Surgery News
As you maybe aware our systems were affected by the recent global Crowdstrike/Microsoft IT outage.
We are glad to say our systems are now back up and running.
As such normal services will resume on Monday 22nd July. We anticipate some time maybe required to clear any backlog which developed on Friday and over the weekend so your patience this week would be most appreciated.
Thank you again for all of your patience and understanding.
Good evening.
Unfortunately our service has been, and still is, affected by the global IT outage and as such our systems are currently down. We are awaiting a resolution from our IT providers so please bear with us.
Patients who are booked in for face-to-face appointments on Saturday 20th July should still attend.
Patients who are booked in for face-to-face appointments on Monday 22nd July should still attend, except for blood tests. Unfortunately we are unable to undertake blood tests until the problem has been resolved.
We are really sorry for the inconvenience caused and will do everything we can to resolve this issue. Further updates will be made available through our website and social media channels.
As a first step, we would like to ask women what support they would like from the men in their lives, their husbands, partners, friends, brothers, adult sons, employers or work colleagues.
The responses received will help Action Menopause Warwickshire and Healthwatch Warwickshire to plan a focus group for men, being held in the evening of 12th September in Warwick, so views can be gathered on the issues.
They want to find out what men would like to know in order to support the women in their lives and what support men need for themselves.
They want to know how men would prefer to receive information and support.
Please get in touch using the link below if you would like to join this group.
Fill in the questionnaire for women here:
If you are a man who would be interested in attending the focus group in Warwick on 12th September from 7pm-9pm, please email info@actionmenopausewarwickshire.org.uk
It is Alcohol Awareness Week 2024, running from 1-7 July. The aim for this week is to raise awareness of the harm caused by alcohol and learn more about the role that alcohol plays in our society.
Alcoholchange.org.uk has created a short video exploring the centre-stage role that alcohol plays in our lives and in our society, and how we can work together to change that. Please watch the video below:
Are you worried about how healthy your drinking is?
You can check below by taking Alcohol Change’s quick drinking quiz:
Tips for cutting down on alcohol
Think and drink in units
The UK’s Chief Medical Officers recommend not drinking more that 14 units a week - that is equal to about 6 pints of normal strength beer or 1.5 bottles of wine per week. Use a unit calculator to help you work out exactly what you are drinking
Have a few alcohol-free days each week
This is a good way to cut down and give your body a rest, boost your immune system and improve your mental health and wellbeing, and save money
Keep Track
Recording what you drink for a few weeks will help you to understand your drinking pattern, so you can decide if you want to make a change
Choose a smaller glass and lower ABV (strength)
This can be a helpful way to cut down
Set a limit
Decide what you want to drink in advance and stick to your plan
Practice your drink refusal skills
Plan what you will say if you are offered a drink, and say it with confidence
Try drinking low-alcohol and no-alcohol alternatives
Swap your usual tipple with an alcohol-free alternative. Alcohol-free beers, ciders, wines and spirits are now widely available
It’s fine to say ‘No’
Not everyone drinks alcohol, and it’s fine to say no
Pace yourself
Enjoy each drink slowly, and remember that you don’t have to join in every time someone else decides to drink
Eat before and while you drink
Having something to eat before drinking, and if possible, whilst drinking, will slow down the alcohol being absorbed into your bloodstream
Ask for help!
If you feel your drinking is getting out of control, ask for help! There is nothing to be ashamed of; lots of people struggle with alcohol at some point in their lives and need support to turn things around. Contact your GP or your local alcohol service.
Formerly Breathe Easy Week, Love Your Lungs Week is an initiative started by the British Lung Foundation, to raise awareness and focus on lung health.
The aim of the week is to raise awareness about the health of our lungs, what can be done to keep them as healthy as possible, and how we can avoid damaging them.
One of the ways in which you can show you lungs some love is by improving the air that you breathe in. Whilst it’s difficult to do much about the air outside, there are small changes that you can make to improve the air you breathe in your homes.
Keep rooms aired out – Regularly open your windows for 5-10 minutes, especially when cooking or showering to keep the airflow moving.
Regularly hoover – It’s a good idea to hoover your house weekly to remove dust and dirt particles, especially if you or anyone you are living with has allergies.
Keep your home warm – keep the temperature of your home between 18 °C-21 °C to prevent any damp or condensation.
Have a smoke-free house – do not smoke, or allow others to smoke inside your house. Smoking is one of the biggest causes of lung cancer and is responsible for more than 7 out of 10 cases.
