News

Flu Vaccine Update

Just a quick update regarding flu vaccine, the national NHS guidance is available here

  1. Over 65. We have done our over 65 group this last weekend, but we still have a small number available for any in this group who missed out. Please ring our reception team to book.
  2. Under 65 “at risk” (for example asthma or diabetes). We have an upcoming flu weekend on Saturday 24 October. You can check if you are “at risk” on this NHS page.
  3. Aged 50-64. This group will be offered flu vaccine this year, but we understand the supply of vaccine will be in December. We expect to have our supply confirmed later in November and we will update the website. Despite the later dates, we are advised there should be adequate supply of vaccine, we dont think you will “miss out”.

Flu – why am I asked to wait

Phone Switchover

*resolved*. Now working normally at 5pm, very sorry for problems with the phone for a few hours earlier this afternoon.

  • Our surgery number is moving to our new phone system this afternoon, Tuesday 1 September, but at the minute is ringing as engaged. We have contacted our supplier who reports it should move across shortly, but if you need to get in touch you can ring us on 01237 441111.

2020 Flu Clinics. Appointment Only.

We will be running flu clinics using Hartland Parish Hall on Saturday 26 September and Sunday 27 September 2020, These dates will be for over 65’s and we will offer immunisations to other groups later in the autumn and winter as our supply of vaccines will be spread out.
These will be by appointment only, and we will be arranging bookings shortly and sending invitations by SMS and telephone.
The parish hall should enable us to have a safe patient flow, in and through the building.

Vitamin B12 injections, option to try tablets instead

We have a number of people who have required regular B12 injections every 3 months, or 20 injections every 5 years. This is because they don’t absorb B12 normally, and without extra B12 they are at risk of developing anaemia (low blood count) and Neuropathy (nerve damage). But are we doing this the best way?

What if they take very high strength B12 tablets?

Rather than replace with a usual 50mcg dose, patients in Sweden are usually treated with high strength 1000mcg tablets, taken once daily, or sometimes two daily. This approach seems to allow B12 to “leak in” rather than to be absorbed.

We cannot prescribe these high strength “food supplements”, but they can be purchased online at Holland and Barrett, Ebay and Amazon. These may cost £7-20 for a years supply.

We would therefore like to offer our patients who require B12, to stop injections and consider the option of a blood test to check B12 levels after 3 months of tablets, then after 9 months of tablets and finally after 18 months of tablets. If they maintain good blood levels (and feel well), then we would no longer recommend routine testing.

Finally if you are coming for a B12 blood test, please dont take any B12 tablets for 3 days (to help us measure your body store, rather than how much you have recently absorbed).

New Healthy Hart website by Dr Ruth Tapsell

As mentioned in the Hartland Post, and especially with coronavirus being so dangerous to people with diabetes, obesity and blood pressure, we have collected our “low carb” online resources onto a simple website, called healthyhart.co.uk. We think a low carb “eat real food” message can be of benefit to us all, especially people with health issues above.

Job opportunity for a Social Prescriber in Bideford/Torrington area

The GP surgeries in the Torridge Primary Care Network are looking for a social prescriber to join their multidisciplinary team. In this role you would be working with people to empower them to take control of their health and wellbeing. It is a part time position working across a number of sites with local GPs and with training and support provided by TTVS and One Northern Devon. We are keen to find an enthusiastic person with excellent people skills.

To apply, or to find out more, please see our advert on indeed on the link below. Closing date 12th May.

https://www.indeed.co.uk/jobs?q=social%20prescriber&l=ex39&vjk=2ed104a407d1e96a

“plandemic” online video on social media

Some friends and family have asked us about the online “plandemic” video which has been forwarded on social media. This video suggests the Coronavirus epidemic is manmade, and designed to allow profit from vaccine makers.

Having watched the entire film, Its complete nonsense, but mixed with a sprinkle of truth to make it believable. I am worried about how it will affect people who are already worried enough about this serious pandemic.

There have also been stories suggesting COVID is caused by 5G next generation phone technology.

