The Shore Medical April 2024 Newsletter is available for download here: Shore-Medical April 2024 Newsletter
Welcome to our April newsletter
Shore Champions
Our Patient Participation Group (PPG) has been renamed as “Shore Champions”.
This year our Shore Champion Focus group has already met twice and our vision for our new Shore Champions Group has been well supported.
Our Shore Champion Focus group work with Shore Medical to offer patients extra support, information, signposting and to arrange social events.
Did you know there is a Shore Champion patient coffee morning which is hosted by our Shore Champion Focus Group?
If you would like to join the group, please download and complete the referral form and email to shore.champions@dorsetgp.nhs.uk Or print and hand in to your Shore Medical surgery reception.
You can find more information, details on how to become a shore champion or ask for a Shore Champion to contact you by visiting our website HERE
Pharmacy First Campaign
Many of you will have seen news about the Pharmacy First campaign but we are aware that not everyone is aware of it, so we thought it would be a good idea to circulate some information about it which we hope you will find useful.
NHS Dorset have shared a Pharmacy booklet which was sent to them by Healthwatch Dorset. Although the booklet has been produced by another Healthwatch area it is relevant to Dorset. HW ST GP Booklet (healthwatchmiddlesbrough.co.uk)
The Patients Association also recently hosted a very informative webinar which gives lots of information about the campaign: Introducing the Pharmacy First service (patients- association.org.uk)
The campaign has put together some resources here: Pharmacy assets | Help Us Help You – Primary Care Services | Campaign Resource Centre (dhsc.gov.uk)
Shore Pharmacy
We are pleased to advise our patients that Shore Pharmacy at Parkstone Tower Practice, Mansfield Road is one of the local pharmacies offering this service. Our Superintendent Pharmacist, Steve Costello, is trained to assess, diagnose, and treat patients with all seven conditions approved for the Pharmacy First Service. These conditions are:
- Sinusitis (adults and children aged 12 years and over) Sore throat (adults and children aged 5 years and over) Earache (children aged 1 year to 17 years)
- Infected insect bite (adults and children aged 1 year and over)
- Impetigo (adults and children aged 1 year and over)
- Shingles (adults aged 18 years and over)
- Urinary tract infection (women, aged 16 to 64 years)
This service can also be found at all other NHS community Pharmacies.
Paediatric Vaccinations
Childhood infections like measles and whooping cough are rising, with outbreaks across the country. Such infections can have a huge impact on your child’s life. They can miss out on school due to time spent unwell, be hospitalised, and even experience life-long complications and disability.
If your child isn’t vaccinated, they’re not protected. In Dorset, clinicians are asking parents and carers to check their children’s vaccinations are up to date and if not to speak to their GP.
Vaccinations have ensured the UK has been declared free of diseases such as polio, with others, like diphtheria, almost fully controlled. However, in recent years we have seen a trend of lower vaccine uptake, and this has been exacerbated by the pandemic. The UK’s childhood vaccination programme prevents around 5,000 deaths, and over 100,000 hospital admissions, each year in England.
All childhood vaccinations offered by the NHS have been used in millions of children worldwide and have an excellent safety record. All medicines can cause side effects, but all health authorities around the world agree that immunisation is the safest way to protect our children’s health. Please visit www.nhs.uk/childhoodvaccinations for the full immunisation timetable and information on how to book.
Get your blood pressure checked
The only way to know if you have high blood pressure is to get your blood pressure checked. High blood pressure is associated with a higher risk of heart attack, stroke, kidney disease and vascular
dementia. Getting your blood pressure checked is free, simple and quick. You can request a blood pressure check at your local pharmacy or use the machines we have available in reception at Parkstone Tower Practice, Heatherview Medical Centre, Poole Road Medical Centre and Lilliput Surgery.
Articles – In house Cryotheraphy Lead Dr Gladwin
Cryotherapy is the use of extreme cold to freeze and destroy abnormal or diseased tissue. We are pleased to offer regular cryotherapy clinics at our lilliput site to treat premalignant skin lesions such as areas of Bowens Disease and Actinic Keratoses. We are not able to treat skin lesions purely due to cosmetic concern and we do not offer cryotherapy for warts and verrucae. Information on how you can treat skin conditions such as warts and verrucae can be found below:
Viral Warts (also known as verruca when they are on the bottom of the feet) are caused by the human papilloma viruses.
