Recruitment in Primary Care has become increasingly difficult over the last few years with more GPs leaving the profession than joining, which has made taking on new GPs a very difficult task.

With this in mind, we are so pleased to announce that we will be welcoming 9 new GPs who will be joining our team across the next few months. 8 of these GPs are GP Fellows who have specialist interests in areas such as Musculoskeletal health, Dermatology, Women's Health and more, bringing a whole wealth of knowledge with them that we know will really benefit our patients.

One of the common themes in feedback we get from our patients is around telephone access which is why alongside our 9 new GPs, we will also be adding 5 new members of staff to our call handling team to help us get to your call quicker.

So far this year we've had over 6000 responses to our Family & Friends test. We've been looking into your feedback and using this to make decisions about how we can make our service more accessible.

You've said you find it difficult to get through on the phones first thing in the morning, so we're introducing a new system to make it easier for you to contact us when you need us most.

From Monday 6th November when you ring the surgery with a medical problem, your call will be directed by one of our call handlers who will ask the nature of your call to assess what kind of outcome is required. The Decision Support Tool built by our clinical team will advise the receptionist whether you require a:

1. Same Day Appointment
2. Appointment Within 2 Weeks
3. A referral or signposting to another service such as a local pharmacy or physiotherapy service.

If a same day appointment is required, you will be offered an appointment that day (for requests later in the afternoon, appointments will be offered for the following morning). If you require an appointment within 2 weeks or a referral/signposting to another service, you will be added to our call back waiting list where one of our call handlers will contact you within 24 hours to discuss arranging an appropriate appointment or referral.

By using this system, we will be able to help patients who need a same day appointment more efficiently and ease the telephone pressures at our busiest times.

In last month's patient survey, 95% of patients said that they would be happy to see any clinician on the same day for a problem if they were unwell with a recent and new illness.

Following successful GP recruitment, we have now been able to create a team of clinicians to provide clinics specifically for those patients who need an on the day assessment, improving access to our same day appointments.

For ongoing or lifelong illness, being able to see the same clinician can significantly reduce; unnecessary visits to the surgery and hospitals, unnecessary medications and investigations and improve health outcomes.

We will now be offering appointments specifically for ongoing problems where continuity counts. These appointments may not always be with a GP but may be with a member of our clinical team with specialist skills.

Our call handling team have been trained to direct you to the most appropriate clinic and clinician for your problem, ensuring that where necessary you get to see the same clinician for ongoing episodes of care.

Through our recent patient survey and our Family & Friends Test, you've had your say, we've listened and now we're putting change into action to make access to our services easier and more convenient for you.

Over the next week we will be sharing some exciting new changes and additions to our services that will be coming into action at our 8 Chesterfield surgeries.

We can't wait to see the difference these changes make to your experience, but we would like to ask that you please bear with whilst we implement these changes to make our services the best they can be for our patients.

We want to make patients aware that there are global problems with the availability and supply of a range of medication used to treat ADHD. This is an issue beyond the control of Primary care and pharmacy services.

The supply disruption of these products is caused by a combination of manufacturing issues and an increase in demand to manage ADHD. At present we do not know when these issues are likely to resolve.

Medications affected by the supply issues are:

Methylphenidate:

• Equasym XL^®10, 20 and 30 mg capsules
• Xaggitin XL^®18 and 36 mg prolonged-release tablets
• Concerta XL^®54 mg prolonged-release tablets
• Xenidate XL^®27 mg prolonged-release tablets

       Lisdexamfetamine: 

• Elvanse^®20, 30, 40, 50, 60 and 70 mg capsules
• Elvanse^®Adult 30, 50, and 70 mg capsules

       Guanfacine:

• Intuniv^®1, 2, 3 and 4 mg prolonged-release tablets

If you are affected by these supply issues you would need to contact the service who initiated your medications i.e. the Community Mental Health Team, CAHMS, SAANS or other private providers.

We’ve received some lovely feedback from our Flu and Covid Vaccination Clinics held today at our Rectory Road, Clay Cross, Brooklyn and Ashgate surgeries.

Our dedicated team has put in immense effort in planning and executing these clinics, from vaccine ordering to coordinating appointments and running the clinics smoothly. It’s great to hear that our staff’s hard work has paid off and that their efforts have been recognised.

If you haven’t had your flu vaccine yet, there’s still plenty of time to get booked in at the remainder of our clinics. Details of which can be found on our flu page here https://www.rpcchesterfield.co.uk/flu-vaccinations

Our Covid vaccination invites are in the process of being sent out to all eligible patients registered to our Grangewood, Inkersall, Rectory Road, Ashgate, Holme Hall, Whittington, Clay Cross and Grassmoor surgeries. Please wait for us to contact you to allow our phone lines to stay available for patients who need us with other medical problems.

In line with all other surgeries in the locality, our Brooklyn surgery will only be vaccinating housebound and care home patients. For Brooklyn patients wishing to take up the Autumn Covid Booster you can use the national booking service either via the NHS website, the NHS App or by calling 119. You can use textphone 18001 or the NHS 119 British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter service if you have difficulties communicating or hearing, or if you are a BSL user.

We’re currently running a survey to allow us to better understand your needs and improve access to our services.

We would be really grateful if you could spare 10 minutes to share your opinions with us and take this opportunity to have your say. This information will help us to shape our system into one that we can ensure better suits you, our patients.

To fill in the survey, click here: https://forms.office.com/e/LPN9ZWMY3n if you would prefer to fill in a paper copy, you can pick one up from the reception team at your local surgery.

Whilst some of the demographic questions may feel like standard survey questions such as your gender or the surgery you usually attend, this data is just as important as some of the other questions we’re asking. Understanding the gender and age split in respondents to our survey allows us to start to plan more effective services to meet the needs of different patient groups within our communities.

On 9th September, we were proud to once again host Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY). For over 20 years CRY has been screening young people aged 14 to 35. The programme developed by CRY has created the opportunity to save the young lives of those at risk that are asymptomatic, and appear to be "fit and healthy"

At the event held at our Inkersall practice, 100 appointments were offered and booked, disappointingly 17 people didn't attend their appointment which denies the opportunity for other people to be screened. The team were able to offset this by offering 11 walk-in screenings through recruitment on their Facebook page!

Out of the 89 people screened, 2 onward referrals were made for further investigations, which is 2 lives that have potentially been saved by the screening programme.

The Bethany Mycroft Memorial Fund held stalls as well as tea, coffee and cakes at the event to raise funds for further screening sessions to be put on. They managed to raise around £700.00 which will go directly towards supporting the CRY team in hosting further events.

We are really keen to continue to develop our relationship with both CRY and the Bethany Mycroft Memorial Fund and we would love to host them again next year. If you'd like to try and get screened in the meantime, CRY also host public events throughout the year across the country. You can sign up to be notified when new events are added here ➡️ https://bit.ly/3Pqt8PQ

It’s that time of year again! Flu season is about to begin, and the best way to protect yourself is by getting your flu vaccine early.

We have now started to contact all of our eligible patients to book in for their vaccine, if you wish to have the vaccine and don't have an appointment, there's still time to book.

We have two Saturday clinics available for you to book into:

• Saturday 16^th September – Rectory Road, Ashgate, Clay Cross and Brooklyn
• Saturday 30^th September – Rectory Road, Ashgate, Clay Cross and Brooklyn

As well as various other weekday clinics across all of our sites, details of these can be found on our practice websites.

Book today via:

• Online services such as Airmid or SystmOnline if you're signed up for an account already
• Click the link in your SMS invite (you will only receive an SMS if we have your mobile number on our records)
• At your local practice
• Calling your practice, please help us to help you by only calling if you're unable to book via one of the other methods

You’re eligible for a flu vaccination if you:

• are 65 and over (including those who will be 65 by 31 March 2024)
• have certain health conditions
• are pregnant
• are in long-stay residential care
• receive a carer's allowance, or are the main carer for an older or disabled person who may be at risk if you get sick
• live with someone who is more likely to get a severe infection due to a weakened immune system, such as someone living with HIV, someone who has had a transplant, or is having certain treatments for cancer, lupus or rheumatoid arthritis

Please note, if you book a flu vaccine and you are not eligible, you will be turned away at your appointment

For more eligibility information and FAQS, visit the dedicated Flu page on our website here www.rpcchesterfield.co.uk/flu-vaccinations

A reminder that we alongside all other primary care services will be closed on Monday 28th August for the Summer Bank Holiday.

Now is a great time to check if you have enough repeat prescription to last you throughout the Bank Holiday weekend. If not, please submit your request in plenty of time to allow this to be processed.

Whilst our surgeries close, 111.nhs.uk is available 24 hours a day 365 days a year for any advice and support you may need. NHS 111 will be able to assess you and direct you to the most appropriate service for your problem.

Other ways for you to get advice whilst the surgeries are closed:

1. Visit the self-care hub on our website here for adults https://www.rpcchesterfield.co.uk/self-care or here for children https://www.rpcchesterfield.co.uk/parental-advice
   
   
2. Visit your local pharmacy who can give advice and prescribe certain medications where appropriate.
   
   
3. Visit an Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC). In Derbyshire, our UTCs are located in Buxton, Ilkeston, Ripley and Whitworth Hospital and are open seven days a week, between 8am and 8pm. UTCs can assess sprains, strains, cuts, broken bones, fractures, stings, bites, wound infections, minor head injuries, minor burns, animal bits, minor eye injuries and infections.

We are so excited to be attending the Peak Highland Games on Sunday 27^th August at Matlock Farm Park. 

The Peak Highland Games is a fantastic event for all the family to enjoy! 

Whilst we won't be pulling the Eight Tonne Tractor or participating in the Giant Stone throw, we will be hosting a stall, offering a variety of health and wellbeing advice and observations such as height, weight, BP, grip strength and more. 

