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Charlbury Patient Participation Group: CPPG

Welcome to the Charlbury Patient Participation Group page. We will use this page to keep you up to date with Charlbury Medical Practice news, our quarterly newsletters, and occasional bulletins.

Please find our  newsletters:

Newsletters continue at the foot of this page.

July 22, 2024

The "outage" of computers in General Practice last Friday caused many problems and much frustration for patients and staff.
Charlbury Medical Centre is now running normally, and asks patients whose appointments were cancelled on Friday to phone reception on 01608 811 680 to rebook their appointment.
During the outage, reception staff had no access to the list of patients with appointments on that day.  Therefore, they were unable to contact patients affected by system failures. Everyone is sorry for the upset caused, but it was entirely out of the hands of staff at CMC.  The practice managers are putting in place a system where should this happen again, a list of patients and their contact numbers will be known  (I guess a print out of names for the following day).
Prescriptions will be up to date by the end of today.

APRIL 2024

Stomach bug survey and research at CMC

Some of you may have followed the conversation on the Forum about this survey.  
For more information about research carried out at CMC, please visit the medical centre’s website: 

www.thecharlburymedicalcentre.nhs.uk  Please scroll to the foot of the home page where you will find under “About Us” the heading Research Studies. Here Ben Hayden-Johnston describes the sources of research undertaken by the practice and how you can opt in, or out of taking part.

Charlbury Farmers' Market, March 9, 9am to noon

Thank you to those of you who came to see us this morning and shared your experiences of using CMC.

Where appropriate we shall discuss the issues raised with the practice manager when we next meet. 

 February 2024

Charlbury patient participation group has a new email address: Charlburypatientgroup@gmail.com  It has taken us a while to transfer all the data from our old nhs.net account and I hope that we haven’t lost any members in the process.

Important changes in the way we access and receive primary care.

There are proposals to make some significant changes in the way we access and receive primary care in our area: GP practices, Dentistry, Pharmacy for example. The new strategy has been put together by the Integrated Care Board (ICB) which commissions health services across Oxfordshire (and Buckinghamshire and Berkshire West) with consultants KPMG and follows a model used in the USA.  The new model has been tried out in London but not in a rural setting similar to ours. If the proposals are implemented we may see significant changes in the way we interact with primary care.

Here is the link to the Primary Care Strategy: https://www.bucksoxonberksw.icb.nhs.uk/news/posts/bob-icb-news/november-2023/join-the-primary-care-conversation-to-help-transform-services/

Dr Mason joined the practice as a salaried GP in mid-September. She works on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday morning and cares for patients who were previously assigned to Dr Jones. Dr Jones left the practice in March 2023. Dr Mason is the safe-guarding lead in CMC.  

Ben Haydon-Johnston, the advanced paramedic.  His working days are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday morning. He has pre-booked consultations with patients as well as assessing patients’ calls to identify the most appropriate clinical consultation.    

Dr Brookes-White’s patients with long term conditions have been allocated to either Dr McIntyre or Dr Mason.   

Dr McIntyre is the clinical lead in palliative care. (Palliative care offers physical, emotional and practical support to people with a terminal illness. It can be offered at any point after a terminal diagnosis). Dr McIntyre is the lead physician in CMC.  

Dr Pria is a locum doctor who carries out consultations.

August 2022

Missed Appointments

Unfortunately, some people are not attending pre-booked appointments, particularly appointments for the Asthma Clinic. Patients are also missing booked appointments with the GP and nurse. Appointments are precious, please do not waste them.  Please let the surgery know if you are unable to keep an appointment, even at short notice your appointment can be offered to another patient.

Thank you for helping the medical centre and our community.

July 2022

Summer newsletter

Please click on the icon at the foot of this page to read the patient group's latest newsletter: June newsletter 2022. This time we include latest information about the proposed treatment and management of lower back pain, how UV damages our eyes, and the Red Cross collection of small items of medical equipment which takes place on 5 July. There is also a special plea from the practice manager Kathy Gale:

Repeat Prescriptions. The slowest, least efficient and most expensive way of ordering a repeat prescription is by ringing the practice. Please whenever possible order a repeat prescription using the NHS App, Patient Access, or putting your slip in the white letter box next to the front door of the practice.

March 2022

News from the Practice

Dermatology. The Practice has purchased a Scope (to look in detail at a lesion) and from there each GP will follow the guidelines of the Dermatology department. The practice has also purchased a centrifuge to spin blood samples enabling samples to be kept without deteriorating in the fridge overnight. This means that samples can be taken throughout the day instead of up until noon as now.

Winter newsletter

The Winter 2022 newsletter is available to read as a PDF at the bottom of the page.  In this edition we give information about the Warm Home Discount; the environmental impact of inhalers; bowel and breast cancer screening.