Most warts and verrucae will disappear on their own, without leaving a scar, within 2 years. However, if you want to try and get rid of the wart or verruca sooner there are several treatments that you can purchase from the pharmacy or try at home. These include application of wart paint and occlusion with duct tape or nail polish. Some warts can be persistent and may not respond to these treatments, and you may wish to pursue options such as laser treatment or cryotherapy privately if this is the case.
What is Duct Tape?
Duct Tape is a strong waterproof sticky tape used in the building trade. It is not available on prescription but can be bought easily from most DIY shops and supermarkets.
What does it involve?
- Cut a piece of Duct Tape as close to the size of the wart as possible and place this over the Leave in place for 6 days. If it falls off, replace it with a new piece as soon as possible.
- At the end of 6 days, remove the tape and soak the area in warm water and gently rub/file the wart with a pumice stone or emery board to remove any dead white skin.
- Leave overnight without any tape then start the 6-day regime with duct tape again the next
- Repeat this 7-day cycle for 2 months or until the wart goes, whichever comes
If the treatment works, the wart may disappear more quickly than it would if no treatment is used. Alternatives
- Leaving the wart to resolve by
- Daily treatment with wart paint and filing once a
Alternatively, you can achieve the same occlusion with nail polish. Substitute a piece of Duct tape with nail polish over the wart, reapply daily and once a week peel off, soak and file. Restart the next day.
If you have a skin lesion that you are concerned about, please do get in touch so that we can advise you on the correct treatment.
Articles – In house Skin Specialist Dr Barringer
Did you know that the commonest cancer affecting British people is the Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC)? About 320 are diagnosed every day in the UK. That’s about 120,000 per year. This makes it twice as common as breast cancer, which is the next most frequent cancer. It is expected that there will be a 10% increase in the rate of this cancer over the next decade.
The good news is that they are easy to prevent and can usually be cured with a simple operation, if identified soon enough. These tumours are directly caused by exposure to sun light (and sun beds!) so frequent application of high factor sun cream is all that you need to do. Simple! But don’t forget that sun creams take about 30 mins to work AFTER you have applied them…so you must do so before you go outside. There is lots of helpful advice about this on the NHS website:
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/seasonal-health/sunscreen-and-sun-safety/
A simple Google search (other search engines are available!) will show you pictures of what BCCs look like. In a nutshell, you should be concerned about any new, slowly growing, pink nodules on your skin, especially if they bleed with only minimal rubbing (ie whilst drying yourself with a towel). They are particularly common on the face, shoulders, chest and back, but can occur on any sun exposed skin. They are most common in older people but can occasionally be seen in 30s and 40s.
In Shore Medical we have a lot of experience with the diagnosis and treatment skin cancers. Being based on the sunny south coast means that we have a higher incidence than the rest of the UK and for several years we have received additional support from the NHS to enable us to run a specialist service which you GP could refer you into if he/she is concerned.
So, if you have a new or changing skin lesion which concerns you, please send us a message via our online triage service so that we can get it professionally assessed.
Social Media
Stay connected with us and follow our regular updates on social media
Patient Survey
Your opinion really matters to us! Please could you complete our Patient Survey to help us improve our services! The survey should take less than 5 minutes to complete and is available by clicking this link or scanning the QR code. All responses are anonymous and confidential. Thank you in advance for helping us to help you!
Your feedback & reviews are important
It is important to us that we receive your feedback, both negative and positive.
Feedback constantly helps us improve our service.
You can provide feedback regarding your experience at your surgery by visiting either the NHS website or using Google Reviews via our website HERE
You can also provide feedback direct to Shore Medical by completing our online feedback form or you may have had a very good experience you would like to share letter of appreciation form
NHS Friends and Family Test
NHS friends and family test is a way of gathering anonymous feedback from you about your recent experience of the practice.
This will help us to recognize where we are doing things well and where we need to improve.
Your feedback gives a very real and recent picture of what you think.
Thank you for the 2,646 Friends and Family Test reviews received in March.