And even a few weeks ago wembley stadium had to deny they were turning the stadium into a giant oven to cook lasagna.

So to all our patients, please stay safe, trust and follow national advice and please don’t forward along any utter nonsense which is sent to you in social media. Some worried people are losing their minds.

Online Consultations and new technology

We are trying to respond to being a “socially distant” GP service by using modern technology where possible to still provide you with safe access to our GP services.

This means we are doing a lot of our work by:

  • telephone
  • email
  • text message (SMS)
  • video to your mobile phone

We will also be trying an online consultation system called eConsult.  We will “Go Live” on Monday 4th May through the link on our website. It will ask you a series questions and this will try and provide us enough information to respond directly to your request where possible. It will also try and offer online advice from trusted NHS advice websites to help you.

We will aim to provide a response by the end of  next working day and sooner if possible. If you have a mobile phone, we will prefer to respond by SMS message as this seems to link up well in our “back end”, but we can email you if you prefer.

We are especially hoping this will keep the practice and community safe when we have visitors later into the summer months, who will be wanting to escape to Devon from the lockdown for a well deserved holiday. If we can provide some forgotten medication or provide medical advice without bringing them into the surgery, then everyone should be safer.

Hartland Surgery – Supplementary Privacy Note on Covid-19

Updated on 8th April 2020

This notice describes how we may use your information to protect you and others during the Covid-19 outbreak. It supplements our main Privacy Notice which is available here.

The health and social care system is facing significant pressures due to the Covid-19 outbreak. Health and care information is essential to deliver care to individuals, to support health and social care services and to protect public health. Information will also be vital in researching, monitoring, tracking and managing the outbreak. In the current emergency it has become even more important to share health and care information across relevant organisations.

Existing law which allows confidential patient information to be used and shared appropriately and lawfully in a public health emergency is being used during this outbreak. Using this law the Secretary of State has required NHS Digital; NHS England and Improvement; Arms Length Bodies (such as Public Health England); local authorities; health organisations and GPs to share confidential patient information to respond to the Covid-19 outbreak. Any information used or shared during the Covid-19 outbreak will be limited to the period of the outbreak unless there is another legal basis to use the data. Further information is available on gov.uk here and some FAQs on this law are available here.

During this period of emergency, opt-outs will not generally apply to the data used to support the Covid-19 outbreak, due to the public interest in sharing information. This includes National Data Opt-outs. However in relation to the Summary Care Record, existing choices will be respected. Where data is used and shared under these laws your right to have personal data erased will also not apply. It may also take us longer to respond to Subject Access requests, Freedom of Information requests and new opt-out requests whilst we focus our efforts on responding to the outbreak.

In order to look after your health and care needs we may share your confidential patient information including health and care records with clinical and non clinical staff in other health and care providers, for example neighbouring GP practices, hospitals and NHS 111. We may also use the details we have to send public health messages to you, either by phone, text or email. During this period of emergency we may offer you a consultation via telephone or video- conferencing. By accepting the invitation and entering the consultation you are consenting to this. Your personal/confidential patient information will be safeguarded in the same way it would with any other consultation.

We will also be required to share personal/confidential patient information with health and care organisations and other bodies engaged in disease surveillance for the purposes of protecting public health, providing healthcare services to the public and monitoring and managing the outbreak. Further information about how health and care data is being used and shared by other NHS and social care organisations in a variety of ways to support the Covid-19 response is here.

NHS England and Improvement and NHSX have developed a single, secure store to gather data from across the health and care system to inform the Covid-19 response. This includes data already collected by NHS England, NHS Improvement, Public Health England and NHS Digital. New data will include 999 call data, data about hospital occupancy and A&E capacity data as well as data provided by patients themselves. All the data held in the platform is subject to strict controls that meet the requirements of data protection legislation.

In such circumstances where you tell us you’re experiencing Covid-19 symptoms we may need to collect specific health data about you. Where we need to do so, we will not collect more information than we require and we will ensure that any information collected is treated with the appropriate safeguards.

We may amend this privacy notice at any time so you may wish to review it frequently. The date at the top of this page will be amended each time this notice is updated.