They're back

They're back

Free seasonal flu vaccinations are now being offered to all eligible*patients. Please book your appointment by telephoning 01404 814447 (after 1030 am please).  Please do not wait for us to write to you.  

* A flu vaccine is available free on the NHS if you are:

• are over 65 years old
• live in a residential or nursing home

Or if you suffer from any of the following conditions:

• Chronic respiratory disease
• Asthma
• Suppression of your immune system
(eg Splenectomy, Chemotherapy)
• Chronic heart disease
• Chronic renal failure
• Chronic liver disease
• Diabetes mellitus
• Stroke
• Multiple Sclerosis or Central Nervous System Degeneration

OR are:-

• A registered Carer
• Pregnant 

For more information on the Flu vaccination go to http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/pages/flu-influenza-vaccine.aspx

"GPs hand over private medical records to insurers"

More in the press recently regarding medical records shared with insurance firms has prompted us to reassure our patients that we do not release any information to insurance companies unless we have their written consent to do so.

NHS England Response to Daily Telegraph Article

Statement from NHS England and the Health and Social Care Information Centre in response to the Daily Telegraph article, ‘Tesco can see your medical records’ (10 August, 2015) We would like to make clear that the article published by the Daily Telegraph, ‘Tesco can see your medical records’ contains a number of inaccuracies. The Summary Care Record (SCR) is used by healthcare professionals, on explicit consent of the patient, to support direct patient care. While a regulated healthcare professional may have secure, controlled access to the SCR in a pharmacy within a supermarket as with any other pharmacy setting, this information is not accessible by other means and will never be available to supermarkets for other purposes, such as marketing.  The information can only be accessed through a secure, encrypted private network by authorised, regulated pharmacy professionals who have been carefully granted a pin-protected access card. If a pharmacy professional shared confidential patient information for any purpose other than direct care, they can be held liable in law and held to account by the General Pharmaceutical Council, which has the legal authority to apply sanctions, up to and including withdrawal of their license to practice. There are specific processes in place which means accesses to SCR are monitored to make sure they are appropriate and are only made for patients when there is a clinical need. NHS England commissioned the Health and Social Care Information Centre to complete a pilot project which enabled 140 pharmacies to access SCR. A report of the findings from this project, which the article states has been ‘seen by the Daily Telegraph’ demonstrates significant benefits to patients, pharmacy and general practice. The report was made public on our website on 23 June 2015. As part of this project, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) consulted with a broad range of stakeholders and received endorsement from the Patients Association, Parkinsons UK, Age UK, National Voices, Diabetes UK and Asthma UK. In addition local patient groups in the Proof Of Concept areas were consulted during the project and were supportive. Additionally in each of the five pilot areas, local patient groups were consulted. The project followed the necessary approval by the Summary Care Record Expert Advisory Committee. The panel is made up of representatives from key stakeholder organisations covering different professional groups and different patient representative bodies. These representatives carried out consultations with their respective organisations regarding community pharmacy access to SCR. Additionally, patients have been informed about SCR through a national Patient Information Programme and have the choice of opting out of having a SCR. Patients that have a SCR created for them will continue to be asked for their explicit consent to view their SCR by healthcare professionals, for the purpose of clinical care only.. Finally, the SCR programme is not a forerunner to care.data. Care.data is a programme aiming to join up data across hospitals and general practice and make it available to the people who can use it to make services better – clinicians, commissioners, researchers, charities, patients and public. The Summary Care Record is for the use of clinicians for providing direct patient care, and is not used for any other purpose.

What to do when we are closed over the August bank holiday

What to do when we are closed over the August bank holiday

As the bank holiday approaches it is worth thinking about what you would do if you or a member of your family became unwell over the holiday period.  We recommend that you:-

• stock up on over the counter medicines.  Your pharmacist can also give you advice on treatments and products available.
• check you have enough prescription medicine to see you through the holidays and if you are going away pack enough for at least the duration of your holiday. 

If you need medical assistance when we are closed you can:

• phone the  NHS 111 service for medical advice by dialling 111.
• pop in to your local pharmacy for advice and over the counter medication.
• If your problem is urgent phone the NHS 111 service by dialling 111. To avoid putting undue pressure on this service, please only phone  if your problem cannot wait until we reopen.
• phone 999 immediately in the event of a life threatening, medical emergency.

Please avoid using emergency/urgent services and hospital A&E departments for routine problems or for problems that can wait until we reopen.


We are closed on  Monday 31 August 2015 . Otherwise we are open as usual.

Meningitis B vaccination for babies

From 1st September 2015, we will be offering Meningitis B as part of the routine vaccination programme for babies at 2 months, 4 months and 12 months.  This will be for babies born on or after 1st July 2015.

A catch up programme will also commence for babies born between 1st May 2015 and 30th June 2015, alongside their routine immunisations.

Update on the new teenage Meniingitis vaccine (ACWY) clinic dates

Clinics have now been set up for the following dates -

Wednesday 2nd September 2015
Wednesday 9th September 2015
Thursday 10th September 2015

Further clinics will be set up as vaccine supplies become available.

We will be offering Meningitis ACWY to all FIRST TIME (freshers) university entrants under the age of 25 and to all year 13 students from the 2014 - 2015 academic year.

If you are eligible and would like this vaccination, please contact the surgery to arrange an appointment.

Staff training Wednesday 26 August 1.00pm - 2.00pm

The surgery will be closed between 1pm and 2pm on Wednesday 26th August 2015 for staff training.  We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

If you need medical assistance when we are closed you can:

• phone the  NHS 111 service for medical advice by dialling 111.
• pop in to your local pharmacy for advice and over the counter medication.
• If your problem is urgent phone the NHS 111 service by dialling 111. To avoid putting undue pressure on this service, please only phone  if your problem cannot wait until we reopen.
• phone 999 immediately in the event of a life threatening, medical emergency.

New Teenage Meniingitis vaccine (ACWY) update

* PLEASE KEEP AN EYE ON THIS BLOG FOR UPDATES REGARDING CLINIC DATES*

A single dose of Meningitis ACWY will be replacing Meningitis C in 13 - 25 year olds.

From August 2015 (as supplies become available) we will be offering Meningitis ACWY to all FIRST TIME (freshers) university entrants under the age of 25 and to all year 13 students from the 2014 - 2015 academic year.

Please note :- If you are under 25 and have received the Meningitis ACWY vaccine in the past 10 years, there is no need to re-vaccinate.

From September 2015 the 13 - 15 year olds (generally year 10 locally), will receive Meningitis ACWY at school as part of the routine vaccination programme.

Those students starting years 11, 12 and 13 in the 2015 - 2016 academic year will be called as part of the catch -up campaign.


*PLEASE KEEP AN EYE ON THIS BLOG FOR UPDATES REGARDING CLINIC DATES*

Scam?

Cold Calling Incident – have you been contacted?

This week NHS England SW has received two reports from two GP surgeries in the North and East of Cornwall regarding a company who had cold-called one of their patients, seemingly with the patient’s medical history. (In the first incident the company allegedly claimed they had obtained this information from the patient’s GP Surgery).

The company are trying to sell electronic beds and chairs and pressurise the customer into agreeing to a sales appointment.

This incident is similar to one reported in the Exeter area in March, but at that time it targeted patients with arthritis.

If you experience such an incident, please do the following:

·         Write down as much information about the call as you can.

·         inform us immediately and tell us what happened via our email address coleridgemedicalcentre@nhs.net (attention Practice Manager)

·         Inform the police

We will inform and share information given to us with NHS England.

Age Concern will be here on Wednesday 12th August 2015 from 0930 until 1200 noon