Friends of West Meads Surgery

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Newsletter: Vol 3 - Issue 1

WELCOME to the latest Friends of West Meads Surgery, FOWMS newsletter.

Now in its second year, the group is going from strength to strength with a well established and valued group of people who give of their time freely and are committed to its aims. While providing a service to the community with special talks and events throughout the year, aimed at highlighting important health issues, equally important is the continuing fundraising and purchasing of a number of medical and non-medical additions to West Mead Surgery, for the benefit of doctors, staff and of course you, the patients.

Thanks to your help, among the items bought last year was a mineral water machine complete with a constant supply of water for patients. It arrived just in time for the so-called ‘barbecue’ summer and has been a welcome and well-used addition in the waiting room of the surgery ever since.

Two more electronic finger tip pulse oximeters at a cost of just over £300 purchased in the autumn, supplement the existing seven bought earlier on in the year to help the practice doctors in making a fast assessment of a patient’s health.

Just under a thousand pounds, a mobile operating lamp bought last October is already making life easier for doctors carrying out minor surgery and for nurses undertaking other procedures, as has a projector and other equipment for use for health talks and education purposes.

Thanks go to many of our talented volunteers - to Margaret Douglas who has made greeting cards for a number of special occasions which are on sale at the surgery. To May and Harold Phillips for their work on the raffle events. And also to practice nurse Deborah Greenslade and her mother Val who kindly crafted some splendid knitted snowmen which were on sale over the Christmas period. To Sandy Hiscock whose handmade key rings and fridge magnets have also done a roaring trade. Thanks go too to volunteers who have helped out in the surgery during the flu jab sessions which have been held over the course of several months.

Over the past year FOWMS has raised a magnificent total of £3,253 in fund raising and community events. Among them was the Health Fair, two quizzes, lectures, talks, the sale of secondhand books, raffles and other activities. Included in the total is a generous anonymous donation of £1,000 along with other kind donations which together have amounted to £1,115.00. Well done to everyone who supported FOWMS, gave of their time and helped in any way over the past year. We look forward to seeing you all again in 2010.

From left to right – Dr Tim Dowle, Dr Tej Bansil and lead practice nurse Deborah Greenslade with FOWMS secretary Elizabeth Lindsell and the new mobile operating lamp purchased by FOWMS.

Practice News

Many of you who have visited the surgery recently will have noticed the start of building work in number 8. It has become rather noisy in recent days so would be hard to miss! The practice has purchased this unit from Sussex Garage Doors and it is now undergoing the painful conversion process

We have been given a grant for this from the General practice Deanery who are expanding the places on training programmes for up and coming GPs . The practice has already been involved in training and some of you will no doubt have consulted with our previous GP registrars and are therefore aware of this aspect of the surgery. The registrar teaching in the surgery is done by Dr Rowse and the plan is that we will be training additional GP registrars and other health professionals utilising the additional room space. Dr Pratt has recently completed her 'trainer training' and will also be involved in the development of GP trainees.

The new unit will include an additional 5 consulting rooms and a much needed meeting room which will also be used for teaching. We are delighted at the prospect of additional space as the list of room users seems to be continually growing and we seem to have been increasingly jumping in and out of different consulting rooms .

The practice has also purchased No 5 the precinct. We plan to use this unit for administration and may also have additional consulting room space there.

We apologise for any disturbance and noise in the coming weeks which will be kept to the minimum possible but the building works should not affect our usual surgery timetable. It should be completed by March.

GP Registrar

Our present registrar is Dr Tej Bansil who is with us until August 2010. Tej is from India and trained there before coming to the UK. He has worked in hospital medicine at Northampton Hospital before moving to the south for general practice training. He has completed a number of hospital jobs in St Richards and now is on the last leg of his training which is a year in a GP practice. Tej got married last year and lives in Chichester with his wife and has just had a lovely baby girl named Simran

Health Talks

Annual Health Fair

It was all hands on deck in June when West Meads Surgery staged its second Health Fair in West Meads Hall, held on one of the warmer days of the early summer in June.
Organized by Dr Kirkwood with the help of West Meads GPs and a band of volunteers, scores of people took advantage of free health screening, including diabetes and blood pressure checks at the community event.

Everything from healthy living, fitness, advice on injuries and information from many voluntary and private health organizations as well as complementary healthcare was on the agenda. There were also representatives from Citizens Advice Bureau, support for carers, cancer groups and much much more.