Use products that are chemical free – products that do not contain harmful chemicals and are allergy friendly are the best to avoid indoor air pollution.
Exercise and making an effort to be healthy can also improve the health of your lungs and help you to breathe easier. Doing exercises such as running, walking and other aerobic activities can effectively work your lungs and make them stronger.
For more information and support regarding lung conditions, visit:
Notifications are not available when you log in through the NHS website to access your services.
The NHS uses notifications to tell you when you have a new message, and we would strongly advise you to enable notifications. This is important as it means you won’t miss any messages coming through from the hospital, this could be an appointment reminder, a letter from the hospital, or to be informed that an appointment has had to be cancelled or rearranged.
How to manage your notification preferences
Log into the NHS App
Select the ‘Account’ icon in the top corner
Select ‘Settings’
Select ‘Manage Notification's’
Follow the link to your device settings
Turning your notifications on or off can take up to 24 hours to take effect.
If you use the app on multiple devices, you will need to allow notifications on each device.
The NHS is always testing sending more messages to some app users. It is a convenient and secure way to get appointment reminders and other messages that would usually come via text messages or letters.
If you do not turn on notifications, you may not be sent some of these messages.
There are over 66,000 people in Warwickshire who smoke, which is 13.9% of adults aged 18 and over in the county (Source: Annual Population Survey, Office for National Statistics 2022)
Smokers can already access free stop smoking support via the quit4good website, and Warwickshire County Council has recently improved the support to stop smoking with the introduction of the governments ‘Swap to Stop’ programme. This offers people aged 18+ who smoke access to get vape ‘quit kits’. Almost two thirds of people who use a vape, along with support from their local stop smoking service, successfully quit smoking.
Do you need help to quit smoking?
Call 0333 005 0092 or text ‘QUIT’ to 60777 to access free stop smoking support such as:
talking directly to stop smoking advisors over the phone/video call
support via text messages
virtual support group
For those of you that are seeking support to stop smoking in pregnancy, please visit the Quit4Baby website, you can also call or text the team on 07917 227 004 (standard network charges will apply)
An increasing number of these people are under 40.
Finding out your risk of type 2 diabetes only takes a few minutes. It could be the most important thing you do today...
Diabetes UK have released a ‘Know Your Risk’ tool. To calculate your risk they will ask you for some special category data. Special category data in this context relates to your health and ethnicity. This information will be stored in such a way that it cannot identify you. All information provided will only be used for the reasons described.
Before you start, grab a tape measure and scales...
You must be 18 or over to complete this tool.
Please note: the results will not be accurate if you are pregnant.
A 750ml bottle of red, white or rosé wine that contains 13.5% alcohol (wines typically range from 11% to 14%) is the equivalent of 10 units!
Drinking alcohol is commonplace in our society. But when does social drinking become routine, when does routine become habit, and when does habit become dependency? It can be tricky to know how much alcohol you drink, and guidelines can be confusing. This programme can help you know your habits around alcohol.
Use our PCN’s SilverCloud programme to take a fresh look at how much and why you drink, and to assess your relationship with alcohol. You can take an honest look at your situation, without feeling that someone is watching over your shoulder.
We want you to understand if you are on the road to dependency; and if alcohol has become a problem for you, what your options are.
At St Wulfstan Surgery we are proud and extremely excited to announce that we will be opening a Branch GP Surgery in Upper Lighthorne. We are excited to be working with the local authority and Coventry & Warwickshire ICB to establish a surgery in the new village development. In the meantime, we are exploring how we could open a temporary GP Surgery within the village. Residents of Upper Lighthorne and surrounds are welcome to register with us now in order to access our existing services.
St Wulfstan Surgery is a CQC rated Outstanding surgery, and rated number 10 in England for patient satisfaction according to the national GP Patient Survey in 2023. We were rated number 1 in England for practices with more than 10 000 patients. We are committed and passionate about providing the very best quality of care to all our patients. At St Wulfstan Surgery we value and respect the incredible relationship we have with our patients and know the importance of always maintaining Care, Quality & Compassion in all that we do.
And to reassure all of our existing patients, this opportunity will enable us to further develop and build upon our high-quality care by enabling us to further recruit incredible staff and develop new, innovative services. We have grown significantly in recent years and have managed to raise the level of patient satisfaction during this period of growth, and we will be working tirelessly to ensure this continues.