Book tickets early to avoid disappointment (arrow emoji) https://matlockfarmpark.digitickets.co.uk/tickets 

From Monday 14^th August to Monday 4^th September, a one-way system will be put in place on Ashgate Road, Chesterfield (S40 4AA) to facilitate gas renewal works.

The one-way system will affect access to our Ashgate surgery, as well as Peak Pharmacy Ashgate and Out of Hours who we share a building with.

Access to the surgery will be via Foljambe Road or Saltergate. Patients travelling from Ashgate Road or Brockwell Lane will need to join the one way system as pictured. To download a PDF version of the roadworks map, please click here

We anticipate that the roadworks will add delays to your journey so please allow plenty of time when travelling to the surgery for any appointments.

Thank you in advance,

Royal Primary Care

In June 2021, the first ever Royal Primary Care Charity Marathon was born. Dr Ruth Bentley and a team of willing volunteers piloted the Royal Primary Care Charity Marathon walk, where they donned their walking boots with plenty of compeed plasters in tow and walked the distance between all 8 of our Chesterfield surgeries and finishing at Chesterfield Royal Hospital covering 28 miles and stopping at each of sites along the way for a well deserved rest!

Last year the challenge extended to our newest practice in Heanor, Derbyshire which added an additional 9 miles, taking the 2022 total trek to a whopping 30 miles.

Now that the teams legs have just about recovered, they're ready to go again for the 2023 trek on Thursday 20th July.

Every year we ask our staff members to nominate charities close to their heart and we draw names from a hat, as always we had some really great charities nominated but the charity we drew for this year's fundraiser is Headway North Derbyshire

Headway is a UK-wide charity that works to improve life after brain injury by providing vital support and information services including: rehabilitation programmes, carer support, social re-integration, community outreach and respite care to survivors and families in their own communities.

On the day, we'll be sharing live updates with the team's progress and checking in with them along the way on our Facebook page so make sure you're following us to get the updates here https://www.facebook.com/royalprimarycare 

Donating is the best way to support the team and you can do that using the following link: bit.ly/44lfROc but if you aren't able to support the team financially, please help us by sharing our page amongst your friends and family to spread the word!

Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust’s new Emergency Department is opening on Wednesday (21 June) but they don’t want you to visit, unless you really need to.

The new development, with its state-of-the-art approach to patient flow, highly spec’d equipment, ultra-modern technology and a real grounding in the community through the locally sourced artwork and wayfinding will be jewel in Chesterfield’s crown but it’s vital that people only visit if they truly need to.

Dr Katherine Lendrum, Clinical Lead for the UECD and ED Consultant, commented further: “The new Emergency Department is an absolutely amazing facility which will provide our local population with Emergency Care when they really need it!

“We genuinely hope we don’t need to see people but if someone needs us, we will be there and do our absolute best to give high quality care in a timely manner.

“Emergency departments are open 24/7 365 days a year; they are staffed by a large team of nurses and clinicians (doctors and allied health professionals) who have expertise in immediately life or limb threatening emergencies.”

Dr Hal Spencer, Chief Executive of the Trust, said: “This is a truly fantastic facility for the hospital and the communities we serve. With clinical leadership, engagement at all levels and years of planning, I’m very proud of the skills, experience and hard work that have gone into shaping our new Emergency Department.

“We are on time in opening the facility and have delivered on budget, with building work starting during Covid. It is testament to a great team who have worked tirelessly to deliver this work. Thank you to everybody.”

Dr Anthony Kenny, Programme Director for the Emergency Department development, said: “The new department has the ability to live monitor patients, it has a dedicated children and young people’s area and a specialist zone for neurodiverse patients or those experiencing a mental health crisis, all of which mean we are providing a truly world-class facility for the region.

“The area above the department is one of the proudest ‘added extra’ elements; we have a state-of-the-art simulation suite and facilities which will support ED colleagues in providing the best possible care including modern changing and break-out rooms.”

Dr Lendrum concluded: “Sometimes (in up to 70% of attendances) people choose to come to an emergency department with less urgent problems - perhaps because they don’t know where to go or because they perceive they will be seen quicker; get all the tests they need done or be treated faster. 

“Problems that have lasted many days, weeks or months, that you would like a second opinion on or are already being managed by another team often do not fit into an emergency category.

“If you feel well enough to have your tea before coming to an ED think again - could my problem be managed by someone else better tomorrow?! It is everyone’s responsibility to use health care services wisely.”

Alternative sources of help for less urgent problem, particularly out of hours include NHS111, local pharmacies and urgent treatment centres. (Links and illustrations to be sent as notes to editors).

For those wanting to see the new department, the Trust will be launching a series of tours and photographs – including a click through view of each area and tours from colleagues at the Trust (available on the Trust website from 21 June).

Today, June 1^st 2023, is Narcissistic Abuse Day, one of the lesser talked about awareness days but arguably one of the most important.

According to the ONS, in 2021-2022 across Derbyshire there were 15,945 cases of domestic abuse-related crimes recorded by the police (this includes emotional and physical abuse) and sadly, these are just the crimes that are reported, many cases will go unreported for fear of repercussions.

Because of it’s nature, coercive or narcissistic abuse often goes unnoticed by victims and their families and friends. Unlike physical abuse, narcissistic abuse leaves no physical marks, it is invisible and difficult to prove. Yet, its effects are lasting and just as a damaging as physical abuse.

The Elm Foundation operates across Chesterfield, North East Derbyshire, Bolsover, and parts of Amber Valley and they provide domestic abuse support services across the community irrespective of a person’s age, sex, ethnicity, disability, gender identity or immigration status.

Signs of Narcissistic Abuse:

1. Love-bombing
   "A love bomb is a manipulation technique used most often by narcissists, and even cult leaders, to gain power over someone... They bomb you with affection, excessive attention and gifts to ‘lure you in.’ The intention is to make their victim helpless, vulnerable and indebted to them.” -Jerimya Fox
   
   
2. Gaslighting
   Intentionally distorting reality to make you feel like what you’re seeing or feeling isn’t real. Examples of Gaslighting may look like this:
   
   "You're crazy, that never happened"
   "I never said that"
   "It's All In Your Head"
   
   
3. Ignoring Boundaries
   "The first thing to remember about narcissists is they need to be in control and they also need to be right. Boundaries get in the way of both things. They can’t control the narrative if you’ve put a roadblock in their way. When you set a boundary, they see it as you questioning what they’re doing. How dare you question them! They’re always right! And then they just bulldoze straight through the boundary like it was tissue paper." -Love with Intelligence
   
   
4. Character Assassination
   A classic Narcissistic Abuse tactic that does exactly what it says on the tin. Deliberate exaggeration or manipulation of facts to present an untrue picture of the victim which can leave you feeling isolated, misunderstood, and unfairly judged.
   
   
5. Accusations
   Accusations can be used by an abuser to manipulate you into doing what they want. "When you’re in a relationship with a narcissistic abuser, you may be accused of lying, stealing, cheating, or other negative behaviors. Being wrongfully accused can put you on the defensive, which can help deflect from the behaviors and actions of an abuser." -Talk Space
   
   
6. Emotional Blackmail
   Emotional Blackmail is a manipulative tool, using your weaknesses, secrets or vulnerabilities against you to get what they want from you. Emotional Blackmail can look like this:
   
   "If you leave me, I'll kill myself"
   "You'll never see the kids again"
   "If you actually cared about me, you would do..."
   
   
7. Projecting
   "Narcissists can’t accept responsibility for anything that goes wrong. So if something isn’t working, and they want control over the situation, they literally put their feelings on you. Since narcissists live in fantasy worlds, they refuse to see their own faults and failures, which means the blame that would usually be placed on them is projected onto their victims" -Reach Out Recovery

If you recognise any of these signs in a relationship that you’re in and you need help see here: https://www.theelmfoundation.org.uk/adults/

If you recognise any of these signs in a relationship that somebody you know is in see here: https://www.theelmfoundation.org.uk/adults/i-know-someone-who-needs-help/

We see you
We hear you
We believe you

We hope you all had a lovely bank holiday weekend. As always, our team is working hard to answer your calls and reading through your online requests as quickly as we can.

We welcome the Government's announcement that they are planning to re-direct millions of pounds of funding to primary care so that patients can get appointments more quickly. We are looking forward to being able to utilise this funding to ease the 8am rush for an appointment.

These funds will be shared across 6,500 GP practices in the UK, so it will take some time to flow through to us - we ask you to be patient with us while we develop our plans and await this funding. We will add our access recovery plans to the RPC website and social media platforms and keep you updated on our intended improvements.  

Like many parts of the NHS, general practice is under intense pressure where demand is greater than capacity, and this is exacerbated by an aging population. Most of those over 70 live with one or more long-term condition and have five times more GP appointments on average than teenagers. This was recognised in 2019 in the NHS long term plan; however, the pandemic has intensified the demand more so than anticipated. Patient contacts with primary care have grown faster than demographic pressures, at between 20% and 40%. Administrative tasks have also increased by 50% since 2019 – in short, we have never been busier.

 The NHSE plans to seek recovery through:

1. Empowering patients to manage their own health including using the NHS App, self-referral pathways and through more services offered from community pharmacy. This will relieve pressure on general practice.
2. Implement Modern General Practice Access to tackle the 8am rush, provide rapid assessment and response, and avoid asking patients to ring back another day to book an appointment.
3. Build capacity to deliver more appointments from more staff than ever before and add flexibility to the types of staff recruited and how they are deployed.
4. Cut bureaucracy and reduce the workload across primary and secondary care, and the burden of medical evidence requests so practices have more time to meet the clinical needs of their patients.

We appreciate navigating healthcare can be difficult, we hope that we are able to put in place plans to assist our local communities in accessing our services much more easily and help navigate access to the right care at the right time.  We thank you for your patience - please keep up to date via our website and social media.