Children weren’t forgotten with a prize winning colouring and painting competition on a theme of living a healthy lifestyle and other organized activities were enjoyed by the youngsters on the field.

Sales of plants, books, home made cakes plus other stalls, refreshments and a raffle also helped to swell the funds. Keep an eye on the notice board in the waiting room for the date of the next Health Fair due to take place in the surgery.

Eye Talk: by Mr Teimory

In April FOWMS welcomed West Sussex Consultant Ophthalmologist Mr Masoud Teimory to talk on eye problems encountered by older people. Mr Teimory entertained and informed a packed house with a presentation on three of the most commonly encountered eye problems; dry eyes, cataracts and macular degeneration.

There was plenty of audience participation with an interesting question and answer session. The general consensus was that it was a very worthwhile and educational evening which was very much enjoyed by those in attendance.

Osteoporosis Talk: by Dr Menon

Consultant Rheumatologist Dr Menon gave a lively and informative evening talk on Osteoporosis on October 27th . He discussed the importance and impact of Osteoporosis in terms of cost to the NHS. He explained about what Osteoporosis really means, what are the risk factors, how do you know if you are at risk and went on to talk about the medicines used in treating Osteoporosis.

Dr Menon informed the audience about the online calculator which can be used to calculate your risk of Osteoporosis. Details of this are below for those who would like to find out more.

It was a very interesting evening and we had excellent feedback from the audience.

Did you know about?

Mood Management Groups

This is part of the counseling service for primary care and is a free course for people living with mild to moderate anxiety and depression. The courses are run over a 10 week period with each weekly session lasting an hour and a half. In Bognor Regis the venue is The United Reformed Church in Linden Road.

The courses teach techniques to help you to deal more effectively with your anxiety and depression and give an opportunity to share your experiences with others. It is based on cognitive behaviour techniques. People who have taken part in the courses have found them enjoyable and rewarding . You can speak to your own GP about referral or can get in touch with Sarah Pickford the clinical manager for counselling services on 01243 815420 if you want to discuss further or to join a group. The counselling team also run;

FOWMS News

Two quiz nights took place last year with the Madhouses team winning the first event in April and kindly donating their cash prize of £60 back to the FOWMS kitty. A further quiz night with fish and chip supper was equally successful in October, raising £233.02 from ticket sales and a raffle. Thanks to everyone who took part.

A FOWMS Friendship Group

is in the planning stage. Aimed at offering support for recently bereaved and also elderly people, the group is hoped to be up and running later this year. FOWMS has applied for a grant from the government-backed National Association for Patient Participation NAPP to cover the running costs of running the Friends group. If successful it will mean than all the monies raised by you will go directly to funding items for the good of West Meads patients.

Patient Experience Project

FOWMS needs your for the Patients Experience Project. The website is http://fowms.net/blogs/

More and more these days, health organisations are recognising the importance of patient experience in informing and shaping services. West Meads surgery and the friends of West Meads patient group would like to compile a directory of patient experiences. This will then act as a resource for other patients and may be helpful to those commissioning for services.

Do you have a story to tell or an interesting or informative experience to share with others regarding your use of the health service or a related service? Do you think it would be of help or of interest to other patients?

If you can answer yes to any of these questions then we would be interested in your story. We would like to add these to a directory on a website and will keep contributions anonymous ( unless you would like to add your name). Examples might be:

• My experience of having an operation or procedure
• Ways of coping with and managing a long term health problem
• An NHS service or other organisation that helped my health or wellbeing

The contribution should be something informative, constructive, maybe positive and inspiring, and of benefit to other patients.

The project is not for patients to give feedback on the practice or for complaints. There are different routes for this (practice manager or the Patient Advice and Liaison service). No information will be published about any health professionals or any other third party by name.

Please contribute to this if you can – we would love to hear from you!. Submit your typed or written contributions to West Meads Reception in an envelope marked patient experience project. Thanks!

Message from the Chair

I am thrilled at how well the FOWMS is progressing and of what we have achieved both in purchasing equipment, educating patients through health talks as well as the social aspect of the organization that is developing. It has a real feeling of being part of a community and I can’t thank people enough for their love and support.

What started as a small group of interested people keen to provide extra benefits to patients and doctors and put something back into the practice has developed into a fun, hardworking expanding local group.

A big thank you to all helpers and volunteers and committee.

Sandra Stevenson