
not hesitate to contact the surgery and a member of
staff will be happy to sit with you at an arranged time
to show you how to get round the system and use all
its features.
NEWSLETTER No. 12 continued
Practice Nursing at Humber Road
and Sunrise Avenue
If you need to see a nurse at one of the surgeries you
will meet one or more of our friendly and
knowledgeable nursing team. June, Hazel, Jo, Sadie
and Lisa are our registered nurses and Nikki and
Donna are our dynamic Health Care Assistants who
you may be familiar with as they run our spirometry
clinics, complete new patient assessments, routine
NHS health checks and run the very popular
phlebotomy clinics (blood tests) amongst other things.
A nurse’s day at the surgery can be many things, but
we can guarantee it will always be busy, offering just
over 500 ten minute appointments every week. Our
days generally start early before the surgery opens
when we take time to check incoming test results and
send letters asking patients to make appointments
with us and follow up on tasks from the previous day.
We also look at our list of patients to ensure the clinics
run smoothly and we have necessary supplies to
hand. We will start seeing patients from 08.30 and run
different clinics at different times. Treatment room
sessions run every morning and afternoon and in
these clinics we see patients for a variety of reasons
such as performing ECG’S, administering injections,
removing stitches and staples, caring for lots of
different types of wounds, checking blood pressures,
testing urine, taking blood, smear tests, ear syringing,
family planning and helping patients quit smoking.
As we have two treatment rooms at both surgeries it is
likely that another nurse will be running a more
specific clinic at the same time, this allows us to spend
more time caring for our patients with chronic diseases
such as Asthma, Diabetes or Heart disease or with
specific needs such as those needing travel or
childhood immunisations.
We also perform many checks to ensure our
equipment is maintained and clean, so we may be
sterilising some items, although the majority of our
equipment is disposable. We ensure we have
adequate stock of disposable items, dressings and
medications, ensuring our vaccine fridge is kept at the
correct temperature - this must be checked every day.
Throughout the day we will also see patients urgently,
such as those who have seen the doctor and who
need a dressing or a test, as well as those who may
need to see us as they have injured themselves or are
unwell, so the time certainly flies but we wouldn’t have
it any other way.
Men B Vaccine
A new vaccine to prevent meningitis will be offered to
babies as part of the routine NHS childhood
vaccination programme from September 1st 2015.
The Men B vaccine will be offered to babies aged 2
months followed by a second dose at 4 months and a
booster at 12 months.
There will be a temporary catch-up programme for
babies who are due their 3 and 4 month vaccinations
in September 2015, to protect them when they are
most at risk from infection.
The Men B vaccine will protect your baby against
infection by meningococcal group B bacteria, which
can cause meningitis and septicaemia (blood
poisoning), which are serious and potentially fatal
illnesses.
Meningitis and septicaemia caused by meningococcal
group B bacteria can affect people of any age, but is
more common in babies and young children.
The new programme makes England the first country
in the world to offer a national and publicly funded Men
B vaccination programme.
The Men B vaccine will be offered to babies alongside
their routine vaccinations at:

2 months

4 months

12 months
Like all vaccines, the Men B vaccine can cause side
effects, but studies suggest they are generally mild
and don’t last long.
Since the vaccine was licenced, almost a million doses
have been given , with no safety concerns identified.
Meningitis B is a killer
Meningococcal group B bacteria is a serious cause of
life-threatening infections , including meningitis and
blood poisoning, worldwide and the leading infectious
killer of babies and young children in the UK.