We are delighted to announce that we have received Carer Support Wiltshire’s platinum award again this year. We wish to thank all our unpaid carers who look after many people in our communities who would otherwise not be able to remain living in their own home.
If you are a carer and would like to join our carers’ group, please enquire via our website or contact Hazel at the Sixpenny Handley or Broad Chalke surgeries.
Flu vaccines for Autumn 2021
We will be offering flu vaccines to even more people this year including everyone over 50 years old. Our main clinics will be drive-thru at Broad Chalke school again and we thank the school for kindly offering their site again.
Our provisional dates are
- Saturday 25th September
- Saturday 2nd October
- Saturday 9th October
- Saturday 16th October
If you are housebound, you will receive your vaccine at home. If it is otherwise impossible for you to attend a drive-thru please talk to our flu team when we announce that bookings are open. They will talk to you about alternative venues.
Covid-19 vaccine boosters for Autumn 2021
We are waiting for the government to finalise their plan for Covid-19 vaccine boosters. What we do know is that we will not be able to give them at the GP surgeries or at our GP led drive-thru clinics at Broad Chalke school. We will keep you informed.
Are you a parent or guardian of a baby or child?
With the easing of lockdown and the approach of autumn, there is likely to be an increase in common childhood illnesses. We wanted to make you aware of the ‘Healthier Together’ website which is a free and trusted source of useful advice and support for parents and carers of children of any age.
Healthier Together (what0-18.nhs.uk)
Care Quality Commission
CQC suspended their routine inspection programme in March 2020 in response to Covid-19 and do not intend to resume it for the immediate future. They have continued to use a mix of onsite and off-site monitoring to ensure the public have assurance as to the safety and quality of the care they receive. They carried out a review of the data available to them about our practice on 08-07-2021 and have not found evidence that they need to carry out an inspection or reassess our rating at this stage.
National Bowel Cancer Screening Programme
The age range of the Bowel Cancer Screening Programme will be lowered to include 50 to 59-year-olds. To do this safely, the age extension will be gradually rolled out over the next four years, starting with 56-year-olds in 2021. Please accept the invitation to participate if you are contacted. If you believe you should have been invited by the screening programme but have not, please phone the free bowel cancer screening helpline on 0800 707 60 60.
The programme goes up to age 74. If you are aged 75 or over, you can still ask for a kit every two years by calling the helpline.
Please remember if you have any symptoms that might be due to bowel cancer, contact the surgery for an appointment. The screening programme is only suitable for people without any symptoms of bowel cancer.
More than 90% of people with bowel cancer have one of the following combinations of symptoms
- A persistent change in bowel habit – passing stool (poo) more often, with looser, runnier stool and sometimes abdominal (tummy) pain
- Blood in the poo without other symptoms such as from haemorrhoids (piles)
- Abdominal pain, discomfort or bloating always brought on by eating sometimes resulting in a reduction in the amount of food eaten and weight loss
Surgery telephone lines
We are sorry the phone lines are often very busy. We are working with our supplier to try to include a message to inform you of where you are in the queue. Our telephone connections are complex due to running two sites. If you have an urgent request for a same day appointment, please ring us, where possible, between 8am and 11am. For all other enquiries please try to ring after 11am.
If you develop an urgent problem after 11am, please ring in as soon as you think you need help. All life threatening emergencies should continue to be assessed by 999.
