News

The practice will not be offering appointments for the autumn covid booster vaccine. You can book an appointment for your covid booster at a local pharmacy, calling 119 or via the national booking site. The national booking site opens on Monday 23^rd September 2024. Book, cancel or change a COVID-19 vaccination appointment - NHS (www.nhs.uk)

The switch over to the new system is due to take place tomorrow (Wednesday 11^th September 2024). We do not expect any issues for patients trying to contact the surgery.

The new system will be a web-based telephone system that allows unlimited calls to the practice, meaning you will never get the engaged tone when contacting the practice.

You will have 6 options when contacting the surgery:

1. Appointment
2. Cancel appointment
3. Home visit
4. Secretary team
5. General enquires
6. Prescriptions

The new system will let you know what position you are in the queue. You will also be given the option for a call back if you do not want to wait in the queue. This means you can hang up the phone and your place in the queue will remain: our phone system will automatically call you back when you reach the front of the queue. Please keep your phone with you if you choose this option.

Please note the practice telephone numbers will remain the same.

Queens Road Surgery: 01207 585890
Moorside Branch Site: 01207 509278

We have started to send out invites to those eligible patients for the new RSV vaccine. Although this is a new vaccine being offered to the older population it has been given to young babies for a number of years. Please see below further information regarding the vaccine or more in depth information can be found on the NHS website at https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/respiratory-syncytial-virus-rsv/

What the RSV vaccine is for?

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major respiratory virus that is common over the winter period, typically November to February. While the symptoms are mild for many, RSV can also be severe in older adults, causing pneumonia and flare-ups of existing lung disease and other long-term conditions.

The symptoms of RSV:

RSV may cause a cough or a cold, wheezing, shortness of breath, tiredness and fever. Most cases are not serious and clear up within 2 to 3 weeks. You can find out more about the symptoms of RSV on the NHS site.

From  September 2024 in England, pregnant women at week 28 or later and everyone aged 75 to 79 or turning 75 years old on or after the 1 September will be offered a vaccine to protect themselves or their babies against Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV)

Is more than one dose of RSV vaccine needed?

Pregnant women should have the RSV vaccine in every pregnancy – this will give your new baby the best protection.

In older adults, a single dose is expected to give good protection for a few years. A single dose of vaccine will help to boost protection as you reach an age group at highest risk of serious RSV infection.

Preventing the spread of RSV:

RSV can spread through coughs and sneezes.

You can help to prevent the spread of the virus by covering your mouth and nose when you cough or sneeze (ideally with a tissue, or else into the bend of your elbow), and you can wash your hands with warm soapy water frequently to kill the germs.

GP Practices are facing severe shortfalls in funding that have been cumulative over recent years.  This is causing some practices to collapse and hand back their NHS contracts.  This then puts even more pressure on the surviving practices, who then take the extra work, and patients, who then find it even more difficult to get an appointment.

We are very limited in the action we can take – no strike action is planned. We are taking some 'work to rule' steps in order to escalate our dispute with NHS England/Department of Health.

Queens Road will not be capping appointment numbers as such, but when we consider our service to be full, patients will be re-directed to 111. We are taking action over our referral process which should be easier and more efficient for the GP, and less accepting of consultant advice-only replies to our referrals, where then your GP has to carry out further tests, follow-up and onward management, and requesting more consultant appointments from our referrals. We are not engaging with non-NHS services requiring prescriptions, follow-up, and monitoring.

Overall, we will be continuing to try and do our best for patient's interests.

Please see the BMA website for further information. There is useful overview here

About the service

The NHS111 Mental Health Triage team provides mental health support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to people of all ages.

What we do

We provide a 24/7 mental health crisis pathway thats available for self-referral. The service improves safety and is able to detect early traits of mental illness and relapse, allowing early referral and treatment. The Mental Health Triage team has a wide range of skills including on the phone CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) which allows you to receive the care you need in the comfort of your own home.

The team also work to support people to access alternative ‘Safe Places’ in the Community for short-term support. By exploring these options the team reduce the need to attend A&E which can often be stressful, distressing and avoided with specialist support over the phone.

Accessing the service

You can access the service by calling 111 or by visiting NHS 111 online .

What happens next?

When you first contact NHS111 you will recieve a clinical triage by a NHS 111 Health Advisor. Depending on whether you are known to services and what your need is at the time you will be provided with appropriate intervention, support or advice or referred into:

• next day GP appointment or directly booked into an appointment (when the direct booking function is fully available)
• self-referral to Improving Access to Psychlogical Therapies (IAPT) services that are available such as iTalk services Talking Change Psychological Services and Steps 2 Wellbeing
• alternative crisis services in the community such as safe havens, wellbeing centres and community crisis support centres
• signposted to other voluntary mental health helplines e.g. SANE, Samaritans
• an alternative and appropriate community service such as debt advice, housing need, drug and alcohol
• Community Mental Health teams (CMHT) or Child Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS)
• Crisis Resolution and Home Treatment Team.

We will be holding a flu vaccine clinic on Saturday 12^th October by appointment only. Eligible patients will be sent a booking link to book their appointment. Alternatively, you can call the surgery to book your appointment on 01207 585890 or 01207 509278.

Eligibility criteria below. The government has announced that the flu campaign cannot start until October 2024.

