World Cancer Day 2021

Today is World Cancer Day 2021. It is really important that if you feel like you have signs or symptoms of cancer, then you should see or speak to a GP.

What are the signs or symptoms you may ask? The NHS.net website has highlighted some really important symptoms to be aware of. For ease, these symptoms are listed below and can also be found on the NHS.net website.

Changes in bowel habits

See your GP if you've noticed these changes and it's lasted for more than a few weeks:

• blood in your poo

• diarrhoea or constipation for no obvious reason

• a feeling of not having fully emptied your bowels after going to the toilet

• pain in your stomach (abdomen) or back passage (anus)

Bloating

See a GP if you've had bloating for 3 weeks or more.

Lump in your breast

See your GP if you notice a lump in your breast or if you have a lump that's rapidly increasing in size elsewhere on your body.

Bleeding

You should also see your GP if you have any unexplained bleeding, such as:

• blood in your urine

• bleeding between periods

• bleeding from your bottom

• blood when you cough

• blood in your vomit

Coughing, chest pain and breathlessness

Contact your GP if you've had a cough for more than 3 weeks.

Symptoms such as shortness of breath or chest pain may also be a sign of a severe (acute) condition, such as pneumonia. See your GP straight away if you experience these types of symptoms.

Unexplained weight loss

You should also see your GP if you've lost a lot of weight over the last couple of months that cannot be explained by changes to your diet, exercise or stress.

Read about unintentional weight loss.

Moles

See your GP if you have a mole that:

• changes shape or looks uneven

• changes colour, gets darker or has more than 2 colours

• starts itching, crusting, flaking or bleeding

• gets larger or more raised from the skin

Any of the above changes means there's a chance you have malignant melanoma, a form of skin cancer.

-Dr F Al-Ramadani

Taking care of our future - Children's Mental Health Week

The 1st of Feb marks the beginning of Children’s Mental Health Week.

Our most important and valuable effort is taking care of our little ones. We understand how hard it has been for families this past year, and how scary the world must be for children at present. If you feel that your little ones are struggling, especially with all the media exposure, please read the following article for tips on how help your children understand scary world news.

However, we also understand that it doesn’t always get easier with age. Whether you are a parent worried about your child or a young person and feel as though you are struggling, young minds offer resources which may be able to help you or a loved one through a difficult time.

Young people or parents can also call the local NHS Mental Health 24/7 emergency helpline on 0808 196 6798 in a crisis.

If you would like to chat with one of our lovely GPs, click the link to join us.

Todays COVID-19 Vaccination Update

The Southam COVID vaccination programme has been really successful to date, with at least 91.7% of our patients aged over 70 now vaccinated. This has been a huge effort by all but a significant thank you goes to the South Warwickshire GP Federation, the volunteers and our patients who were often called at short notice, even in the snow! Well done to all!

The vaccination programme is therefore on track to meet the government target of vaccinating those in priority groups 1-4 by mid-February (that is those individuals 70 years of age and over and clinically extremely vulnerable). There is a temporary lull at present as we await further supplies of vaccine, but patients will continue to be contacted as and when the vaccine supply arrives. Therefore it remains that you do not need to do anything, but await contact from the vaccination booking centre.

You may also have also received a national letter inviting you to book a vaccination at a mass vaccination site (our nearest is in Stoneleigh). You are entitled to do so if you have received this invite, but you may also wait to be invited locally if you have not been so already.

Let’s hope we are now a few more steps closer to normality!

For further details regarding the COVID vaccination programme please visit our dedicated page.

To stay up to date with our weekly news email, please register below.

STAY ALERT - COVID-19 vaccine scams

We need you be aware of the COVID-19 vaccine scams that are circulating at the moment. Unfortunately they are targeting our wonderful community, as well as the most vulnerable. It is important to be vigilant and to remember the following:

The COVID-19 Vaccine will always be free, you will never be asked to pay for it - EVER!

The NHS will never ask you to share your bank details to confirm your identity, under NO circumstance. So please do not give anyone your bank details, especially if you have any doubt whatsoever in their identity.

If you have any questions about the vaccine - click the link! We have answered some of the most common questions we have been receiving from our patients. https://www.stwulfstan.co.uk/covid19-vaccination

St Wulfstan #1 in South Warwickshire for Flu Vaccinations!

We are really proud to announce that St Wulfstan Surgery and our patients have achieved the highest levels of flu vaccination uptake in South Warwickshire across most groups, this Winter.

St Wulfstan Surgery has the highest uptake of flu vaccination in the following groups:

• Patients aged 65 and over

• Patients aged 50-64

• 6 months to under 65 years: At-risk

• Pregnant Women

These incredible results are made possible by the hard work and dedication of all of our staff, and the support of our wonderful patients! Having the flu vaccine helps protect our community.

If you are aged 50-64 and have still not had your flu vaccine, it’s not too late. Please call reception if you wish to book.

Our domain rankings are given below:

• Patients aged 65 and over 1st (out of 32 practices)

• Patients aged 50-64 1st (out of 32 practices)

• 6 months to under 65 years: At-risk 1st (out of 32 practices)

• Pregnant Women 1st (out of 32 practices)

• Children aged 2yrs 2nd (out of 32 practices)

• Children aged 3yrs. 4th (out of 32 practices)

New Staff, New Services - Welcome Elicia!