After 32 years service to the NHS as a GP in the Chesterfield Area, Dr Jo Page is sadly hanging up her stethoscope and retiring from front line General Practice.

We would like to thank Dr Page for her many years of service to Royal Primary Care and it's predecessor Holywell House. Dr Page has been a huge part of Royal Primary Care, her dedication to our service, patients and the Chesterfield community is inspiring to us all.

Her compassionate and frank and honest approach was appreciated by not only the patients under her care but also her colleagues to whom she will also be sorely missed by. Dr Page has been a fantastic mentor and support system through many years of change within the NHS. “What would Jo Page do?” is a phrase we know will stick around amongst our staff for a good while yet.

Dr Page says: "I’d like to thank everyone for the gifts, cards and well wishes and for the pleasure of being a GP in Chesterfield for 32 years. I have thoroughly enjoyed my career and that’s thanks to our patients trusting me with their health and that of their families and my colleagues at RPC. The NHS is under a lot of pressure at the moment but I am confident that my colleagues who continue to work for RPC will continue to provide our patients with the best health care possible."

We hope you join us in wishing Dr Page a fantastic retirement.

After 6 months of training, last Sunday (16^th April) ANP Mel Baker-Hunt and GP Dr Ruth Bentley completed the Manchester Marathon.

Mel crossed the line at 03:58:04 earning a Marathon Personal Best and Ruth crossed the line at 04:45:53, a fantastic time for a Marathon debut!

A total of 52.4 miles ran and £689 raised for Weston Park, which is an amazing achievement. Team RPC are incredibly proud of Mel & Ruth.

Here's a message from Mel:

"Manchester marathon was booked in an impulsive moment in 2022…

What followed was 6 months of incremental long, slow runs in rain, wind, hail, ice and snow. My aim was always to get a sub-4 finish time, but secretly, I didn’t feel it was possible.

The decision was made to run for charity after one of my good friends and colleagues was given a devastating diagnosis late last year, and who has been receiving life-prolonging treatment at Weston park hospital since.

The day started well and I was storming along for the first (downhill) 8-10 miles, well ahead of the 4hr pacers. The next couple of hours passed in a bit of a blur of just focusing on one mile at a time, and sticking with the group of people around me. I knew at this point I was still well on for my target time. Then, with just 5 miles to go, the battle really began. My legs were tired and my pace was dropping off. At mile 22, to my absolute despair, the 4hr pacer passed me. I knew I had to make a last-ditch effort to speed up if I still wanted to be under the 4hr mark.

I managed to hang on the back of their group until the end and crossed the line in 3:58:04…tears flowed! I could barely walk, and sitting down without face-planting was another emotional achievement

Thanks for all the amazing messages of support…also to everyone who’s donated to the fundraiser."

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar that is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of prayer, reflection, community and fasting. The exact dates of Ramadan change every year as the Islamic calendar is based on the cycles of the Moon. This year, Ramadan will begin in on Wednesday 22 March and will end on Friday 21 April.

During this time, some of our Muslim colleagues and patients will fast each day from sunrise to sunset, meaning no food or liquids can be consumed during these hours. It's common to have one morning meal before the fast begins at dawn, known as Suhoor, and one meal after sunset to break the fast, known as Iftar. Fasting doesn't apply to children, pregnant women, elderly people and those who are ill or travelling.

Whilst fasting is physically hard and will leave most Muslims with lower levels of energy during Ramadan, it can also be very taxing spiritually. Some Muslims choose to worship for a significant portion of the night meaning they may also be sleep deprived. Ramadan is a mark of devoting yourself to your faith and takes significant strength from those participating. The Muslim Network have released some guidance to help those taking part:

• Remember to continue to take prescribed medicines during Ramadan, but checking with GPs if the doses need to be adjusted or the timings need to be changed.
• If you have diabetes, speak to your GP or diabetes nurse about the safest way to fast. There is an exemption for people with diabetes, especially if for those on insulin, or who have any medical complications.
• Attend medical appointments: All medical appointment booked during Ramadan should be attended, as normal. If you need to adjust the time of your appointment, please contact the relevant healthcare organisation to do so.
• The British Islamic Medical Association advises that if you become unwell during Ramadan, you should stop fasting and seek medical advice. You can do this by visiting 111.nhs.uk or if you don’t have access to the internet, by calling 111 or your practice directly.

After a close friend received a recent terminal cancer diagnosis, in a moment of madness Advanced Nurse Practitioner Mel Baker-Hunt and Dr Ruth Bentley made the decision to run the 2023 Manchester Marathon to raise funds for Weston Park hospital who provide have been able to provide life extending treatment.

This will be Dr Bentley's first ever marathon and she will be running alongside our resident marathon runner and Active Healthy Lives Champion ANP Mel Baker-Hunt.

Weston Park do a fantastic job caring for people from our area, and we don't think that they get the recognition or support they deserve for this. Mel & Ruth would love to raise £500 and we will be carrying out other events over the course of the year to try and achieve this.

Please donate what you can. Every £1 makes a difference. If you aren't able to donate, please help us by sharing this post to get the message far and wide!

Follow their JustGiving page for updates here https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/royal-primary-care-chesterfield-weston-park

In a new ‘Help Us, Help You’ campaign that is the first of its kind nationally, NHS England is encouraging people who have been sent an NHS bowel cancer screening kit to complete the test.

Bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the UK, and detecting it at the earliest stage makes you up to nine times more likely to be successfully treated. But, almost one third of people who were sent an NHS bowel cancer screening test in England last year did not go on to complete it. Just a tiny sample detects signs of cancer before you notice anything wrong. The test is simple to complete and can be done in the privacy of your own bathroom.

Anyone aged 60 to 74, who lives in England and is registered with a GP practice will be sent a test in the post automatically, every two years. NHS England is also extending this to include all 50 to 59 year-olds by 2025. So, the NHS is asking anyone who is sent a bowel cancer screening test to remember to complete it. Put it by the loo. Don’t put it off. Your next poo could save your life.

Visit https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/bowel-cancer-screening/ for more information

Looking for some sun and want to get away on a last minute holiday? Make sure you know the vaccination requirements (if any) for the area you're travelling to.

Our nursing team offer a full travel advice and immunisation service. If you are travelling abroad and require immunisations to travel, please contact the surgery 6-8 weeks before your journey. Vaccines need time to take effect and some may require a course over several weeks.

For information about which vaccinations you may require or generic travel health advice, visit our Travel Health & Advice page here

For patients of our Inkersall and Rectory Road surgeries, please be aware that part of Inkersall Green Road is closed from 8th February-10th February.

If this is a route you use to get to our surgeries, please bare this in mind as it may add time to your journey.

Thank you,
Royal Primary Care

One of our surgeries at Royal Primary Care, The Grange Family Health Centre, has recently signed up to be a registered C-scheme provider.  This is a condom distribution scheme which allows our patients to access free condoms.  Condoms are the only type of contraception that can both prevent pregnancy and protect against sexually transmitted infections.

We currently have 2 schemes running out of The Grange, the C-scheme and C-wallet.

If you’re aged between 13 and 24 you can sign up for the C-Scheme. The scheme gives you a safe space to access a choice of free condoms and lube. You can access the service however you identify and whatever your sexual orientation. It doesn't matter whether you’re having sex, thinking about having sex or if you’re just curious.  All patients will need to register, then patients aged 16-24 will be able to access condoms (up to 20 per month) from the Grange reception using their registration card.  Patients aged 13-15 will also need a face to face appointment with our trained member of staff.

C-Wallets are small packets of free condoms and lube and are available for people aged 16+ to pick up from the surgery without needing to register.

If you are interested or wish to find out more please call in to the reception at The Grange to pick up a registration form or C-wallet.  If the scheme is a success we will look to extend it to our other sites.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has launched their new loneliness campaign activity as part of the Better Health - Every Mind Matters campaign.

The campaign primarily aims to reach 16-34 year olds by continuing to encourage them to ‘Lift Someone Out of Loneliness’, knowing that this will likely help their own feelings of loneliness. This is based on recent research that shows that people in this demographic are at higher risk of feeling lonely compared to other age groups, but less likely to seek advice and support.

If you’re feeling lonely this winter, search ‘Every Mind Matters; for support and advice or go to https://www.nhs.uk/every-mind-matters/lifes-challenges/loneliness/.

Did you know together, we can end cervical cancer?

This week is Cervical Cancer Prevention Week,and we’re supporting Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust to raise awareness of cervical cancer, and how one day we can make it a thing of the past! The HPV vaccination and cervical screening can help stop cervical cancer. We want to encourage uptake and share the facts to help you reduce your risk of cervical cancer. 

You can play your part too. Get involved, show support on social media, tell your friends, go for screening. Join the campaign: www.jostrust.org.uk/ccpw 

Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust is the UK’s leading cervical cancer charity. It provides information and support to anyone affected and campaigns for excellence in cervical cancer treatment, care and prevention. Its national Helpline is free, confidential and on 0808 802 8000

Derbyshire County Council have launched their Grab a Cab project to aid Derbyshire county residents in getting to important vaccination and screening appointments.

If you have an upcoming appointment for a vaccination or to take part in NHS screening you can request a pre-paid taxi to and from your vaccination or screening appointment. 

The free transport offer will cover the following prearranged health appointments:

• the following vaccination appointments - COVID-19, flu, shingles, PPV (Pneumococcal) and other NHS provided vaccinations
• abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) screening
• cervical cancer screening
• bowel cancer screening
• diabetic eye screening

The service is available to all Derbyshire County Council residents regardless of age. For more information call 01629 536173 (Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm) or visit the Derbyshire County Council website here: https://www.derbyshire.gov.uk/social-health/health-and-wellbeing/health-protection/support-getting-to-appointments/support-getting-to-vaccination-and-screening-appointments.aspx

We are currently seeing a higher than usual request for appointments for coughs, chest infections and common respiratory illnesses. Some of these conditions may require input from a clinician but they can mostly be treated at home with some simple self-care steps.

