The Croft Surgery is not currently operating our usual morning urgent surgery or the normal home visit service.
If you have an urgent on-the-day medical query, please contact our reception 016973 51207 to book a telephone triage appointment with the on-call GP.
In an emergency please call 999
NHS 111 can help if you have an urgent medical problem and you’re not sure what to do. Ring 111 or go to https://111.nhs.uk/
There have been changes to our services from April 2019
At The Croft Surgery we now only provide the free travel vaccines which are available on the NHS.
Please ask at the surgery for a Travel Vaccination Form; this will have your vaccination history on it and tell you about the vaccinations that are given here.
Patients planning to travel abroad should make their own arrangements to seek advice about the vaccinations recommended for their travelling. Travel clinics are available at some larger pharmacies and online. The NHS FitforTravel website and TravelPro are useful places for reference.
If you require vaccinations other than those provided by the NHS then you will need to make arrangements elsewhere; these are often available at pharmacies.
If you would like us to give you the free NHS vaccinations, please contact the practice and book the next available appointment with a practice nurse.
If the next available appointment is not soon enough for your travel needs then you will need to pay for the injections at another provider.
Many courses of vaccines need to be started several months before travel so please allow plenty of time prior to travel to complete vaccination courses.
Please see the NHS website for further information.
Health and wellbeing session are being held locally – our patients might be interested in the Wigton sessions on Monday afternoons, but more information about all courses can be found be following the links in this post.
Healthy Hopes – Timetable Jan – March 2019 – ALL SESSIONS ARE FREE
HEALTH AND WELLBEING SESSION- Each week a different topic is discussed followed by relaxation. Sessions range from stress awareness, coping strategies, self esteem and confidence building, goal setting, mindfulness, etc.
WHITEHAVEN/WIGTON DROP-IN – This is within a relaxed environment where individuals come along for a cuppa, slice of toast and a chat on a weekly basis.
MARYPORT MARRAS – Men’s wellbeing group
DEMENTIA PALS – A befriending service for people in Workington/Maryport who have dementia. Our Volunteers will visit on a regular basis allowing time for carers to have a break.
TEL 07763152529
Please also keep up to date by following healthyhopescumbria on Facebook.
In July, we wrote to some of our patients about the possible risks of taking opiate based medications.
Since then we have learned about a series of short YouTube videos about understanding pain which patients may find useful.
Search on YouTube for “Brainman Stops His Opioids”,” Understanding Pain and what to do about it in less than five minutes” and “Brainman chooses”
If you wish to discuss changes to your medication, please make an appointment with one of the doctors.
Our Healthcare Assistant Deborah Sloan has recently left the practice. Nurses Sue Clark and Debra Williams will be carrying out the checks and tests that Deborah has been doing.
We are sure that patients will join the staff in wishing Deborah well in her new role at Wigton Medical Centre.
We are writing to some of our patients about the possible risks of taking opiate based medications.
Opiates include medicines such as codeine, tramadol, co-codamol, dihydrocodeine, morphine and oxycodone (i.e. Longtec & Shortec).
Whilst we recognise that patients don’t “want” to take medications, and that it is often necessary to control pain and enable functioning, there are lots of side effects associated with these medications. For this reason we will be inviting patients who regularly take opiate painkillers for a medication review over the next 12 months.
We feel that, where possible, it is important that we explore other management options or at the very least ensure that patients are taking the least amount or lowest dosage possible to control their pain.
Multiple research has highlighted that there is little evidence to support using long-term opiates for chronic pain, and suggests that there has been an underestimation of potential risks.
Possible side effects include:
If you would like to discuss reducing your painkillers sooner, or get advice about any other medications that you are prescribed, please make an appointment with one of the doctors who can discuss the options with you.
What a lovely surprise – homemade cake delivered to the surgery from the students at Carlisle College, made from ingredients supplied by Pioneer Foods – to say thank you and Happy Birthday to their local NHS staff – we are very grateful and the cake is delicious.
And a thank you to a patient who has brightened up the office by bringing us some beautifully scented sweet peas from his garden. It is so nice to be appreciated in our local community.
Following a recent patient enquiry, the doctors have been considering the management of hayfever with a yearly injection. Although this was an acceptable treatment for hayfever several years ago the evidence is now lacking and there is significant risk of side-effects.
National Guidance does not endorse the steroid injection – instead it advises steroid nasal sprays. These do not always work immediately but once they are working are very effective in the management of hay fever. There is the option of buying a steroid nasal spray over the counter or having one prescribed for you.
The steroid nasal spray can be used in conjunction with tablet antihistamines and eye drops.
Steroid tablets maybe used as a very short term acute treatment but regularly taking steroid tablets would risk side-effects such as bone thinning, stomach ulceration and glandular changes.
We would recommend using a steroid nasal spray for ongoing hayfever management
Learn more at https://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Hay-fever/
Take a look at the following website – the myGP app enables you to book appointments with the doctors. This will save you ringing in to make an appointment and frees up reception waiting times.
It will allow us to send you reminders and messages via your smartphone. Much easier for getting organised on the move. We are already set up with this service so you can download the app today and make use of it right away.
We are proud and delighted that The Croft Surgery has been approved as a Training Practice, and that Dr Josephine Hewson has been appointed as a GP Trainer affiliated to the North Cumbria GP Training Programme.
This means that Junior Doctors who have chosen to pursue a career in General Practice and who have a couple of years’ postgraduate experience, will be allocated to the practice for 6 month placements.
The first of these is Dr James Knox who we welcomed to the team in February 2018.
