Charity Quiz raises £2500 for Muscular Dystrophy ahead of the London Marathon

Our Assistant Operations Manager, Tanya is running the London Marathon again this year, and this year her husband Joe is running as well. They are running once again for Muscular Dystrophy UK, the charity so close to our surgery’s hearts.

On Friday night, a quiz was held at Southam Rugby Club to help raise funds, it was hosted by Quizmaster Adam of The Big Quiz Company. Over 70 tickets were sold and a great night was had by all. The winning team kindly donated their prize money to Muscular Dystrophy.

£1090 was raised in cash on the night, a further £500 was raised during a charity auction and combined with the tickets sold, a whopping £2500 was raised in total.

Tanya & Joe want to take this opportunity to thank everyone that helped to organise the event, those who donated decorations and prizes for the raffle and the auction, Quizmaster Adam for gifting his time free of charge, Southam Rugby Club for letting us use the venue for free, Born and Bread for donating some amazing bread for our quizzers to eat, and of course all those who attended on the night!

There is still time to donate to this amazing charity, you can read more about their story below:

Exciting new vacancies at St Wulfstan Surgery

Here at St Wulfstan Surgery, we are looking to expand our already amazing team, with part-time roles available for a Care Navigator and an Operations Assistant

Care Navigator

Our Care Navigator role comprises of a 21.5 hour working week, as part of our Care Navigator team you will have the opportunity to offer general assistance to the Practice, patients and other visitors, undertaking a variety of administrative duties and assisting in the smooth running of the Practice. The role also offers an opportunity to the successful candidate to develop and progress within the Practice team.

The successful candidate will work as part of team delivering our front of house services, this includes opening and closing the surgery, booking appointments, processing repeat prescriptions and samples.

For more information and to apply, please click the below link to view the job advert on Indeed:

Operations Assistant

Our Operations Assistant role comprises of a 22 hour working week, the Operations Team are are seeking a highly organized and detail-oriented Operations Assistant to join the team. The Operations Assistant will provide administrative support to ensure efficient operation of the Practice. This role requires excellent organizational skills, attention to detail, and the ability to multitask in a fast-paced environment.

For more information and to apply, please click the below link to view the job advert on Indeed:

Tomorrow is Purple Day

Show your support to people with epilepsy by wearing purple on 26th march

Cassidy Megan created the idea of Purple Day in 20085, motivated by her own struggles with epilepsy. Cassidy’s goal is to get people talking about epilepsy in an effort to dispel myths and inform those with seizures that they are not alone!

Epilepsy is a neurological disorder of the central nervous system, specifically of the brain . It is characterized by the tendency to have recurrent seizures.

A person would be diagnosed with epilepsy if they have at least two unprovoked (or reflex) seizures, or one unprovoked (or reflex) seizure and are very likely to have another, or diagnosed with an epilepsy syndrome.

The brain is made up of billions of nerve cells or neurons that communicate through electrical and chemical signals. When there is a sudden excessive electrical discharge that disrupts the normal activity of the nerve cells, a seizure may result.

Seizures cause a change in function or behaviour. A seizure may take many different forms including a blank stare, muscle spasms, uncontrolled movements, altered awareness, odd sensations, or a convulsion. The location in the brain of the abnormally discharging nerve cells determines the form the seizure will take. Seizures may occur rarely or as often as numerous times a day. If the condition is successfully controlled by medication, a person may be seizure free.

Epilepsy is one of the most common chronic neurological disorders. An estimated 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy. That means approximately 1% of the general population has epilepsy.

Epilepsy can be present at any age although its onset is most often in childhood or in the later years of life. Sometimes those who develop seizures during childhood outgrow their seizures. In the elderly, there is an increased incidence due to strokes and aging of the brain. In more than half of those with epilepsy, seizures can be well controlled with seizure medication.

EPILEPSY IS HIGHLY TREATABLE

70% of people with epilepsy can gain seizure freedom with medication alone.

30% of people have drug-resistant epilepsy. There are additional treatments for people with drug-resistant epilepsy that can improve seizure control or stop seizures altogether.

Find out more about epilepsy and how to get involved here:

A Quicker Way To Contact Us: NHS App

In our pursuit to give you the best possible service we have now activated new features within the NHS App.

It is now possible to contact us through the app with queries that you may otherwise have needed to call the surgery or speak to a GP about. Perhaps you have a non-urgent query that doesn’t really need a GP appointment. Or a query about a blood test result or a referral.

How do I access the messaging function in the NHS App:

  1. Please access the NHS App either via an app on a Smartphone or by visiting the NHS App website.

  2. Click on Services

  3. Click on Contact your GP surgery for a document or update

  4. And away you go!

What can I use the messaging function for?

Here are some ideas:

  • Update us with your latest Blood Pressure reading when requested

  • Queries regarding test results and referrals

  • Queries regarding recent hospital letters

  • Request a Doctors letter or private medical letter

  • And anything else you would otherwise have needed to call reception to enquire about

Hopefully you will find this additional service useful and convenient, but of course, our phone lines are always still there if you need them!