We appreciate that it can be difficult to know when to seek help so we wanted to share with you a really useful video from GP Dr Sophie. In this video, Dr Sophie talks you through the common symptoms, how long you should expect them to last and the signs to look out for and when to seek advice from a clinician. Dr Sophie also talks about why we don’t always prescribe antibiotics.

Watch, share and save the video for future reference. Whilst respiratory illnesses are more common in Winter, they can occur at any time of year.

Having children can be stressful enough as it is but it's even more stressful when they become unwell.  

All children become ill from time to time and most illnesses can pass as quickly as they came. Many viruses and infections pass on their own and can be treated with normal over the counter medications to relieve symptoms, but some may require medical attention or intervention such as antibiotics. 

Knowing when to seek medical advice can be confusing, which is why we've collated some parent information sheets on our website to help inform you about your childs illness, what you can expect and when you should look to seek advice 

Visit the parental advice page at: www.rpcchesterfield.co.uk/parental-advice

Exciting news! The Christmas edition of our Royal Primary Care patient newsletter is now live. In this month’s edition: 

• A Christmas Message 
• Christmas Opening Hours 
• Winter Pressures Announcement 
• Group A Strep Update 
• Couch2Kilos Programme 
• Dangers of Frozen Water 
• Respiratory Conditions in Winter 
• Shingles and Older Adult Vaccinations 
• PPG Update 

Download the newsletter from our website here 
 
If you have something you’d like us to feature or if you have any feedback you’d like to give us about the newsletter, get in touch with us. We’d love to hear what you think and get involved. 

Those with respiratory conditions are one of the most affected groups in the colder months, and lead to people needing to seek additional support from healthcare during winter. However, there is lots of simple ways people can support themselves and reduce their symptoms as well as staying healthy over this period.

Here are some tips and hints to support you over this winter.

Keeping Warm and Staying Active

Lung conditions can be sensitive to the effects of cold weather. You might become more short of breath and cough more as a result. It's important to be aware of this and make some small changes to prevent these symptoms worsening.

• If out and about
  • Using a scarf around the nose/ mouth can warm up the air which prevents the cold air irritating your airways, triggering coughing or even triggering an asthma attack
  • Wear layers of clothes to keep warm
  • If its icy think about places you can exercise indoors such as supermarkets or shopping centres.
  • Use your inhaler medication (bronchodilators) half an hour before leaving the house, especially if the cold weather usually makes you wheezy or breathless. Make sure you carry your medication with you at all times.
• At home
  • Ideal room temperature is around 21 degrees in the living room and 18 in the bedroom.
  • During really cold weather, wear warmer night clothes. This is again something too many people don’t do, forgetting that their body temperature drops as they sleep.
  • Staying active and doing some exercise can be extremely helpful, by keeping the blood circulating and the body warm. Appropriate exercise is generally good for strengthening lung health at any time of year – if you have a lung condition, your doctor will be able to advise you of a suitable level of exercise for you.

Staying warm has become an increasing concern all over the UK with the cost of living being at an all-time high. There is support available, don't suffer in silence

• Derbyshire County Councils have given grants to communities to support 'warm spaces' with the aim to provide a warm refuge for residents and their families struggling to heat their homes. See if there is a venue near you.
• Community Action Derby also provide support and information for a range of cost-of-living related issues people may face over the next few months.

Keeping Healthy and Staying Healthy

• Take advantage of the vaccinations you are entitled to, it's never too late, so book now if you haven't already.
  • Flu
  • Covid
  • Pneumococcal
  • Shingles (over 70's)
• Avoid people with coughs, colds or Covid-19. If possible, it would be sensible to wear masks in crowded and enclosed spaces.
• Hands, face, space! This is a great rule to apply during winter, make sure you wash your hands well to avoid all those winter bugs.
• If you have a respiratory condition and smoke, you can help yourself by stopping smoking. People who smoke are five times more likely to get flu and twice as likely to get pneumonia. Quitting smoking is one of the best ways to prevent developing viral infections. There is plenty of help and support available in Derby and Derbyshire.
• If you have a respiratory condition, you will have developed a personalised respiratory action plan with your health care provider, sometime called a RAP. This is a useful document and will tell you what to do if your condition worsens. Your RAP should be updated every year during your annual condition review.
• Attend your annual condition review to discuss your condition with a healthcare professional.
• Use your medication as prescribed - It's important to understand how to use the medications as this will help control respiratory conditions. The pharmacy is a great place to get support and advice over the winter. A pharmacist can provide lots of additional services such as a review of new medication prescribed (NMS Service). To find out more about what pharmacy services are available visit nhs.uk or visit your local pharmacy.
• Make sure you have enough of your regular medicines at home. If you have 'rescue packs' make sure you have these in stock, and they are in date.

Across the UK, General practice is facing monumental pressures and demand. The workload for practices has escalated with the highest level of GP appointment bookings ever recorded this winter. GPs are seeing more patients than ever before. 

Likewise, Royal Primary Care is currently experiencing an unprecedented demand for appointments and our services which is putting a significant strain on our systems and staff as we try to meet the needs and expectations of our patients.

How can you help?

1. Please only call the surgery before 10.30 if you require an urgent/same day appointment. For routine appointments and all other appointments, please call after 10.30 to allow those most in need to be able to get through on our telephone lines. Please note calling before this time does not guarantee you a same day appointment, our call handlers will assess your problem using a triage tool built by our clinicians to ensure those most clinically unwell are offered appointments. You may be directed to self-care, an alternate service or advised to ring back at a different time or book on-line a routine appointment.
   
   
2. Sign up to one or more of our online services platforms. There are a variety of platforms that you can use depending on what you require. We’ve put together a handy guide on our website here: co.uk/online-services to help you choose which platform best suits your personal needs as a patient. You can use more than one if you like – it's what works best for you.By using our online services you’re allowing patients who don’t have online access to be able to get through on our telephone lines to access the care they need.
   
   
3. Use the resource hub on our website which we regularly update with information about how to look after your own health (https://www.rpcchesterfield.co.uk/self-care) and your children’s health (https://www.rpcchesterfield.co.uk/parental-advice), as well as a dedicated area to Strep A (https://www.rpcchesterfield.co.uk/group-a-strep) including information for red flag signs to look out for and when to seek advice and who from. By looking after yourself and taking preventative measures to keep yourself fit and well this winter, you can help to reduce the pressure on the NHS at its busiest time of year.
   
   
4. Be kind to the practice staff. In every corner of our organisation we have staff members working incredibly hard to keep our services running as safely and effectively as possible in unprecedented circumstances. We understand that being unwell can be frustrating and even more so if we’re not able to offer you an appointment. Please know that we have a zero-tolerance policy in place and any form of verbal abuse, swearing, aggressive or threatening behaviour towards our staff is not acceptable and will be escalated as appropriate.
   
   
5. Use the NHS111 online tool to help you decide on the appropriate services to contact, if required a call back from one of their handlers can be arranged. NHS111 can book appointments directly with your GP so please do not duplicate contact.

Thank you in anticipation of your support and understanding in this matter.

Friday December 23^rd – Open as Usual

Saturday December 24^th – Saturday Clinic*

Sunday December 25^th – Closed

Monday 26^th December – Closed

Tuesday 27^th December – Closed

Wednesday 28^th December – Open as Usual

Thursday 29^th December – Open as Usual

Friday 30^th December – Open as Usual

Saturday 31^st December – Saturday Clinic*

Sunday 1^st January – Closed

Monday 2^nd January – Closed

Tuesday 3^rd January – Open as Usual

Please see our Opening Times page for your local surgeries usual opening hours

*Prebooked appointments only as part of the enhanced access to Primary Care

Our top tips for a healthy and happy Christmas:

• Please order any repeat prescriptions you require in time to ensure you have adequate provision over the Christmas and New Year period
• Be prepared for common health problems by keeping a well-stocked medicine cabinet at home. Speak to your pharmacist if you're not sure what you need.
• Use NHS 111 if you need medical help but it’s not an emergency. NHS 111 offers an online service at nhs.uk or you can call them by dialling 111.
• Get your flu and COVID-19 vaccinations if eligible

Group A strep is a common winter illness and is responsible for a number of childhood infections such as tonsillitis, pharyngitis, scarlet fever and impetigo.

This winter the rates of Group A strep illness are much higher than usual and we are seeing extremely high demand for advice.

It is very important to remember that the vast majority of children with Group A strep illness do not require assessment by a clinician or treatment. To help us identify the children that do need assessment our senior clinical team has developed a screening tool based on the FeverPAIN scoring system https://www.rpcchesterfield.co.uk/group-a-strep. Our call handlers will use this tool to identify those children that do need assessment. You will be asked specific questions about your childs illness and the answers will determine if advice is for self care and watchful waiting, telephone review or face to face assessment.

All our staff are doing the very best they can with limited resources – please be kind

The mobile version of SystmOnline is no longer being updated but does have a new, exciting replacement - Airmid.

Airmid has many of the same functions as SystmOnline as well as some new and innovative features that we think will really transform how you can manage your health, appointments, prescriptions and much more.

Signing up to Airmid is easy and simple. If you're already signed up for SystmOnline, you can use the same login credentials to login to Airmid. If you don't have a SystmOnline account, you can login to Airmid by creating an NHS Login. If you've ever used the NHS App or the NHS COVID app, for example to access your COVID vaccination status, you'll already have an account which you can use to login to Airmid.

Airmid is also compatible with Face ID which is really useful if you're like us and prone to forgetting your passwords.

There's lots of other great features that we'll be sharing with you in the upcoming weeks to allow you to get to grips with the platform and it's many great features.

If you're not signed up for online services and have a mobile device or tablet, why not sign up today to be able to book appointments with both our clinical and nursing teams without the need to call the surgery.