We thank you all for your continued support. It remains our privilege to be able to serve you, and we look forward with great excitement to welcoming residents of Upper Lighthorne and surrounds into our St Wulfstan family!
Hay fever is an allergic reaction to pollen and the symptoms occur or worsen in the Spring and Summer when pollen counts are higher. This can result in sneezing, coughing, a runny or blocked nose, itchy or watery eyes and an itchy throat.
We often get calls about hay fever at this time of year, but recent changes mean that most treatments for hay fever can now be purchased over the counter at your local pharmacy, meaning your pharmacist is often best placed to help.
The treatment of hay fever normally consists of antihistamine tablets, antihistamine eye drops and steroid nasal sprays. If required you can use a combination.
Anti-histamine tablets/syrup
There are several different types available from your pharmacy. If you try one which doesn’t help, then it is worth trying an alternative, unfortunately this often involves some degree of trial and error. Some anti-histamine’s such as Piriton (chlorphenamine maleate) can make you feel drowsy, so there are non-drowsy preparations available, such as cetirizine.
If, despite trying different anti-histamines, your symptoms persist then consider adding in eye drops, or a nasal steroid spray, or both.
Anti-histamine Eye Drops
These can be purchased from the pharmacy and work well where itchy and runny eyes are more problematic. The drug is called sodium cromoglicate.
Nasal Steroid Spray
These can work very effectively helping control your symptoms of hay fever and can be used in conjunction with the above treatments. Nasal steroid sprays can take days or weeks to reach their fullest effect so they are worth persevering with.
If the above treatments, when used in combination, have failed to solve the problem, and you have given them a reasonable period of time to work, then please give us a call to discuss further with one of our Clinical Pharmacists.
This Patient Information Session is an opportunity for you to attend a 30 minute remote session to hear more about the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme. This will help support you in making an informed decision as to whether or not you'd like to be referred onto the programme following the session. You will also have an opportunity to ask any questions you might have about the programme.
The NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme is a free service for people with prediabetes and those with a history of gestational diabetes.
Combining specialist nutrition, psychology and physical activity, the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme promotes long term behaviour change.
You’ll be supported throughout the programme by your Health and Wellbeing Coach via regular contact, with online learning and supporting resources.
Register for the patient information session here:
Take part in a range of carefully crafted sessions such as acrylic canvas painting, canvas bag decoration, marbling, glass painting, printing and colourful collages, with patient support and guidance
Meet like minded people!
Improve your wellbeing!
No experience necessary!
Running on Mondays from 10:30am-12:00pm
May: 13th and 20th
June: 3rd, 10th, 17th and 24th
July: 1st, 8th, 15th & 22nd
Booking is essential! Call Jenny on 07946 585978 or email jenny@artsuplift.co.uk
For more information, please visit:
Below are some tips for young people to help manage the pressures they may face around exams and in considering their plans for the future:
Plan revision around an easy to follow and realistic timetable - aim for 2-3 hours a day broken into manageable chunks with lots of downtime and some rewards
Set a plan that works for you and remember people learn in different ways! Make your own revision materials. Instead of just trying to memorise notes, try making flash cards, voice recordings or mind maps… you could even write a song or poem
Organise your workspace. Where you work is important, if you're in a stressful environment, it is inevitable that the stress will rub off on you. Find somewhere light and calm where you can spread out and get organised.
Look after your physical health – do some exercise, get some fresh air, drink lots of water and get plenty of sleep.
Eat! We don’t perform well when we’re hungry, so no matter how nervous you are, eat a balanced breakfast. Avoid sugary foods like chocolate, this will give you a sudden burst of energy but may cause you to crash during the exam. If your exam is in the afternoon, make sure you eat a decent balanced lunch before that too.
Limit screen time, particularly at night-time, try to put phones and tablets down and come offline 45 minutes before bed.
Continue to keep some time aside to do the things you enjoy, such as sport, hobbies and seeing your friends. It is good to take time to reward yourself for your time spent revising.
Talk to other people you trust about how you’re feeling such as friends, family and teachers. They can support you and work with you through any concerns.
Reflect on all you’ve learned to try and sum up all you’ve been doing so far and how you will be able to demonstrate knowledge.
Remember not to be too hard on yourself. Be the best you can be, that's all you can do. If it doesn’t work out, remember that it's not the end of the world.
For more information about managing exam related stress and being prepared, you can visit the NHS website, linked below:
