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October Newsletter

In this, the third edition of the Waterfield House Surgery Newsletter, you will find news from the surgery.

The Patient Participation Group

The next meeting of the Patient Participation Group (PPG) will be held at 5pm on Wednesday 16th October 2024 in Waterfield House. New members are always welcome, so come along and discover the challenges faced by your surgery, and learn about its inner workings.

Waterfield in numbers

July to September

Total number of patients: 6,478

Calls: 11,844

Appointments Offered: 8,166
Face to Face Appointments offered: 5,031
Home Visits: 370

Clinical Letters processed: 5,620

Prescription items issued: 75,782

Did not attend booked appointment: 186

News From The Surgery

TV Screen donated

We are delighted to announce that, thanks to the generosity of the Pembury Society who have donated £150, we now have a new, large screen in the waiting room where you can watch the interesting and informative presentations prepared by Anne Nicholls.

New Blood Pressure monitor

Last year we made a special effort to raise funds to purchase another blood pressure monitor for the surgery. Following various fundraising initiatives Waterfield House now has a new blood pressure monitor that can be used to support patients.

Flu Vaccination Clinic

The autumn flu vaccination programme starts at the surgery on 5 October. If you have received a text message you can book your vaccination via the link provided. Or you can contact the surgery directly. Flu and Covid vaccination will be given to housebound patients by Cranbrook Pharmacy, contracted by ICB. The pharmacy team will be in touch with patients directly.

Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV)

RSV is a major respiratory virus which accounts for around 30,000 hospitalisations of children under 5 and 9000 hospitalisations in those aged over 75 in the UK each year. The virus is also responsible for 20 to 30 infant deaths each year. From 1 September 2024, pregnant women and those aged 75 to 79 became eligible for a free vaccine to protect them from RSV. Those who are eligible will be contacted by the surgery when the vaccine becomes available, so please do not call the surgery in the meantime.

Shingles vaccine

The shingles vaccine helps protect against shingles. It's recommended for all adults turning 65, those aged 70 to 79 and those aged 50 and over with a severely weakened immune system. If you are eligible, you will be invited by the surgery.

Autumn/winter 2024/25 Covid-19 vaccination campaign

This campaign will start on Thursday, 3 October 2024.The groups to be offered a Covid-19 and vaccine are:

residents in a care home for older adults
all adults aged 65 years and over
people aged six months to 64 years in a clinical risk group
frontline health and social care workers and staff working in care homes for older adults in autumn 2024.

The national booking system opened on 23 September 2024 with appointments available from 3 October 2024.

Extra Mental Health support now available

Mental Health Matters has launched additional safe havens in Kent and Medway, improving access to mental health support for adults in crisis. Safe havens offer walk-in emotional, social, and practical mental health support,
seven days a week, with no need for an appointment. Community-based safe havens are now available 6pm to 11pm in seven towns, including Tunbridge Wells and Maidstone.

In April a team of three Mental Health Navigators was established to support the eight GP practices within the Tunbridge Wells PCN, two covering adults (aged 18 +) and one who works with young persons aged between 5 and 17. Contact the surgery if you would like to receive support from a member of the team.

Supporting Children and Young People with Asthma

The NHS is working hard to improve diagnosis and provide better support to children and young people with asthma and is encouraging them to come forward for life-saving checks, including:

seeing a healthcare professional once a year,
getting their inhaler technique checked,
getting a written asthma action plan (for school and home),
getting their medication checked every year.

Visit the Kent and Medway ICS website for more information

Community Health Services

Community health services help adults and children get well and stay well, either in their own home or other out-of-hospital locations close to home. They are a critical part of health and care, working closely with general practice and alongside hospitals and embedded in our communities. To help determine how to improve community health services NHS Kent and Medway has conducted a series of listening activities and surveys with the public, frontline staff, patients and communities to find out what is currently working in community health care, what needs to be improved and what matters most to the people who use and work in these services.

Important News from Pembury Pharmacy

Pembury Pharmacy receives dozens of phone calls each day from patients asking if their prescriptions are ready for collection. This is time-consuming for the pharmacy and can be frustrating for the caller.

You can now manage your whole family’s prescription medicine conveniently and effortlessly via a new NHS recommended repeat prescription app, Healthera.

Once you have signed up to the App, ordered your repeat prescription and clicked on “place order,” your request will be sent to the pharmacy for processing, including getting the request signed off by your GP. As soon as the prescription is ready for collection you will automatically be notified by the pharmacy.

Discover the many benefits of Healthera

If you want to know more, ask to see Ashley at the pharmacy. He is not only passionate and knowledgeable about the app but has expressed his willingness to help if you have difficulty signing up. You may still use the NHS app to order your prescriptions. Rest assured that if you are unable or unwilling to order prescriptions digitally, you can still ring the pharmacy

Could you help local medical students?

Do you have a long-term medical condition or are you recovering from a stroke?

Kent and Medway Medical School needs volunteer patients to be involved in online history-taking
consultations and in-person physical examinations.

The Medical School's website has a full list of long-term conditions and how to get involved. They would welcome interest from people who reflect the diversity of our local population. Why not be part of Kent and Medway Medical School’s mission to train person-centred doctors?

More about the Patient Engagement Programme

Vaccinations for children and pregnant women

With the start of a new school year, health chiefs in Kent and Medway are reminding parents and carers to make sure their children catch up on missed vaccinations. Childhood infections like measles and whooping cough are rising across the country. Please check your child’s Red Book to see if they have missed any vaccines or check with your GP practice if you are unsure. Children will need both doses of the MMR vaccine to be protected.