For more information about Airmid or our other digital platforms, see here: https://www.rpcchesterfield.co.uk/online-services

Looking for a new years resolution? Why not kick start 2023 with a healthy and sustainable way to drop the kilos!

When we think of exercise often our first thought goes to cardio, but it's equally as important to keep your muscles and bones strong. Having strong bones reduces your risk of osteoperosis, fractures, and falls, especially as you age. Strength training is crucial for bone development.

Couch2Kilos is a free strength challenge designed to help EVERY women get stronger in 6-weeks.

With four levels Couch2Kilos is suitable for women of all abilities from just starting out to those who are already active.

It is totally flexible, you can do it anytime, from anywhere, at the gym or home and on any device. You can start with zero equipment and work up the levels and learn how use a variety of weights.

For more information visit www.herspirit.co.uk/couch-2-kilos

We’d like to notify patients that our Whittington Surgery will be closed on Monday 14^th November and Tuesday 15^th November for essential building maintenance work. The surgery will reopen at 8.00AM as normal on Wednesday 16^th November.  

If you need to visit a surgery during this time you can visit our Ashgate surgery (2.9 miles), Inkersall surgery (3 miles) or Rectory Road surgery (4.1 miles). Surgery addresses and opening times can be found here: https://www.rpcchesterfield.co.uk/contact-us

We apologise for any inconvenience caused and look forward to welcoming patients back to the surgery at 8.00AM on Wednesday 16^th November

As part of our dedication to improving our services, earlier this year we sent out a survey to our patients to help us understand our patient behaviors when it comes to digital access to the surgery. 

In the survey, we asked patients what they use our online services for. 47.2% of patients said requesting medication, and 30.7% said to book routine appointments. We’ve used this information to re-evaluate our digital offering to ensure that our patients needs are being met.  

As of today, you will now be able to book non-urgent appointments online 2 days in advance, using either Airmid, SystmOnline or the NHS App. Alongside these platforms, we also have the RPC App (FamilyHealth+) and our practice website as ways for you to contact the practice digitally.  

These platforms allow you to request medications, sick notes, submit long term condition review forms and book non-urgent appointments online. 

We’ve put together a handy guide on our website here to help you choose which platform best suits your personal needs as a patient. You can use more than one if you like – it's what works best for you. 

If you aren’t registered for online services you can sign up through the NHS app which will give you a NHS login, this login can also be used for Airmid. For a SystmOnline login, you will need to visit your local surgery with a recognised form of identification to register. 

For the last post in our #BreastCancerAwarenessMonth series, we’re focusing on Breast Screening.

Breast Screening is one of the three cancer screening programmes in England. About 1 in 8 women in the UK are diagnosed with breast cancer during their lifetime. If it’s detected early, treatment is more successful and there’s a good chance of recovery. Breast screening is offered to anyone aged 50-70 who are registered with a GP as female. You’ll first be invited for screening within three years of your 50th birthday. You may be eligible for breast screening before the age of 50 if you have a very high risk of developing breast cancer.

If you have not been invited for breast screening by the time you are 53 and think you should have been, contact your local breast screening service using the breast screening services location finder here: https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/other-services/Breast-screening-services/LocationSearch/325

So, what happens at a screening appointment? Breast screening uses an x-ray test called a mammogram that can spot cancers when they’re too small to see or feel. A mammographer will place the breast onto an X-ray machine, it will be squeezed between 2 pieces of plastic to keep it still while the X-rays are taken. The x-ray takes a couple of seconds, but the whole process should take no longer than 30 minutes.

Sadly, between April 2020 and March 2021, there was a 44.1% decrease in the number of people who were screened for breast cancer in England, compared to the previous financial year.

When we look at our own patient population, in July 2022 only 30% of eligible Royal Primary Care patients attended their screening appointment. Whilst we aren’t responsible for inviting patients, we are dedicated to ensuring all eligible take part in the relevant screening programmes. Our back office team work really hard to monitor the participation figures and contact our patients who don’t respond to screening invites.

If you’re overdue your breast screening, book your appointment today. It may just save your life.

Information provided by NHS England, NHS Digital and Royal Primary Care.

Today, we’re sharing information about how to check your breasts as part of our #BreastCancerAwarenessMonth campaign.

The NHS encourage checking your breasts at least once a month.

Start by standing in front of a mirror, placing your hands on your hip ensuring you can see both breasts at the same time.  Look at the size, shape, and contour of breasts and check for any visual changes.

Raise your arm above your head and check your armpits for any lumps or swellings, especially around where your lymph nodes sit (in the lower armpit). Feel from the top to the bottom of the breast, moving across from the inside of the breast all the way into your armpit area. Repeat on the opposite side. You can also do this laying down if you find this more comfortable. Some people prefer to do this in the bath or shower with a wet soapy hand.

If you notice any lumps, or changes in size, colour or texture, don't hesitate to book an appointment.

Last Saturday (15^th November) on a very crisp and sunny autumnal morning, we here at Royal Primary Care had the privilege of hosting our first parkrun takeover at Poolsbrook Country Park.

Royal Primary Care is a registered parkrun practice and we actively encourage our patients to look after their health and wellbeing through regular exercise. Amongst our staff we have keen runners, swimmers, walkers, horse-riders, martial artists, netballers, cricketers, footballers, stand up paddle boarders, gym goers, golfers and regular parkrunners who volunteer and take part in parkruns across South Yorkshire and Derbyshire. Our staff really do practice what they preach.

At our inaugural takeover, 214 people ran, jogged and walked the course, of whom 32 were first timers and 23 recorded new Personal Bests. Representatives of 26 different clubs took part. Amongst the runners were visitors from Gedling, Bingley, Alvaston and New Zealand!

Our Active Healthy Lives Mel Baker-Hunt did a fantastic job in her debut role as Run Director and Dr Ahmed welcomed the 32 first timers in his first timers briefing. Amongst our team of volunteers we had representation from our GPs, Advanced Nurse Practitioners, Administrators and Leadership team.

The team RPC volunteers were shown the ropes by some of the regular parkrun volunteers who helped us in our first takeover. Amongst these volunteers is veteran parkrun volunteer Jean who celebrated her 300^th parkrun as a volunteer who has been volunteering at both the junior and adult parkruns since 2016. Our thanks and congratulations to Jean for regularly giving up her Saturday mornings to help this fantastic community event to continue running.

We were also joined by Live Life Better Derbyshire who we worked alongside to offer free height, weight, BP and BMI checks as well as general health advice. A great free local resource who offer a wealth of resources such as; advice for weight loss and healthy eating, tips to help stop smoking, support for helping you get active, advice around drinking, family health and wellbeing support, advice on housing, falls prevention and money and debt advice.

Our thanks go to all in attendance that came to support our takeover, Live Life Better Derbyshire, the fantastic parkrun community and to Mark our Poolsbrook Parkrun Ambassador for his guidance in helping us to facilitate this takeover.

In the next installation of our #BreastCancerAwarenessMonth series, we're sharing information from Breast Cancer Now & Cancer Research UK about who's at risk and the symptoms to look out for 

The first symptom of breast cancer most people notice is a lump in their breast or some thickening. 

Breast symptoms to look out for: 

• A new lump or thickening in your breast or armpit 
• A change in size, shape or feel of your breast 
• Skin changes in the breast such as puckering, dimpling, a rash or redness of the skin 
• Fluid leaking from the nipple in a woman who isn’t pregnant or breast feeding 
• Changes in the position of the nipple 
• A new onset of breast or nipple pain 

What are the risk factors of developing breast cancer? 

Whilst breast cancer can affect anybody, there are a few categories that can put people at higher risk of developing breast cancer. These risk categories are: 

• Being overweight or obese 
• Being on the contraceptive pill or hormone replace therapy (HRT) 
• Age (Most breast cancers occur in women over 50) 
• Family history and inherited genes  

For more information on risk factos, see here: https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/breast-cancer/risks-causes/risk-factors  

This month, we'll be focusing on Breast Cancer in line with the #BreastCancerAwarenessMonth campaign 

Breast cancer is when abnormal cells in the breast begin to grow and divide in an uncontrolled way and eventually form a growth (tumour). It starts in the breast tissue, most commonly in the cells that line the milk ducts of the breast.  

There is a common misconception that breast cancer can only affect women, and it is more common in women, it can also affect men. 

Around 55,500 women and around 370 men are diagnosed in the UK each year. 1 in 7 women in the UK develop breast cancer during their lifetime and it is more common in older women. Breast cancer risk can be affected by age, family history and lifestyle factors such as obesity and smoking. 

15 out of 100 (15%) of all newly diagnosed cancers in the UK are breast cancer. 

Remember to Touch, Look and Check 

Touch your breasts, can you feel anything new or unusual? Look for changes, does anything look different? Check any changes with your GP  

Our conclusive post in our #ProstateCancerAwarenessMonth series is potentially the most important, and it comes from one of our patients David who has kindly agreed to share his Prostate Cancer story to get the conversation started and raise awareness.

David’s story is frank and forthright and highlights the importance of early intervention

Prostate Cancer: One Patient’s experience
Written by RPC Patient David

"Sometimes we’re daft, us men. We’re full of bravado much of the time but when it comes to our health and dealing with things that aren’t quite right we put it off time and time again, dismissing symptoms as ‘just one of those things’ or ‘it’ll be better next week’.

I was like that when, in my early 60s, I realised I was having to pee more frequently, often in the middle of the night. I ignored it until one night, as I tiptoed to the bathroom, out of the darkness from the other side of the bed a voice said, “When are you going to do something about that?” I’d been rumbled.

An appointment was made with my doctor. I explained what was happening and he nodded, said “I see…”  and asked me to ‘drop ‘em’. An examination was needed, an internal examination requiring the use of a latex glove and some gel - you get the picture…

A blood sample was taken and sent off for a PSA test. PSA = Prostate Specific Antigen. It’s an indication that all may not be well ‘down below’, in that area that men are strangely reluctant to talk about, even amongst themselves.

