Ash Surgery Newsletter

No. 7 Summer 2024 

Update from the Practice Manager  Sue Skinner reports that she has appointed a new Practice Nurse who will be starting in September. 

 

Button 2!

You'll have heard Richard's voice recorded announcement when you call the Practice phone number.  Among the various "button presses", he invites you to press button 2 for "prescriptions".  Just for the sake of clarity this is not for actually ordering prescriptions.  The button is for any queries or corrections to prescriptions - including repeat prescriptions. 

You'll speak to Hayley - whose official title is Prescribing Lead - assisted by Jessica and Amber.  They are very helpful and, if your query relates to ordering repeat prescriptions online through the NHS App, you'll find any corrections will be made on the website within seconds.

And while we're on the subject, we do urge you to use the NHS App.  You'll find that, once you have set it up, it makes things (especially repeat prescription ordering) much easier. 

 

"Walking and Talking" Group

Maureen Hewitt has told us about a new group for people with mobillity issues or long-term health conditions.  She writes...........

"I used to love walking but now find long distances quite difficult.  I first heard of One You Kent through Ash Surgery, when my Doctor referred me to see Jan Reid who is the Lifestyle Advisor with the practice.  (I suffer from Fibromyalgia, Osteoarthritis and other health issues).

One You Kent is a free vital service which gives valuable advice on losing weight, getting active, stopping smoking or even just helping you to feel better about life.  It's part of the NHS, and Walk and Talk puts the emphasis on doing a short, slow walk once a week.

Jan has helped me enormously.  I explained that I found it difficult to exercise and get out and about and sometimes did not even want to go out.  I put forward the idea of a short walk for people with limited mobility and she has supported me to become a One You Kent volunteer and enouraged me to set up this group. 

It is free to join and the walks take place every Friday morning at 11:30am.  There is no need to book, just turn up, everyone will be made most welcome.  You can even bring your own walking aid or mobility scooter.  We meet outside Ash Surgery (weather permitting) and walk slowly to Juliet's Cafe where group members are welcome to stay for a coffee and a chat if they want to.  The walk takes about 30 minutes.  

Our first walk took place on Friday the 10th May.  The weather was beautiful, we had lovely chats about the history of Ash and the shops that used to be in the village.  We also saw three buzzards flying high in the sky!  We met some very nice people who asked about the walking group and enquired about the walking poles that I use to help maintain balance. 

Our aim for this group is to help people with long term health issues to feel less isolated and help brighten their day".

For more information you can contact Maureen on 07922 096932.

 

Community Pharmacy Closures

More than 170 pharmacies have closed in England so far this year.  The National Pharmacy Association has warned that: "Pharmacies face a perfect storm of rapidly declining levels of government funding and high inflation.  This is increasing the cost of dispensing medicine and pushing pharmacies to the brink".

It sounds obvious but it really does make sense to fully utilise our Ash Pharmacy.  Dario and his team are always ready to help. 

 

Stimulating Career - Healthy Brain 

A recent study suggests that the more you use your brain at work, the less likely you are to have memory loss or cognitive problems later in life.  Research shows that people who do mentally stimulating jobs were 66% less likely to develop mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia. 

Even the work that you do in your thirties can help determin how well your brain functions in retirement.  Jobs that are mentally hard (as opposed to physically gruelling or involving long hours of routine tasks) provide the greatest benefit. 

It's never too late to start learning something new.  All cognitively demanding activities even later in life contribute to strengthening one's cognitive reserve. 

The results indicate that both education and doing work that challenges your brain during your career play a crucial role in lowering the risk of cognitive impairment in later life.

 

Social Alcohol?

One of our fellow Ash patients (who we'll call Simon) reports that he and his wife were having lunch recently with a couple whom they had known for many years.  The woman of the other couple (who we'll call Anna) had, in fact been a girlfriend of Simon's when they were in their early twenties.  Simon had even considered making the relationship permanent!

At one point (over the fish and chips) the subject of alcohol came up and Simon remarked that he had read about research which indicated that consumption of alcohol was particularly bad for you. 

Anna flashed him a scathing look suggesting that he knew nothing, while she knew everything!

"Hah", she said.  "That's rubbish.  Its good for you".

Simon knew his source was a reputable one so he insisted that alcohol has been shown to cause seven types of cancer including breast, bowel and mouth cancer.  In fact no level of consumption is safe for our health. 

Anna turned away indicating that she didn't believe him - and that the subject was closed!

Simon tells us that his source was actually the World Health Organisation but he didn't persue the discourse with Anna.  Her manner told him that there was little point doing so!

Here's a very short quote from the WHO website:

"Alcohol is a toxic, psychoactive, and dependence-producing substance and was classified as a Group 1 carcinogen by the Internation Agency for Research on Cancer decades ago.  Group 1 is the highest risk group, which also includes asbestos, radiation and tobacco"

There's far more information on the website - and other equally reputable sites including more up-to-date research too.  If you would like to know more just Google "New research on alcohol and cancer"

Ash Surgery Newslatter is glad that Simon has drawn our attention to this. He tells us, too, that he's certainly glad he didn't marry Anna!

 

 

 

 

The purpose of the Newsletter is to keep patients informed about medical matters generally and the running of Ash Practice in particular. 

If you have anything that you feel needs to be brought to the attention of the Practice, or other patients, please let up know and, and, hopefully, we'll be able to see that it gets an airing in the Newsletter.