• those aged 65 years and over
• those aged 18 years to under 65 years in clinical risk groups (as defined by the Green Book, Influenza Chapter 19)
• those in long-stay residential care homes
• carers in receipt of carer’s allowance, or those who are the main carer of an elderly or disabled person
• close contacts of immunocompromised individuals
• frontline workers in a social care setting without an employer led occupational health scheme including those working for a registered residential care or nursing home, registered domiciliary care providers, voluntary managed hospice providers and those that are employed by those who receive direct payments (personal budgets) or Personal Health budgets, such as Personal Assistants

*Pregnant women will be invited for NHS flu vaccination from 1^st September 2024

More information can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-flu-immunisation-programme-plan-2024-to-2025

We will be contacting eligible patients in the coming weeks.
Please don’t contact us yet as we can’t arrange clinics yet until we get our vaccines.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a common cause of coughs and colds. It usually gets better by itself, but it can be serious for some babies and older adults.

RSV vaccination from September 2024:

A vaccine to help protect against RSV will be available on the NHS from September 24

You’ll be able to get the vaccine if:

– you’re aged 75 to 79
– you’re 28 weeks pregnant or more – this will help protect your baby for the first few months after they’re born If you’re aged 75 to 79, your GP surgery will contact you about getting vaccinated. Please wait to be contacted.

From September, you can speak to your maternity service or GP surgery about getting your RSV vaccination if you’re 28 weeks pregnant or more.

For more information please click the link 👇
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/respiratory-syncytial-virus-rsv/

Taking your prescription on your flight

If you take regular medication and are planning to go abroad, we recommend following these steps to ensure that you have your prescription for the length of the trip.

Please contact us 2 months before your flight to let us know what medication you may need and how long you are going away for. You may need a letter signed by the GP stating what medication you are on and why you need it. This may come with a charge of £15.

You will also need a copy of your prescription stating the generic name of your medication. This is due to medications having different brand names and therefore you will need to know the name that is carried across all countries.

Carry your medication in labelled packaging. NHS guidelines advice that you carry the majority in your hand luggage in a seperate easily accessible bag and then some spare in your suitcase luggage in case of loss or damages.

If you are travelling with liquid medicines over 100mls, contact the airline and airports you are travelling through. This also includes medications such as inhalers. You may need a document to prove the liquid form of the medication is necessary. Carrying over 100mls can sometimes mean this medication needs to be screened seperately to your luggage. Inform security before your X-Ray that you have liquid medication with you.

If you need to travel with needles or syringes you will need to carry the relevant medication alongside the equipment. You will not be able to travel with needles and syringes only.

If you are travelling to a warm country, get advice from the pharmacy on how to store your medication or see the NHS website's advice for storing your medications.

The country you are travelling to may have restrictions on the medications that they allow into the country. You will want to contact the embassy of the country you are travelling to in order to confirm the regulations. If any medications you are taking are controlled drugs then you will need to contact the relevant embassy before you travel.

Use of Benzodiazepines (and related medications) for flying

Diazepam in the UK is a Class C/Schedule IV controlled drug. The following short guide outlines the issues surrounding its use with regards to flying and why the surgery no longer prescribes such medications for this purpose.

People often come to us requesting the doctor or nurse to prescribe diazepam for fear of flying or assist with sleep during flights. Diazepam is a sedative, which means it makes you sleepy and more relaxed. There are a number of very good reasons why prescribing this drug is not recommended.

According to the prescribing guidelines doctors follow (British National Formulary) diazepam is contraindicated (not allowed) for treating phobias (fears). It also states that “the use of benzodiazepines to treat short-term ‘mild’ anxiety is inappropriate.” Your doctor would be taking a significant legal risk by prescribing against these guidelines. They are only licensed short term for a crisis in generalised anxiety. If this is the case, you should be getting proper care and support for your mental health and not going on a flight. Fear of flying in isolation is not a generalised anxiety disorder.

Although plane emergencies are a rare occurrence there are concerns about reduced awareness and reaction times for patients taking Diazepam which could pose a significant risk to themselves and others due to not being able to react in a manner which could save their life in the event of an emergency on board necessitating evacuation.

The use of such sedative drugs can make you fall asleep, however when you do sleep it is an unnatural non-REM sleep. This means you won’t move around as much as during natural sleep. This can cause you to be at an increased risk of developing a blood clot (Deep Vein Thrombosis - DVT) in the leg or even the lungs. Blood clots are very dangerous and can even prove fatal. This risk is even greater if your flight is greater than 4 hours, the amount of time which has been shown to increase the risk of developing DVT whether in an aeroplane or elsewhere.

Whilst most people find Diazepam sedating, a small number have paradoxical agitation and aggression. They can also cause disinhibition and lead you to behave in a way that you would not normally which can pose a risk on the plane. This could impact on your safety as well as that of other passengers and could also get you into trouble with the law. A similar effect can be seen with alcohol, which has led to people being removed from flights.

Diazepam and similar controlled drugs are illegal in a number of countries. They may be confiscated or you may find yourself in trouble with the police. The passenger may also need to use a different strategy for the homeward bound journey and/or other legs of the journey

It is important to declare all medical conditions and medications you take to your travel insurer. If not, there is a risk of nullifying any insurance policy you may have.

Given the above we will no longer be providing Diazepam or similar drugs for flight anxiety and instead suggest the below aviation industry recommended flight anxiety courses.

Flight anxiety does not come under the remit of General Medical Services as defined in the GP contract and so we are not obliged to prescribe for this.  Patients who still wish to take benzodiazepines for flight anxiety are advised to consult with a private GP.

For further information:

https://thefearofflying.com/programs/fly-and-be-calm/

https://www.fearlessflyer.easyjet.com/

https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/information/travel-assistance/flying-with-confidence

https://www.flyingwithoutfear.com/