We met again and my doctor said the test results were ‘borderline’ but to be on the safe side he was going to refer me to the Oncology Department at The Royal Hospital where further tests took place and a biopsy (sample) of my prostate was taken. This involves a camera and probe being inserted up your back passage to snip off a few bits of prostate for laboratory analysis. It takes a few minutes, is just a minor discomfort and you’re able to go home within a couple of hours. If ever you’re advised to have one, DO IT gentlemen, it may save your life.

The biopsy confirmed I had prostate cancer. I remember the moment we were told, that voice from the other side of the bed had accompanied me and her hand squeezed mine tighter as the news sunk in. We looked at each other and her eyes moistened. “We’ll deal with this.” I reassured her.

 I was put on ‘watchful waiting’ or ‘active surveillance’ with regular tests and checks to monitor the speed at which my cancer was growing until the day, many months later, I was told it had turned ‘aggressive’, it was time for action.

The choice was simple and stark: surgery or radiotherapy. I opted for surgery; whip out my prostate I thought, problem solved. It’s not as simple as that, there is much to be considered but that’s how my mind worked at the time.

I met the surgeon who would do the job and it was explained how, using a Da Vinci machine, he intended to carry out a remote controlled key-hole operation. I signed the forms and attended for a pre-op assessment. That’s when it all went a bit ‘belly up’. I’d had an ECG and it indicated I had a heart problem. This was news to me, I’d never had any heart issues at all, ever, not a single one but because of what had been discovered surgery was ruled out as my heart was considered unable to cope. Though something of a thunderbolt from the blue, I was greatly relieved this had been discovered but it had thrown a very large spanner in the works. It meant that my options were reduced; radiotherapy was now the only way forward.

That was almost 10 years ago. My final session of radiotherapy was on my 65 birthday and I shall be 73 in a couple of months.

Regular PSA checks have monitored the effectiveness of my treatment. I am pleased to report that the most recent test results just last week showed a level of 0.16, well within the 0 > 3.0 range considered acceptable.

Awareness of prostate cancer has increased gradually and spasmodically over the years. The recent death of TV news presenter Bill Turnbull briefly shone the spotlight on it but it shouldn’t be allowed to fade.

If you are experiencing symptoms, or if you know someone who is, either do something about it or be that persuasive voice from the other side of the bed. Doing nothing would be daft, wouldn’t it?"

Stoptober is back, calling on smokers in England to join more than 2.5 million others who have made a quit attempt with the campaign since it launched a decade ago in 2012. Nearly 6 million adults in England still smoke, and it remains the single biggest behavioural cause of preventable death, with 64,000 deaths a year. 

This year's Stoptober mass quit attempt is as important as ever, with quitting being one of the best things a smoker can do for their health. That’s why this year’s Stoptober campaign is encouraging smokers to join the thousands of others who are giving quitting a go for the month of October – making it to 28 days smoke free means you’re five times as likely to quit for good. Quitting will allow you to start moving better, breathe more easily - and give you more money to spend.

Quitting with others, together with the range of support offered, means that Stoptober can trigger resolve and boost confidence, motivation and readiness, making smokers realise that they are stronger and better prepared than they think and setting them up for long term success.

Stoptober offers a range of free quitting tools including: the NHS Quit Smoking app, Facebook messenger bot, Stoptober Facebook online communities, daily emails and SMS, and an online Personal Quit Plan tool.  It provides information and advice on proven quitting methods - expert support from local Stop Smoking Services and the range of stop smoking aids, including further information on how vaping can help you quit. Just search ‘Stoptober’ for more information.

Asthma is a condition that affects over 8 million people in the UK. Though this condition is chronic with no real cure, there are ways of reducing symptoms and control the disease to enable people with asthma to enjoy a normal.

We want to ensure the asthma services available in Derby and Derbyshire for children and young people are as accessible as possible and the best they can be for its users. Therefore, we would be grateful if you could share your experiences of the asthma service so we can identify which areas need improvement. We have created a survey that covers various topic to help us understand what we are doing right and what we need to build on including, where to find information, what resources are available, urgent medical advice and more.

While the service is for Children and young people, we are open to all thoughts and opinions of those who have used the service including, parents, carers, guardians etc.

Please click on the following link to fill out the asthma survey and have your say https://bit.ly/3zMjnEM

In the next instalment of our #ProstateCancerAwarenessMonth series we're sharing information from Prostate Cancer UK about who's at risk.

In the UK, about 1 in 8 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime. We don't know exactly what causes prostate cancer but there are some things that may mean you are more likely to get it – these are called risk factors. There are three main risk factors for getting prostate cancer, which are things you can't change. These are:

• getting older – it mainly affects men aged 50 or over

• having a family history of prostate cancer

• being black

Check your risk today via the Prostate Cancer UK risk checker here: https://prostatecanceruk.org/risk-checker

If you fall in to any of the at risk categories above and are concerned, please book in with one of our clinicians.

Today we’re continuing our #ProstateCancerAwarenessMonth series.

So what is the prostate?

The prostate is a small gland about the size of a walnut. It is divided into 2 lobes and surrounded by an outer layer called the capsule. It sits underneath the bladder and surrounds the urethra. The prostate’s main job is to help make semen – the fluid that carries sperm.

Men, non-binary people who were assigned male at birth and trans woman all have a prostate as the prostate is not removed during genital reconstructive surgery.

The most common prostate problems are an enlarged prostate, prostatitis or prostate cancer.

Problems with your prostate are usually symptomized with changes when you urinate, such as;
- Needing to urinate more often than usual, especially at night difficulty starting to urinate
- Straining or taking a long time to finish urinating
- A weak flow when you urinate
- A feeling that your bladder hasn’t emptied properly
- A sudden need to urinate – you may sometimes leak urine before you get to the toilet
- Dribbling urine after you finish urinating.

If you have any of these symptoms or concerns, please book in to see a clinician

Information from Prostate Cancer UK and Cancer Research

Royal Primary Care will be closed on the 19th September to allow respects to be paid to Her Majesty and commemorate Her reign, while marking the final day of the period of national mourning.

We have been in discussions today with our Executives at Chesterfield Royal Hospital and our local parkrun team as to whether it is appropriate to continue with the parkrun event we have planned for tomorrow (Saturday 10^th September) given the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth ll.

A decision has been made that the event will be postponed as an act of respect for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth ll. A rescheduled date will be announced once plans have been put in place.

The team at Poolsbrook parkrun are continuing to facilitate the normal parkrun event as they do every Saturday for those who do wish to attend however it they will not be hosting Royal Primary Care or Live Life Better Derbyshire as originally planned.

This month we are supporting Prostate Cancer Awareness Month.

Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers in men. In the UK alone roughly 1 in 8 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime.

Unlike bowel cancer, breast cancer and cervical cancer there is currently no routine screening in the UK for prostate cancer which is why it’s really important that people with a prostate know the symptoms to look out for.

Throughout the month we’ll be sharing lots of resources and information to help educate our patients and community.

Keep your eyes peeled for our upcoming Prostate Cancer Awareness Month posts.

Have you been referred to Chesterfield Royal Hospital in the last 6 months?

If you're still awaiting an appointment, treatment or surgery, why not check out My Planned Care for advice and support whilst you wait. My Planned Care is updated weekly with information about current waiting times and useful resources and it's open to anybody which means family and carers can also see this information.

https://www.myplannedcare.nhs.uk/mids/chesterfield/

If you can't remember which service or department you've been referred to, you can find this information on the letter you'll have received when the referral was processed by the surgery.

This service is also available for other local hospitals and services. Find out more here https://www.myplannedcare.nhs.uk/mids/

In recent months, we've seen an increase in patients attending their appointment with more than one problem. We strive to deal with each medical problem to the highest standard and this proves very difficult if our clinicians are asked to deal with a number of problems in one appointment slot.

If you need to discuss more than one problem, please request a double appointment when booking to allow our clinical team more time to deal with multiple issues.

If you've booked a single appointment and need to discuss more than one problem, please don't be offended if the clinician asks you to book another appointment to discuss your other concerns. We know that it can feel frustrating, especially if you've been waiting for an appointment but our clinicians need to be given the appropriate amount of time to deal with your problems safely and effectively without needing to rush.

When a clinic runs even 5 minutes behind, there is a knock-on effect on the clinic for the rest of the day that leads to further delays for patients waiting for their appointment.

We would really appreciate your support and understanding in this matter to enable us to provide a better service for our patients

This September as a part of the parkrun practice initiative, Royal Primary Care will be taking over our local parkrun at Poolsbrook Country Park.

Parkruns are free nationwide events, taking place every Saturday morning, which revolve around completing a 5km route in open spaces. The events are put on by a group of wonderful, dedicated, local volunteers. 

Parkrun isn’t just about running, it’s all about inclusiveness and wellbeing, a healthy community activity to bring people together and that’s something we really want to get behind. So why not come along, run, walk or spectate.

On Saturday 10^th September Team RPC will be running the parkrun as a way of supporting and encouraging the health and wellbeing of our patients. We’re partnering with Live Life Better Derbyshire who will be offering free Blood Pressure and health checks as part of the NHS “Know Your Numbers” Campaign for all who attend. 

ParkRun is completely free, if you’d like to take part, we’d recommending singing up so that you can get an official time. To sign up, please see here: https://www.parkrun.org.uk/register/?eventName=poolsbrook

If you're planning to take part in the event, please arrive by 08:45 to ensure a prompt start at 09:00. The meeting point will be in front of the cafe.

On Monday 4th July, we welcomed CQC to our Royal Primary Care West surgeries; Ashgate, Holme Hall and Whittington. The visit was a comprehensive inspection of the surgeries and the services we provide. All of the team worked really hard to showcase to the inspector all of the fantastic work that's happening not just at Royal Primary Care West but across the all of our Royal Primary Care surgeries.

