MINCHINHAMPTON SURGERY

Telephone 01453 883793
 
Opening Hours 8.30am - 6.30pm
Monday - Friday

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Minchinhampton Surgery

For information about Minchinhampton Surgery Charitable Trust click here  

For more information about 'flu immunisation click on www.nhs.uk/conditions/flu-jab

The Surgery,
Bell Lane,
Minchinhampton.
Gloucestershire, GL6 9JF

Dr. Mike Thomas 
Dr. Susie Weir
Dr. David Pouncey
Dr. Andy Simpson
Dr. Anne Cain
Dr. Hein le Roux

OFFICE HOURS

Monday to Friday 8.30am to 6.30pm

SURGERY TIMES

Surgeries are held, Monday to Friday,
8.30 to 10.40am & 4.00 to 6.00pm.

Extended hours: Routine GP appointments Mondays from 6.15am and Wednesdays until 8.15pm

(Please note the office is only open to check patients in during extended hours and phones will still transfer to the emergency Out of Hours service)

Appointments

01453 883793

Repeat Prescriptions

(8.30 to 10.30am Monday to Friday)
01453 889678

 What do I do if I have forgotten my password?

 Unfortunately, we cannot search our system if you have forgotten your password. This is due to security reasons. You will need to complete another Request for Registration so that your account can be reset. After 48 hours your new pin will be available to collect in person from Reception. Please bring photo identification with you. Using your new pin, you will then need to re-register and choose another password. We hope that you understand this security measure.


 

 

Surgery News

News from the Surgery

The Practice has recently received the Primary Care Respiratory Society Quality Award. This is a nationally recognised award to recognise high standards of care of patients with respiratory conditions. This work is led by Dr Mike Thomas and Senior nurse Carol but involves the whole Practice team. It is a great honour for the Practice, as only two Practices in the country have achieved this award.


There will be a few changes in 2012. Dr Bristol will be reducing to three sessions a week and at the end of January Dr Alex Harris will be going on maternity leave. Registrars, Dr Penny Baker and Dr Iona Hay sadly move on to their next placements in February.


Flu Clinics 2011


Flu Clinics were very busy this year and we are very grateful to the volunteers from the Patient Participation Group who organised the refreshments. Uptake for the ‘flu vaccine has been excellent. At the end of November we had used almost 2000 immunisations, immunising over 80% of our patients aged over 65 and 56% of our patients at risk under 65. This compares very well with the uptake in England last year where 72.8% of over 65’s were immunised and 50.4% of those under 65 at risk.


Please do arrange an appointment for a ‘flu immunisation if you have not been immunised yet and fall into one of the following groups:
Aged 65 or over; have a chronic illness or immunosupressed; pregnant or a carer.

Appointments


We try and carry out most adult flu immunisations in our ‘flu clinics, where our nurses are immunising every 2 minutes, but we do have patients who for one reason or other, need to book into the nurse sessions at the Surgery. Unfortunately this, combined with some nurse sickness has caused quite a problem with nurse appointments this autumn. Despite putting on extra nurse appointments we apologise that some patients have had to wait longer than would be preferred.

Minchinhampton, being a rural practice, provides blood testing to prevent our patients having to travel to hospital. Every week several hundred blood tests are performed. We also have close to 150 patients on the drug Warfarin which requires regular blood testing at the Surgery. It is therefore frustrating when booked appointments are wasted by patients not attending and forgetting to cancel. Please do remember to cancel if you no longer need your appointment. We do understand that there are sometimes exceptional circumstances which mean an appointment is not kept.


If you need to be seen as an emergency, please try to phone early. The Triage nurse can then arrange an emergency appointment if necessary before Morning Surgery finishes at 11am.


Telephone Calls


The GPs are noticing an increasing number of requests from patients wanting to speak to a GP. They understand there is sometimes an urgent matter that needs a prompt response. If it is not urgent, it will be dealt with, but not necessarily the same day. Please consider whether the advice may be obtained from Carol, our Senior Triage Nurse who is available on the phone every morning for urgent medical matters, or even if the information can be obtained from sites such as NHS choices www.nhs.uk


Winter depression (seasonal affective disorder or SAD) is thought to affect up to one in 15 Brits Every year between September and April. Many more of us (about 17%) get a milder form of the condition, known as the winter blues.  (Extract from NHS choices www.nhs.uk  )


KEY SYMPTOMS
• depression
• sleep problems
• lethargy
• overeating
• irritability
• feeling down and unsociable


According to Sue Pavlovich of the Seasonal Affective Disorder Association (SADA), these 10 tips could help. “Everyone’s affected differently by SAD so what works for one person won’t for another. But there’s usually something that will help, so don’t give up if the first remedy you try doesn’t work. Just keep trying," she says.


1. Keep active: Research has shown that a daily one-hour walk, in the middle of the day, could be as helpful as light treatment for coping with the winter blues.


 2. Get outside: Go outdoors in natural daylight as much as possible, especially at midday and on bright days. Inside your home, choose pale colours that reflect light from outside, and sit near windows whenever you can.


3. Keep warm: Being cold makes you more depressed. It’s also been shown that staying warm can reduce the winter blues by half. Keep warm with hot drinks and hot food. Wear warm clothes and shoes and aim to keep your home between 18ºC and 21ºC (or 64ºF and 70ºF degrees).


4. Eat healthily:A healthy diet will boost your mood, give you more energy and stop you putting on weight over winter. Balance your craving for carbohydrates, such as pasta and potatoes, with plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables. "Some people tell us that taking extra vitamin D helps," adds Pavlovich. Good food sources of vitamin D include oily fish and eggs.


5. Lighten up:Light therapy can be effective in up to 85% of diagnosed cases. One way to get light therapy at home in winter is to sit in front of a light box for up to two hours a day. Light boxes give out very bright light that is at least 10 times stronger than ordinary home and office lighting. They’re not available on the NHS and cost around £100 or more.
"Some people find that using a dawn simulator [a bedside light, connected to an alarm clock, which mimics a sunrise and wakes you up gradually] as well as a light box can enhance the beneficial effect," says Pavlovich.


6. Take up a new hobby: Keeping your mind active with a new interest seems to ward off symptoms of SAD, says Pavlovich. "It could be anything, such as playing bridge, singing, knitting, joining a gym, keeping a journal or writing a blog. The important thing is that you have something to look forward to and concentrate on," she adds.


7. See your friends and family: It’s been shown that socialising is good for your mental health and helps ward off the winter blues. Make an effort to keep in touch with people you care about and accept any invitations you get to social events, even if you only go for a little while. It will really help to lift your spirits.


8. Talk it through: Talking treatments such as counselling, psychotherapy or cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) can help you cope with symptoms. See your GP for information on what's available locally on the NHS and privately.


9. Join a support group: Think about joining a support group. Sharing your experience with others who know what it's like to have SAD is very therapeutic and can make your symptoms more bearable. SADA is the UK’s only registered charity dedicated to seasonal affective disorder.


10. Seek help: If your symptoms are so bad that you can't live a normal life, see your GP for medical help.


Armed Forces Veterans

A veteran is someone who has served in the armed forces for at least one day, and there are around 4.5million veterans in the UK. When servicemen and women leave the armed forces, their healthcare is the responsibility of the NHS.
All veterans are entitled to priority access to NHS hospital care for any condition, as long as it's related to their service, whether or not they receive a war pension. Please note that this is subject to the clinical needs of others.
If you are a veteran please tell Reception your service number so your GP is aware of this.

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