Nairn Healthcare news June 2016

Staffing

Nairn Healthcare would like to welcome Kevin Stuart to the team. Kevin is a paramedic and will be joining the duty team 4 days a week to do on-the-day telephone consultations and face-to-face appointments.

We would also like to extend a big thank you to Heather, our loyal cleaner at Ardersier Branch surgery for her 25 years of service.

Cervical Screening

From 6th June, the age range for cervical cancer will change from 20-60 years to 25-64 years. The frequency of cervical screening will continue to be every three years from women aged 25-49 but will change to every five years for women aged 50-64.

5,000 lives are saved by cervical screening in the UK every year. Please don’t ignore your invitation for your smear test, it could save your life!

For more information, visit www.nhsinform.co.uk/screening

or call 0800 22 44 88.

Survey

If you are attending the surgery for an appointment with a GP, you may be asked to complete a survey after you see the doctor.

Each doctor will be taking a turn and asking their patients to return to reception to complete a survey on our new tablet.

The reception team will be happy to help for those who are less familiar with a tablet.

The survey shouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes to complete and is very useful feedback for the Practice and the individual GP.

Credit/Debit cards

The Practice now accepts the following credit and debit cards for non-NHS services:

Visa Debit

Visa Credit

Mastercard Debit

Mastercard Credit

Maestro

Visa Commercial – Debit card only

Hayfever

Hay fever is one of the most common allergic conditions affecting one in five people at some point in their life and unfortunately, it is during the Summer months that it surfaces. It is an allergy to pollen and the symptoms include sneezing, a runny nose and itchy eyes.

Many people find their symptoms improve as they get older. Symptoms disappear completely in around 10-20% of people.

There is currently no cure for hay fever but most people are able to relieve symptoms with treatment to a certain extent. Treatment options include antihistamines which can help prevent an allergic reaction from occurring. Steroids are sometimes recommended to reduce inflammation and swelling.

Most hay fever cases can be controlled with over-the-counter medication from the pharmacy, however if you feel your hay fever is more troublesome, it may be worth speaking to a GP as you may require prescribed medication.

Some self-help tips:

· Wearing sunglasses outdoors to stop pollen reaching your eyes

· Take a shower after being outdoors to remove unwanted pollen from your body

· Apply a small amount of Vaseline to the nasal opening to trap pollen grains.

Ardersier branch

Ardersier branch surgery operates from 8.30am -5.30pm Monday to Friday (Closed Thursday from 2pm) and ever 2nd Wednesday evening 6pm -8pm.

Over the last month, GPs treated 317 patients in the Ardersier branch surgery. Nurses dealt with 130 patients and the Health Care Assistants saw 152 patients.