NHS Get Your Blood Pressure Checked Campaign

A powerful new NHS campaign urges millions of people to get checked for high blood pressure, which has been described as a “silent killer”

Up to 4.2 million people in England could be living with undiagnosed high blood pressure, according to the NHS

  • The ‘silent killer’ often has no symptoms but if left untreated, can lead to fatal heart attacks, strokes, kidney disease and vascular dementia

  • New survey data shows that despite the majority of high blood pressure cases being asymptomatic, only one in 14 respondents (7%) thought the condition has no symptoms

  • The Get Your Blood Pressure Checked campaign has been launched to highlight that there are often ‘no clues’ as to who has high blood pressure

  • With the NHS expanding blood pressure checks in community pharmacies - including capacity for an additional 2.5 million tests - the national campaign is urging those aged 40 years and over to get a free blood pressure test at a participating pharmacy

  • The campaign is backed by the British Heart Foundation, Stroke Association, Heart Research UK, Blood Pressure UK, May Measurement Month, British Society for Heart Failure, and more

High blood pressure, often described as a ‘silent killer’, affects an estimated 32% of adults. As the condition rarely has any symptoms, approximately 3 in 10 of these remain undiagnosed, equating to 4.2 million people in England.

The public are today being warned that there are often ‘no clues’ about who might have high blood pressure - the only way to know is to have a simple test.

With the NHS announcing an additional 2.5 million blood pressure checks in community pharmacies over this year and next, those aged 40 years and over are now being urged to get a free blood pressure test at a participating pharmacy. The procedure is quick, non-invasive and you do not need to book in advance. 

Visit the NHS website to find a pharmacy that offers free blood pressure checks near you or search ‘pharmacy blood pressure check’

Visit the NHS website for information about things that can increase your risk of getting high blood pressure, as well as diagnosis, treatment and lifestyle changes.

You can read tips to help with those lifestyle changes or download free NHS apps to lose weight, quit smoking, get active or drink less on the Better Health section of the NHS website.

Start your journey to quitting this #NoSmokingDay

Take the steps to quit smoking for good and mark the 40th anniversary of No Smoking Day this Wednesday 13 March 2024

Whilst smoking rates have reduced considerably compared to 40 years ago, there is still a long way to go to become a smoke free generation.

This No Smoking Day, Warwickshire County Council is promoting the well-known awareness day to encourage residents not to give up on quitting and make use of the variety of free stop smoking support available to across the county. 

Smoking remains the single largest preventable cause of death in England, with smokers also twice as likely to develop dementia. Cigarettes contain harmful chemicals which are bad for your brain, so smoking not only increases your risk of dementia, but one in two smokers will die early due to their smoking. This No Smoking Day is a reminder that quitting is the best thing you can do for your health. 

Smokers can access support across Warwickshire by accessing the quit4good website, which explains where and how to access stop smoking services.

Support is also available through the NHS stop smoking app, providing daily support and tracking monitor progress.

Smokers can call 0333 005 0095 or text ‘QUIT’ to 60777 to access additional stop smoking support such as:

  • talking directly to stop smoking advisors either over the phone or video call

  • support via text messages

  • virtual support group

Pregnant people who smoke can receive dedicated advice from Warwickshire’s experienced and friendly advisors who are on hand to help beat the addiction with support and guidance. To find out more call 07917 227 004, email  ssip@swft.nhs.uk or visit the Quit 4 Baby website.

You can now view your estimated waiting time for hospital treatment in the NHS App

While you are waiting for your hospital appointment or treatment, you can now use the NHS App to get the information you need while you wait to be seen.

A new NHS App feature has been launched for patients to view an estimated waiting time for your hospital treatment. You will know you are on waiting list and how long you may have to wait for treatment.

NHS App users can also view your hospital referrals and appointments in one place and see a single point of contact and supporting information for your appointments.

For more information including how to download the NHS App, please visit www.nhs.uk/nhs-app

Welcome to our new Business Administrator, Talha!

We recently welcomed Talha to St Wulfstan Surgery as a Business Administrator, he will be working closely with our Operations Team and we are really excited to have him on board.

Talha has written a few words to introduce himself:

“My name is Talha Hanif, I am nearly 18 and I enjoy working out and going out with friends.  I started working at St Wulfstan Surgery on the 5th February 2024 in my role as a Business Administrator.  I am predominately working with the Operations Team assisting the Operations Manager and Deputy Operations Manager and have a wide range of duties from working on IT matters, reports and filing.  My aim is complete the Business Administration level 3 training at St Wulfstan and possibly progress on to level 4 or higher.”

Happy retirement to Tricia!

On 31st January, we said goodbye to Tricia Morton, as she retired from her longstanding role as Practice Nurse! Tricia joined us in July 2004 so has been a huge part of the St Wulfstan family for 20 years!

We thank her for her service as a dedicated nurse and wish her the very best in retirement, she will be missed as much by her patients as she will be by us!

Welcome to our nursing team - Bethanie Howard

We are really excited to welcome Bethanie Howard to our nursing team, she brings with her a wealth of experience, knowledge and enthusiasm. We are really looking forward to you all meeting her!

And now, a few words from Bethanie:

“I am excited to meet everyone and feel grateful to be working at such a brilliant surgery. I enjoy a mixture of clinical duties as a practice nurse but my main interests lie in gynaecology and minor illnesses. Outside of work I enjoy running, yoga, baking and a new discovered love for bouldering.”

Welcome to our GP Team - Dr Katie Lovedar

We are delighted to confirm Dr Katie Lovedar has joined as a GP at the surgery. We are delighted to welcome such a great GP to our team. She brings with her great experience, and also specific expertise in Women’s Health and Contraception.

Now for a few words for Dr Lovedar:

“Hello! I’m Katie! I have been a GP now for 10 years and have most recently been working locally in Leamington.

I qualified from Sheffield Medical School in 2009 & moved back home to the Midlands to complete my GP training. I have a special interest in women’s health and family planning. I am a trained contraceptive implant & coil fitter, an aspect of my job I thoroughly enjoy.

Outside of work I am a Mum to two children aged 3 & 6 who otherwise keep me very busy!

I’m really looking forward to starting at St Wulfstans in February!”
— Dr Katie Lovedar