The key questions that CQC investigate are; Are they safe? Are they effective? Are they caring? Are they responsive to people's needs? Are they well-led?. Royal Primary Care West secured a 'Good' rating 4 out of 5 of these key questions with the responsive question being requiring Improvement due to the challenges primary care face with regards access.

We know we still have some work to do and we are working on getting this right to make your experience with us as a patient, as easy and helpful as possible. If you'd like to read the full report you can do so here or via the CQC website by searching for 'Royal Primary Care West'

Joined Up Care Derbyshire are hosting a virtual menopause cafe, to create a welcoming and safe space for anyone experiencing symptoms like the ones listed below.

The virtual cafe is open for all, regardless of age or gender. The menopause affects people in different ways. It can cause stress and anxiety, and it can lead to physical, emotional, and mental changes.

If you're experiencing symptoms like the ones listed below, why not join in the conversation to get support, advice and guidance. For more info please contact UHDB.MENOPAUSE@NHS.NET

We are so pleased to announce that CRY are returning to our Ashgate surgery this September to carry out their free heart screening for patients between 14-35.

For over 20 years CRY has been screening young people aged 14 to 35. The programme developed by CRY has created the opportunity to save the young lives of those at risk that are asymptomatic, and appear to be "fit and healthy"

The screening programme is ran by Cardiac Risk in the Young charity (CRY) and is funded in memory of Bethany Mycroft who sadly lost her life at 14 due to an undiagnosed heart condition

The screening consists of a few medical questions and a really simple ECG which can diagnose most cardiac abnormalities. If you or someone you know is between 14-35 and hasn't had the screening before, we'd really encourage getting booked in to take advantage of this fantastic screening for some peace of mind.

The screening is taking place on Saturday 10^th September.

To Book

1. Visit www.testmyheart.org.uk/private/
2. Find ASHGATE MEDICAL PRACTICE listed for 10th September. Click Register
3. The password for this screening is Bethany09
4. Select a time slot and click 'register now'. (You can book up to 3 appointments at one time)
5. Fill in the required details on the health questionnaire - this will take approximately 15 minutes.
6. Once the appointment is booked you will receive a confirmation email; this will include a consent form. Please download the document, read carefully before completing and take it with you on the day.

Derbyshire County Council and the Department for Education are working together once again to provide county wide Holiday Activities and Food Programmes from Monday 25th July – Friday 2nd September.

Find free summer experiences for children in Derbyshire! Developed especially for children eligible for free school meals, with healthy and delicious food provided at every activity – all for free.

Clubs will run on average for 4 hours a day and each day children can enjoy a fun-packed programme filled with a wide range of sports and games, arts and crafts, cookery, dance and music. Programmes will vary depending on the type and location of each local club.

If you can't get out this summer, why not try the activity packs which include lots of fun things to do and make, with all the things you need! To register your interest for a pack, visit the website and click the ‘Activity Pack’ link. The website also has lots of great ideas to keep kids of all ages entertained. With hundreds of downloadable games, activities and links to videos that you and your family can enjoy at any time and in any weather. Interested? Book now or find out more here: www.itsaboutmederbyshire.co.uk

Due to an increase in COVID cases across the region, we are following local infection prevention and control guidance to reinstate the wearing of masks in our surgeries. We thank you for your cooperation in this matter to help protect our workforce and vulnerable patients.

Thank you, Royal Primary Care

We wanted to make patients aware that we currently have a high number of staff absences across our clinical and administrative teams, which means your call may be waiting longer than usual to be answered or appointments may be cancelled. 

We’re really sorry if this does affect you. Cancelling appointments is our last resort and wherever possible we do try to provide cover for these appointments but this is not always possible.

If you do need to contact the surgery, please consider other forms of contact such as FamilyHealth+ App or the webforms on our website: https://www.rpcchesterfield.co.uk/online-forms

If you need an appointment to discuss a new or worsening problem, DoctorLink is now live, you can take a symptom assessment and if required book appointments directly into our clinical system. To register, click here https://www.rpcchesterfield.co.uk/doctorlink

We’d be really grateful for your support in this matter.

Thank you in advance,
Royal Primary Care

We are really excited to let you know that Doctorlink is now up and running at our 8 Chesterfield sites.

DoctorLink provides a symptom assessment tool that has been written by Doctors, to take you through a series of questions and to direct you to the most appropriate service for your problem, whether that’s emergency care, self-care, or an appointment with one of our clinical team. Through DoctorLink you’ll then be able to directly book an appointment if required within the recommended timeframe without having to call the surgery.

The symptom assessment tool is accessible 24/7 365 days of the year which means you can book appointments at any time regardless of our opening hours. This new collaboration allows us to offer you an “always open” service and we’re really confident that this new tool will greatly improve access to our surgeries.

Sign up to DoctorLink today using the corresponding link to the surgery that you usually attend:

East (Inkersall, Rectory Road & The Grange bookings) 

https://app.doctorlink.com/RPC-Chesterfield/register

West (Ashgate, Holme Hall & Whittington bookings)

https://app.doctorlink.com/RPC-Chesterfieldwest/register

South (Clay Cross, Grassmoor bookings) 

https://app.doctorlink.com/RPC-ClayCross/register

DoctorLink is available on both desktop and mobile platforms.

The web version can be found here: https://app.doctorlink.com/signin

App Store: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/doctorlink/id1276504759

Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.doctorlink.app&hl=en_GB

In line with the latest UK Health Security Agency guidance, mask wearing in our surgeries is now a personal preference and is no longer compulsory.

This applies to both patients and staff, so you may now start to see our teams friendly faces in full once again, however some of our staff may still wear a mask especially when conducting procedures in close proximity.

The guidance recommends that patients who are immunosuppressed or have respiratory symptoms to continue to wear masks in surgeries.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank our patients your continued support over the last two and a half years.

Thank you, Royal Primary Care.

On the Platinum Jubilee, Team RPC would like to commemorate Her Majesty The Queen for 70 years of service to the people of the United Kingdom, the Realms and the Commonwealth.

#PlatinumJubilee #HM70

The Jubilee weekend is fast approaching meaning that most primary care services and pharmacies will be closed on Thursday 2nd and Friday 3rd June with some exceptions.

Here's your reminder to make sure that if you are due for any medications around this time, that you put your prescription in early to ensure you can collect your medication ahead of the Jubilee weekend closures.

The Medicines Order Line is accepting prescription requests up to 14 days early rather than the usual 7 days and will be open for an additional hour until 5PM from Monday 30th May – Wednesday 1st June. Please note that prescription requests take 2 working days for the practice to process which means that we cannot guarantee that prescriptions placed after Monday 30th May will be processed in time for you to collect before Thursday 2nd June, therefore it is really important that you order your prescription in plenty of time.

On the last bank holiday weekend, the 111 service saw a huge number of calls from people who struggled with the reduced pharmacy service which put a lot of pressure on the 111 health advisors. This can be avoided by planning ahead. Thank you in advance for your continued support and understanding!

As part of our multi-disciplinary team, we have 4 Specialist Mental Health Practitioners who can assess patients suffering from a range of mental health problems from loneliness and mood issues through anxiety and sleep problems to severe mental illness. They are able to prescribe medication if needed and signpost patients to the most appropriate service for them and build therapeutic relationships that underpin quality mental health care and support.

Our Mental Health Practitioners work closely with our social prescribers, psychological therapy services (IAPT), local community mental health teams (CMHTs) and Crisis Services to ensure each patient's needs are met in the least restrictive manner.

Appointments with our Mental Health Practitioners are 20 minutes and can be conducted over the telephone or face to face, depending on what you feel most comfortable with! #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek

On #InternationalNursesDay we want to say a huge THANK YOU to our amazing Nurses and Nursing Team.

International Nurses Day takes place on the birthdate of Florence Nightingale, the foundational philosopher of modern nursing whose name is synonymous with caring and advocacy.

We have a team of over 40 Advanced Nurse Practitioners, Practice Nurses, Health Care Assistants, Nursing Associates, Assistant Practitioners and Phlebotomists who all play a huge part in:

• Supporting our patients to manage their long term conditions
• Taking a vital role in the cervical screening campaign
• Conducting investigations on behalf of our clinical team to assist with diagnosis of acute and long term conditions
• Keeping our children and young people safe through the administration of the vaccination programme

And much, much more.

Thank you Nurses and Nursing Team!

Did you know that as a patient of Royal Primary Care you have access to our social prescribing link workers?

Our social prescribing link workers can provide support and/or discuss other options available for:

• Social Isolation/Loneliness

• Emotional wellbeing

• Healthy lifestyle choices including; stop smoking, physical activity/exercise, weight management, diabetes control, reducing alcohol

• Long term health conditions

• Loss of confidence/purpose

• Poor health linked to housing or housing conditions

• Accessing work, training and volunteering

If you feel like you’d benefit from any of these services, get in touch with one our reception team who can get the process started for you. #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek

As part of #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek we thought it would be a good time to remind our patients that we are part of the Parkrun Practice initiative.

Parkrun is a great way of meeting new people, getting involved with your local community and increasing your fitness. Research has shown that participation in parkrun has wide ranging health and wellbeing benefits, including increased levels of activity, improved physical and mental health, increased levels of happiness, increased confidence and self-esteem, the building of friendships and social connections and much more.

Our Advanced Nurse Practitioner Mel Baker Hunt says "I regularly take part or volunteer at Poolsbrook parkrun. It always has a friendly, welcoming atmosphere, with people of all abilities taking part, from those running to get a personal best, or those attempting to walk it under an hour. It would be lovely to see some of our staff and patients taking part or getting involved with marshalling.”

Why not come along one Saturday morning and give it a try? Your local parkruns is Poolsbrook and you can register here: https://www.parkrun.org.uk/register/

This week is #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek and this years theme is loneliness. Feeling lonely is something that all of us can experience at any point in our lives, which can have negative impacts on our health and wellbeing.

