Nairn Healthcare News March newsletter

The latest from the practice

Staffing

Nairn Healthcare is sad to say goodbye to our longest serving member of staff. Jean Maclean has been with the Practice for 39 years as receptionist/administrator and will be leaving her post on Friday 4th March. We wish Jean all the best for the future We will be welcoming our new receptionist, Emma, on Monday 7th March to the team.

Befrienders Highland 

Befrienders Highland Ltd (BHL) has recently announced that loneliness and isolation are sadly on the increase in the Nairn area. In the past 12 months, there has been a 60% increase in the number of people who are referred for 1-1 support because of the loneliness created as a result of their mental illness or dementia. Befrienders Highland are hoping to recruit and train enough people for those referred and are reaching out to the local community. The friendships can be offered face-to-face (Inverness and Nairn) or through phone, letter or email across the wider Highlands. They have been described as a lifeline for over 650 people who have benefitted from the weekly social contact. If you are interested in becoming a befriender and are aged 25 or older, please contact Alan Duncan or Sally Mackintosh on 01463 235675 or email distance@befriendershighland.org.uk. Befrienders Highland will provide training and ongoing support. 

Practice Booklet

Nairn Healthcare has launched a new eBook which is now available on our website www.nairnhealthcaregroup.co.uk . The booklet contains information about the practice and extended teams within the community. It also includes useful telephone numbers, helpful information and more

No Smoking Day 2016

No Smoking Day 2016 will be 9th March and Nairn Healthcare wants to urge all our patients who smoke to stub out the cigarette and be proud to be a quitter. Around 10million people in the UK still smoke and 100,000 die every year from smoking-related causes. We are all aware of the reasons why it’s a good idea to stop smoking and although quitting won’t be the easiest thing to do, the benefits will reap once you have. As soon as 24 hours after quitting, your lungs have already started to clear out the mucus and smoking debris. After one year, your risk of heart disease is halved. Money-wise, a 20-a-day smoker can save over £3,000 in a year! Also, life and home insurance is cheaper when you are a non-smoker. For help on stopping smoking, log on to www.nosmokingday.org.uk for forums moderated by ex-smokers for support and encouragement. You can also call Can Stop Smoking on 0800 84 84 84. Also, most pharmacies offer a smoking cessation service. They can provide support, advice and discuss the best method to help you quit. For more information, please contact your local pharmacy. 

The Scottish Bowel Screening Progrmme

The Scottish Bowel Screening Programme aims to reduce mortality from bowel cancer by detecting the condition as early as possible – early stage cancer has a more favourable prognosis than advanced disease. Men and women aged 50-74 years old are invited to take part in the Scottish Bowel Screening Programme through completing a home screening test every two years. The screening test aims to detect blood in bowel motions as this may indicate a higher risk of bowel cancer. People with a positive screening test result (i.e. blood was detected in the bowel motions tested) are offered further investigation, typically a colonoscopy. Between the period of January – June 2015, 1,409 Nairn Healthcare patients were invited to take part in the screening resulting in 63% returning their kit exceeding the national target of 60% and we would encourage patients to continue participating in this very important screening test. For more information on bowel screening, please call the helpline on 0800 0121 833 or visit: www.nhsinform.co.uk/screening/bowel.