Welcome to the FPS March Newsletter.
It’s almost Spring – time for new beginnings and growth and the advent of longer days and shorter nights. Let’s hope we even see a glimpse of sun and let’s hope too some of the nasty bugs going around will decide to give us (and the surgery) a break for the warmer months.
Any of you who have looked at our monthly meeting minutes will see that the FPS committee is still concentrating on the issue of appointments. This is the major worry we come across for patients. Although we have been reassured there will be new systems in place at some point, there are no exact timescales so we will continue to have this as a major agenda issue until there is some news. I want to reassure fellow patients that we hear you and are working hard to liaise with the surgery about this issue.
The news tells us almost every day that public satisfaction with the NHS is at a record low, with a major reason being that the health system lacks capacity to deal with the increasing demands on its services. We all have our expectations of the service we want and it is difficult for many of us to navigate the changing world of health care, and often just know what to do and where to go for help. We are more than aware of how the pressures within the service impact on us all individually – when we are ill we, not unreasonably, expect to have some help and support.
The 2025/26 NHS Planning Guidance sets out clear priorities to improve services, but I’m certain many of you will not recognise the benefit of them on a day when you wake up feeling poorly and need some more immediate medical support. Do please have a look at the surgery website and let us know if you find the new protocol to access appointments easier. Looking at it myself, it is easier to find – a start at least.
What is becoming apparent is that we have to begin to take some responsibility for our own health, to try our best to stay as healthy as we can. Easy? Of course not, but maybe worth thinking about. We’re starting off with some thoughts about the benefits of exercise.
Do please let us know about any general issues arising for you. As you know, we are not able to deal with individual medical matters or complaints, but we love to hear from you. Have a look at our website – some useful information there too.
As your committee, we regularly put forward your queries, concerns and feedback to the surgery management. Here are some of the top concerns you’ve raised with us, and the responses we’ve received from the surgery.
The appointments system
The surgery is working with the Integrated Care System (ICS) to replace the software used for appointments and Online Consultation forms. The ICS is responsible for implementing the software, and this new software has the ability to check the information being entered on the form and direct users to Urgent Care, A&E, 111 and other services if that’s a better route based on the symptoms described. This will make it easier for clinicians to triage the requests that are submitted to the surgery. There is no agreed timeline for this implementation project yet.
Removal of data from the surgery’s records
Some ex-patients have contacted FPS as they continue to receive communications from the surgery. We raised this, and were told this may be an issue with the new surgery they have registered at. When a patient changes surgery, the new surgery, when inputting key data such as the NHS number, should trigger an automatic change in the NHS system, which would lead to Parkwood’s records being changed. If this applies to you, it’s worth checking with your new surgery if they have input all the details. If they have, please contact Parkwood to have your records manually changed.
Check out the minutes of our meetings
The minutes from FPS’ monthly meetings, including our most recent February meeting, are available here. We hope this will improve the transparency for patients so you can see your concerns and queries are being raised.
HWEDSG webinar – 5th March
Knit and Natter Group
The Knit and Natter group continues to meet on Tuesdays from 2-4pm, but temporarily at William Crook House, whilst the Community Hall on Great Sturgess Road is closed. If you’d like to come along to it, or know someone who would like a chat and some company, please contact Val on 01442 255449. Entrance to William Crook House is controlled, so calling Val is essential if you want to join.
Want to stay up to date?
One easy way to keep up to date with FPS’ events is to follow us on our Facebook page. Every time we update the website, we’ll post a link there!
Unsubscribe from FPS communications
If you wish to unsubscribe from receiving communications about FPS, you will need to contact the surgery to ask for this note to be placed on your file. FPS does not hold any data on patients other than that provided directly by them, such as emails sent to the FPS mailbox
An article in the Guardian newspaper this month reports on a study published in the Lancet medical journal, showing that the trend towards longer life expectancy over the last few decades in Europe is now slowing down. You might be surprised to learn that the UK is leading this change of direction. So what is causing this downward trend? We have had some thoughts about how we can help ourselves to stay healthy.
There is a multitude of often confusing sources of information in newspapers, magazines, the internet and social media about how to lead a healthy life.
Add to that, the justifiable mistrust of online content and it’s easy to see why many people just don’t engage with the support and advice that’s available.
However, reliable sources, such as the information published by the NHS, can provide some very useful guidelines that are based on real scientific evidence.
These highlight that doing some regular exercise, can really help to reduce the risk of succumbing to many serious health conditions and that it even boosts your immune system, so might head off some of those bugs that have been around this winter.
Simple changes, such as walking to the local shops rather than taking the car or using stairs rather than waiting for the lift, can make a difference, while activities including swimming and cycling that increase your heart rate offer further benefits. How about trying the exercises on TV programmes like Morning Live every day as a start – simple, but good fun. For those of us who are less mobile, exercises can be done sitting down – look out for the adapted versions on the daily show.
Resistance and weight exercises can maintain and even improve strength and are often neglected when looking for ways to improve fitness. Again, this type of exercise can help to avoid mobility issues and frailty in later life. We all think it’ll never be us, but some of us older patients already know the reality of that ‘golden age‘. You don’t have to go to the gym – doing simple exercises with a can of beans – a’ baked bean tin workout’ if you want a name! – in each hand can be a starting point.
Most important of all is to find activities that firstly we enjoy and can be sustained over the long term as this approach is the best way to achieve lasting health benefits.
We all know there is a crisis in health care throughout the UK and so we need to do our best to take as much care of ourselves as we can.
The focus of World Sleep Day (14th March) this year is ‘make sleep health a priority’.
Sleep has been proven to be just as important for our physical and mental health as nutrition and exercise – so what can we do to help ourselves?
Each person’s everyday life is unique, so there is no single method to improve your sleep health. Each person needs to consider their circumstances individually. Consider:
How can you control your environment for sleep? Your sleep environment is one of the most important factors for good sleep, but it can also be the hardest to control. Control what you can. Minimize light (particularly phone screens); keep the temperature cool; use “white noise” or some other method to control sounds. The most important part is that you are comfortable and
able to relax in your sleep space.
When is your bedtime? Plan to make it consistent each day. Regularity is essential!
How much sleep do you get per night? Make at least 7 hours per night your goal
Want to find out more? Try the NHS ‘Sleep problems‘ page, which includes tips for how to fall asleep faster and sleep better.