There are lots of simple actions that you can do to help others who may be feeling lonely this #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek, including:

● Giving a friend or family member a call 📞

● Inviting someone for a walk 👟

● Reaching out to a friend for a cuppa ☕

You might find that reaching out to someone else could help you to feel less lonely too. Find out how you can help lift someone out of loneliness: www.nhs.uk/every-mind-matters/lifes-challenges/loneliness/ #EveryMindMatters

We wanted to update our patients with some changes that we’ve made to our telephone system. Over the last couple of months we’ve been working to upgrade our telephony system as some practices were on systems unable to cope with the increased call demand.

What does this mean for you? Our dedicated call handlers will continue to work to answer the telephones for 8 of our Royal Primary Care sites; The Grange, Rectory Road, Inkersall, Clay Cross, Grassmoor, Ashgate, Holme Hall and Whittington. Rest assured all of our staff are highly trained and well equipped to handle your call.

Why have we done this? The system allows us to have live call data across all of our sites to show how many calls are incoming and waiting meaning we can adjust staffing levels to help with demand where necessary. It also increases our call handling capacity as there will be more staff available across the sites to answer your call, this will be especially useful if any of our sites are experiencing staffing shortages. 

Do you need to make any changes? Whilst you can still call your usual surgery number, eventually we will be moving to just one telephone number for our 8 Chesterfield sites which will be 01246 748000.

Please note that for the time being our Brooklyn surgery will remain on a different telephone system and is not affected by any of the above changes

The Food Standards agency has produced a product recall for Abbott’s Elecare Similac and Alimentum Similac formulas due to a potential presence of Salmonella.

 If you have been prescribed or purchased either of these products, please dispose of them and do not use. To find out more information about affected batches, please use the following link: https://www.food.gov.uk/news-alerts/alert/fsa-prin-11-2022

If you have additional questions, please contact Abbott on 01795 580303.

Exciting news – we’re welcoming a new practice to the Royal Primary Care family. This spring, Brooklyn Medical Practice will be joining Royal Primary Care to create Royal Primary Care Derbyshire.

We were approached by Brooklyn Medical Practice about a mutual and beneficial collaboration and we are excited to be welcoming them on board. Brooklyn Medical Practice is a GP practice based in Heanor, Derbyshire who provide primary care services to around 7400 patients and are rated ‘GOOD’ by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Patients and staff won’t see any visible difference (staff, surgeries and opening hours will remain exactly the same). This new collaboration simply offers a range of opportunities and improvements for the future. Brooklyn Medical Practice is part of the Nottingham University Vocational Training Scheme, which provides training for our future GPs, they also provide teaching sessions for medical students from the Nottingham Hospitals and University and bring with them a wealth of experience to the Royal Primary Care family.

Rest assured, it will remain ‘business as usual’ for patients and we will be posting regular updates and information on our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages, as well as on our websites.

Every year around 2 million adult patients are invited to take part in the GP Patient Survey. If you are one of those patients that has received a text message, we really encourage you to participate. The GP Patient Survey is designed to give patients the opportunity to feed back about their experiences of their GP practice. The survey asks about your experiences of your local GP practice and other local NHS services, and includes questions about your general health. The survey includes questions about a range of issues, such as how easy or hard it is to make an appointment at your practice, satisfaction with opening hours, the quality of care received from your GP and practice nurses, amongst other things. 

The answers we get help the NHS to improve local health services for people like you and your family. GP practices have had to make some changes in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, so it is more important than ever that we hear about your experiences of your local NHS service – even if you haven’t visited your practice in a long time, or if you have taken part in a survey before.

Today is World Cancer Day. Cancer is something that has affected all of us in one form or another. Sadly, across Derby & Derbyshire around 1800 people are diagnosed with cancer every year.

There are 3 national screening programmes in the UK: 

• Bowel cancer screening, for people aged 60-74.
• Breast cancer screening for women, some transgender men and some non-binary people aged 50-70
• Cervical screening for women, some transgender men and some non-binary people aged 25-64

Whilst some cancers are unpreventable, statistics show that between 30-50% of all cancer cases are preventable which is why it is so important for you take to part in the national screening programmes when you become eligible.

The best prevention is early intervention. If you’re due for your smear test, you’ve got a letter sat on the sideboard to book your mammogram or you’ve had your testing kit sent through as part of the Bowel cancer screening programme, we urge you to take part. It really could save your life.

For today’s #CervicalCancerPreventionWeek post, we’re focusing on what happens after you’ve had your cervical screening.
So you’ve had your smear, what’s next?
Your results will be sent to your home address via letter, so it’s really important that you ensure we your correct home address on your records. It can take from 2 to 6 weeks to receive your results but usually the nurse conducting your appointment will let you know when to expect your results.

Your results letter will explain what your sample was tested for and what your results mean.
Your results will come back as one of three possibilities:
1. Inadequate result
The sample was unable to be tested or the results were inconclusive. This does not mean there’s anything wrong, but you will be asked to repeat the sample in 3 months’ time.

2. Human papillomavirus (HPV) is not found in your sample
Most people will not have HPV (an HPV negative result). This means your risk of getting cervical cancer is very low. You do not need any further tests to check for abnormal cervical cells, even if you have had these in the past.
You'll be invited for screening again in 3 or 5 years.
3. HPV is found in your sample
Your results letter will explain what will happen next if HPV is found in your sample (an HPV positive result). You may need another cervical screening test in 1 year or a different test to look at your cervix (a colposcopy)
There are 2 different kinds of HPV positive result:
• HPV found (HPV positive) but no abnormal cells. You'll be invited for screening in 1 year and again in 2 years if you still have HPV. If you still have HPV after 3 years, you may need to have a colposcopy.
• HPV found (HPV positive) and abnormal cells. You'll be asked to have a colposcopy.

Sometimes abnormal cells often go away on their own, but there is a risk that they could eventually turn into cervical cancer if not treated which is why a colposcopy is required for further investigation.

A colposcopy is a simple procedure to look at your cervix and to look into greater detail at any abnormal cells. It's similar to having cervical screening, but it's done in hospital. A colposcopy can confirm whether cells in your cervix are abnormal and determine whether you need treatment to remove them. Any changes to your cells will not get worse while you're waiting for your appointment, so if you have been referred for a colposcopy, try not to worry.

Going for your smear test can be a daunting experience even if you’ve had them done before, but especially if it’s your first ever smear.

In 2019, Social media personality Zoe Sugg worked alongside Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust to raise awareness around the importance of having your smear test done. Zoe filmed her smear test appointment and took her audience along with her to document what happens in your smear test appointment and what you can expect from your appointment. Today we’re sharing her video in hopes that it may encourage you or somebody you know to book in for your smear test.

This week is Cervical Cancer Prevention Week and we are supporting Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust in raising awareness of the importance of cervical screening and encouraging women and people with a cervix not to ignore their invitation.

Here at Royal Primary Care cervical screening attendance is currently at 80% meaning 20% of eligible patients did not take up their invite. Last year in England 68.9% of people aged 25-49 had an adequate screeing test recording in the previous 3.5 years and 75% of people aged 50-64 had an adequate screening test recorded in the previous 5.5 years. If this is you or somebody you know, now is your time to book an appointment – it could save your life.

We know that cervical screening isn’t always easy, and with COVID it can be even harder especially if you are due for your first smear test, that’s why this week we’ll be sharing some useful content about everything smear related and even giving you the opportunity to ask our nursing team any questions you might have around smears and results.

You can book an appointment via our online services if you are registered, via the FamilyHealth+ app or by popping in to your local surgery.

#CervicalCancerPreventionWeek

We would like to alert our patients to a temporary reduction of services due to a high number of staff absences. Whilst we will remain open for all patients, our focus will primarily be on those who are acutely unwell as we run on “urgent-only” appointments. The changes to our services will be in place for at least the remainder of January.

Along with all other services, general practice has seen a significant reduction in workforce due to staff isolation from the Omicron variant. At Royal Primary Care we currently have 30% of our GPs and Advanced Nurse Practitioners absent from work and 20% of our Nursing Team absent from work impacting on the catch up of Annual Reviews. 

We are asking patients to continue to only make contact if you are acutely unwell or have concerns about possible infections or symptoms that may suggest cancer, for example new unexplained bleeding, breast lumps or mole changes.  Non-urgent help can often be sought from your local pharmacy or by using NHS 111 services, available online and over the phone. If you already have an appointment booked in with us at the surgery please assume this is still going ahead unless you are contacted by us to state otherwise.

We would also like to ask that you please remember to #BeKind to our staff who are all working incredibly hard, with some staff working extra hours to cover absence.

Thank you for your patience and understanding whilst we continue to prioritise our poorliest patients during this challenging period.

We will be open 08:00 – 16:00 on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve. From 16:00 on these days we will transfer our telephone lines to our local out of hours GP service operated by DHU 111. We will operate normal opening hours 29 - 30 December, 08:00-18:30.

Over the last couple of years we have seen a greater demand for appointments in the days prior to bank holidays and lower demand on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, particularly in the afternoons. Therefore we will be providing more capacity and appointments at the beginning of the weeks leading up to Christmas and New Year.

 Our top tips for a healthy and happy Christmas:

• Please order any repeat prescriptions you require in time to ensure you have adequate provision over the Christmas and New Year period
• Be prepared for common health problems by keeping a well-stocked medicine cabinet at home. Speak to your pharmacist if you're not sure what you need.
• Use NHS 111 if you need medical help but it’s not an emergency. NHS 111 offers an online service at nhs.uk or you can call them by dialling 111
• Get your flu and COVID-19 vaccinations if eligible

Are you aware of the pressures faced in primary care? Do you want to understand why sometimes it's difficult to get an appointment? We've put together a video that we hope will start to explain!