We are really happy to welcome Elicia to the surgery. She is working with us as part of the Warwickshire East Primary Care Network (PCN). She is a Social Prescribing Link Worker, forming part of our growing Health & Wellbeing Team and joins our current team along with Rita & Jo. Social Prescribing Link Workers take a holistic approach to care, and help patients access local services that maybe relevant to them, such as befriending services in the case of loneliness, or financial assistance services such as Act on Energy.

A quick ‘hello’ from Elicia:

“Hi my name is Elicia Sidhu, I am new in role as a Social Prescriber Link Worker, I have been working within social care for a few years and my background is supporting individuals, signposting and caring for those in the local community. I look forward to meeting you when we can.“

Welcome Amanda!

As part of our growing Surgery we are very pleased to welcome Amanda to our Reception Team!

We have always had incredible feedback from our patients regarding our reception team, and we are sure Amanda will fit in perfectly!

COVID-19 Vaccination Update

Latest update as of 14th January 2021

COVID-19 vaccinations are now underway in Southam. Eligible patients will receive telephone calls inviting them to make an appointment for their vaccination in due course. Invitations will be sent gradually according to both the supply of vaccine from the NHS, and according to the priority groups set out by the Joint Committee on Vaccination & Immunisation. At this stage you do not need to do anything further, and if eligible you will be contacted in due course.

FOR MORE INFORMATION REGARDING THE VACCINE ITSELF, PLEASE EITHER:

• Visit the NHS Website, OR

• E-mail: warnoccg.vaccinecoventrywarwickshire@nhs.net

For ongoing updates please continue to visit our COVID-19 vaccination page, or register your email address below to be added to our weekly email update.

COVID-19 Vaccination Update

LATEST UPDATE - 11.1.21

We can confirm that invitations to receive the COVID-19 vaccination have now started and vaccinations will be commencing later this week. Invitations will initially be made via telephone and text message. Invitations will be sent gradually according to both the supply of vaccine from the NHS, and according to the priority groups set out by the Joint Committee on Vaccination & Immunisation.

For more information on the vaccine please visit the NHS website.

For ongoing updates please continue to visit our COVID-19 vaccination page, or register your email address below to be added to our weekly email update.

Join Our Patient Participation Group

We are always looking to welcome new members to our Patient Participation Group.

The Group are enthusiastic advocates for our patients and meet with our GP partners, one of our receptionists and our practice manager four times a year (virtually at the moment, of course).

The Group help us develop the practice’s services and are a great voice for our patients.

If you are interested in joining the Group, please contact our Practice Manager, Lindsay, via email: lindsay.ward@stwulfstansurgery.nhs.uk

Click here for the PPG webpage.

COVID-19 Vaccination Update

Our local COVID vaccination programme is due to commence imminently.

As previously reported, we have been told to expect vaccinations to commence next week. This remains the plan but is dependant on the delivery of vaccine arriving. Once a delivery date is confirmed, eligible patients will be contacted directly via telephone or text message from a central booking service (i.e. not from the surgery).

Many thanks for all your patience. For those who are eligible you don’t need to do anything. The central booking service will be in touch with you directly in due course, and invitations will be made over the coming weeks and months as the programme is rolled out to more and more people.

Please visit our COVID page for further regular updates.

Alternatively please sign up for our weekly newsletter by registering below.

Latest COVID Vaccination Update

Update as of 4.1.2021

Plans for a local Southam-based COVID-19 vaccination programme are developing well.

We have today been informed by our local Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) that the local programme is aiming to commence as early as next week.

We will of course keep you posted, and will inform any patients as and when they are eligible for the vaccination.

For regular updates please visit our COVID-19 VACCINATION Page

Or register for our weekly Newsletter below.

COVID-19 Vaccination Update

In order to keep everyone updated with developments around the COVID-19 vaccination programme we have created a webpage at: https://www.stwulfstan.co.uk/covid19-vaccination

We will update this page regularly with any information available about the local vaccination plan.

The COVID vaccination programme cannot at present be delivered within our local individual practices.

The CCG is in the processes of making arrangements to deliver COVID vaccinations in our area via a central site and we are currently awaiting details, but the CCG have reassured us that they expect vaccinations to commence in the coming weeks. We will keep you posted.

If you wish to register for our weekly email newsletter please register below.

Out of Area Registrations: Temporary Suspension

In light of the increased demands we are currently facing due to the COVID-19 pandemic we have decided to temporarily suspend registrations of patients outside of our practice boundary from 7th January 2021. We hope this will be a short term requirement and we will review this again in the coming months.

Therefore at present we can only accept registrations from patients within our Practice Boundary.

To register at St Wulfstan Surgery please click HERE

To see our Practice Boundary please click HERE

New NHS COVID-19 Self Isolation Advice Leaflet

The NHS has released a useful leaflet for anyone having to self-isolate at home with symptoms of COVID-19.

Please click the link to open.