January 2022

Help from your local pharmacy

Pharmacies can give treatment advice about a range of common conditions and minor injuries, such as:

  • Cystitis

  • aches and pains

  • sore throat

  • coughs

  • colds

  • flu

  • earache

  • skin rashes

  • teething

  • red eye

People aged 65 and under who think they may have a urine infection can book a consultation with the pharmacist.  If the pharmacist diagnoses an infection the pharmacist may prescribe a course of antibiotics. 

Please do not visit the pharmacy if you think you may have, or have coronavirus.

Averose telephone number: 01608 810 315

November 2021

Autumn Newsletter

You will find at the foot of this page, the autumn newsletter from the patient group. Please read it to find out about other sources of help and advice if you are not feeling well.

Remember to use local pharmacies where highly trained pharmacists can help with many common ailments.

Witney Minor Injuries Unit is open seven days a week and can save a visit to Oxford and Banbury A&E.  Phone the MIU first on 01865 903 841 to make an appoitment.

NHS 111: open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. By dialling 111 you will speak to well trained staff who can refer you to a doctor or nurse, or if necessary make an appointment at A&E saving a long wait. They can make an appointment for you at your GP practice if necessary and give advice and information to help you.

By using these support services we can help the medical practice to concentrate on helping patients where there is no other appropriate source of clinical support. Thank you.

August 2021

Summer NewsletterThe patient group's latest summer newsletter is available to open and read at the bottom of the page. In this edition we have an article about antibiotics, their use and the dangers of over-use. New services for women aged 16 and over at Averose Pharmacy in Charlbury: contraceptive advice and diagnosis and treatment of urine infections for women aged 16 to 64. Social prescribing has come to the Charlbury Medical Centre. "Your docotor isn't the only person who can help you feel better." Link workers Sue and Sian are hear to help all adults aged 18 and over. Read more about this new service in the newsletter. As soon as we receive information from the practice about the vaccination booster and flu vaccination programme, we'll let you know.

Spring newsletter

Just in case you did not spot our latest newsletter in "News" on this website, it can be found at the foot of this page. In this edition we focus on heart health, especially women's heart health, where problems can be missed or wrongly diagnosed. The article is written by a patient of CMC. We also describe hypertension, or high blood pressure which is one of the most commonly occurring conditions in patients of CMC, and how to monitor blood pressure at home. Jason from Charlbury Community Centre encourages us to excercise more and Nikki Jackson writes about the benefits of yoga therapy. We hope you find the newsletter interesting.

April 2021

Your Vaccination Records

By downloading the NHS App, (not the coronavirus tracing app) you can see and have evidence of your immunisations, including the Covid 19 vaccination. It may take time for information to be uploaded onto the app, but it will get there.

After you download the app, you will need to set up an NHS login and prove who you are. All this can be done at home with some patience and perseverance. You only need to do it once. There is no need to visit the medical centre with your documents.

The app then securely connects to information from your GP surgery.

You can use the NHS App to:

  • See details of the vaccinations you have received.

  • order repeat prescriptions - see your available medicines, request a new repeat prescription and choose a pharmacy for your prescriptions to be sent to

  • book appointments - search for, book and cancel appointments at your GP surgery, and see details of your upcoming and past appointments (no online booking available at the moment)

  • see test results – for tests ordered by the GP or nurse, and see whether they are within the normal range

  • get health advice - search trusted NHS information and advice on hundreds of conditions and treatments, and get instant advice or medical help near you

  • view your medical record - securely access your GP medical record, to see information like your allergies and your current and past medicines

  • register your organ donation decision - choose to donate some or all of your organs and check your registered decision

  • find out how the NHS uses your data - choose if data from your health records is shared for research and planning

In the NHS App you can see when your repeat prescription order is:

  • waiting for GP approval or undetermined

  • approved by your GP or issued

  • rejected or refused

You can contact your GP surgery or nominated pharmacy to find out when your medicine will be ready.

Unfortunately, at the moment we cannot book appointments online due to Covid-19 restrictions.

For more information visit: https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/online-services/nhs-app/

  

April 2020

WHEN SHOULD I CONSULT THE GP? Call your Practice to seek advice on any of the following:

·        Unexplained bleeding

·        Significant and spontaneous bruising in different areas of the body

·        Unexplained weight loss

·        Unusual thirst, very frequent urination

·        New and persistent headaches, not improving with painkillers, especially if accompanied by dizziness and or nausea

·        Moles which grow, change shape, colour, start itching or bleeding

·        Any new lumps anywhere on your body

·        Breast cancer can have several symptoms, but the first noticeable symptom is usually a lump or area of thickened breast tissue. Most breast lumps are not cancerous, but it's always best to have them checked by a doctor

More information in our 2020 spring newsletter at the bottom of this page.

 

MEASLES AND PROTECTION WITH THE MMR IMMUNISATION 

Important Key Facts and more information in the article at the foot of the page. Click on the icon to open.
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