Current News and Updates

WORLD OSTEOPOROSIS DAY 20/10/23 (launched in 1996 by Linda Edwards, Royal Osteoporosis Society).

Osteoporosis is a condition where bones lose strength and become more likely to break. Over 3.5 million people in the UK are currently living with the condition. It affects half of women over the age of 50, and a fifth of men. It’s never too early or too late to start looking after your bones.

How about we take this opportunity to look into our bone health - us, clients, colleagues, families and friends. Please see below for the range of options:

You can check your bone health risk by using: theros.org.uk/bone-health-check/

You can look after your bones by managing diet, exercise and lifestyle factors affecting your bones.

https://theros.org.uk/information-and-support/bone-health/

https://strwebprdmedia.blob.core.windows.net/media/bk1klwye/better-bone-health-for-everybody-easy-print-version.pdf

You are welcome to attend Better Bones Information sessions as below:

Osteoporosis and Bone Health: 20 Oct (10.00am -12.00pm), Manor Park Hall, Malden road, New Malden KT3 6AU

Learn about how to manage or prevent osteoporosis. We will discuss diet, exercise and lifestyle factors that affects our bones and how to keep them healthy and strong.

Bone Health: 7 Dec (10.30am -12.00pm), New Malden Library, 48 Kingston Road, KT3 3LY

Learn about how to look after your bones. We will discuss diet, exercise and lifestyle factors that affects our bones and how to keep them healthy and strong.

You can join local exercise classes

https://www.kingston.gov.uk/health-wellbeing/living-well-october-2023/1

You can check your alcohol intake

https://e-drink-check.kingston.gov.uk

You can get help quitting smoking

Kingston’s StopSmoking Service, Kick It, provides a free evidence-based service for smokers aged 13 years and over who live, work or study in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames.
All clients will receive six weeks of 1-1 support from a specialiststop-smoking advisor who will tailor their support to each individual.

FLU AND COVID SEASON IS HERE

Please refer to our blue tile named Flu and Covid for detailed information.

Autumn events in Kingston

International Older People’s Day on 1st October is a celebration of later life.

Ageing Well Events at Staywell, Bradbury Centre, Emmanuel Church, Tolworth Recreation Centre, and local libraries during October. See attached information on dates, times and locations:Ageing Well Events - October 2023

Five to Thrive Campaign

Part of the Ageing Well campaign asks patients over 50 to take on five challenges for better health and wellbeing.

Five to Thrive

Five day diary

News - August 2023

Measles campaign

Measles cases on the rise in England and across the whole of Europe. Make sure you and your family are protected against becoming seriously unwell with measles by checking you are up to date with the MMR vaccine.

Across England, on average one in ten children are not up to date with their MMR vaccinations, with some areas of the country as low as two in five, putting thousands of children at risk of catching measles and the disease spreading in unvaccinated communities.

Just two doses of the MMR vaccine gives you and your family lifelong protection against catching measles. The first vaccine is given at age one year an the second at age 3 years and 4 months old. If you’ve missed any doses it’s not too late to catch up. Contact Central Surgery to book an appointment to get up to date.

If you are unsure if you or your child are up to date check your childs red book or GP records and make an appointment to catch up any missed doses.

For more information please visit the NHS vaccination schedule

Diabetes Freestyle Libre issue

We have been made aware patients who have been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes and use a Continuous Glucose monitor (CGM) via the Abbott FreeStyle LibreLink app have reported it is not working. Contact Apple's customer service line and the advice is "Customers experiencing issues with the iOS app should uninstall and reinstall the app". The Android version is not affected.

Further advice is provided on the Abbott website (link below), with a video clip showing how to delete and reinstall the app. If customers are still experiencing problems, they can contact the Customer Services team on 0800 170 1177.

Abbott Freestyle LibreLink App iphone

Patients should also be advised that if they are still having problems with the app or if the readings do not seem appropriate, they should revert to the finger prick test for checking blood sugar levels.

FIRST CONTACT PRACTITIONER

We are pleased to offer our patients this service from Mr. Zuhaib Saleem who is part of the our team as a First Contact Practitioner (FCP) on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

His role is to triage, diagnose and give our patients expert advice regarding musculoskeletal conditions. He can recommend blood and diagnostic tests.

If he assesses that you need further treatment with a physiotherapist he will refer you into the physio service at Kingston Hospital. Please note that he is not your physiotherapist, his role is to triage patients for any follow up care.

He can be booked by speaking directly with one of our reception team on 020 8399 6622.

Once you have been booked in to see him and awaiting your appointment, do use the link below that will give you some additional support

https://www.swlondon.nhs.uk/ourwork/long-term-conditions/musculoskeletal-toolkit/

What is a Clinical Pharmacist

Clinical pharmacists are health professionals who train for many years to become specialists in medicines. They can work directly with you as part of the GP team to make sure your medicines help you to get better and stay well. Having a clinical pharmacist in the GP team means you can be treated by the best person to meet your needs. We currently have three working in the Central Team. They are experts regarding medications and our GPs regularly liase with them to discuss your medication.

Watch this short video for a better understanding of their role: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtPlTyV5YsE&t=15s

YOUNG WOMEN'S TRUST

The Young Women’s Trust supports women aged between 18-30 who are feeling particularly isolated at the moment.

In addition, they offer free telephone coaching, help to build strong mental health, set goals to stay motivated and a free service giving personalised, detailed feedback on CVs and job applications.

The service operates by triaging over the telephone and by email.

For more information and to self-refer easily online, click on the following link; https://www.youngwomenstrust.org/work-it-out-sign-up

Specialist ASC Counselling Service

Express CIC supports families in Kingston upon Thames and beyond providing a range of services to autistic children, young people and their parents/carers.

Express has launched a new counselling service for young people on the autism spectrum (age 18-25).

As an autistic young person, life can be very challenging. You may have had your diagnosis when you were young or much more recently; either way the world can be difficult to navigate. It can be hard to talk to others about your feelings because you don’t want to burden them, or you fear they won’t understand.

Counselling can offer a safe space where you can talk through all your difficulties and anxieties. A counsellor is trained to listen and support you in a non-judgmental way, creating a safe space for you to express your thoughts and feelings, whatever they may be.

Our new service offers weekly counselling sessions with a specialist counsellor who has knowledge and understanding of autism. The sessions are one-to-one and held online or face-to-face at the Express offices in Tolworth. This is a low-cost service and we offer up to 12 sessions initially.

For more information, please contact counselling@expresscic.org.uk.

Health and Wellbeing Events

Please note these events are open to anyone interested in attending, no need to book in advance, you will just need to click the link to join the session that you like a few minutes before the session. Please note there are couple of sessions using phone lines too. Please feel free to pass this information onto your friends and family.

For more details about the dates of the events, please follow this link https://www.kingston.gov.uk/health-wellbeing/health-wellbeing-events/1

THINK NHS 111 FIRST

NEW Think NHS 111 service launches

As of this week, anyone who needs urgent, but not life-threatening care should call NHS 111 before turning up to an emergency department. If, following a conversation with NHS 111, it is appropriate for someone to attend the emergency department they may be scheduled a time to attend.

A London-wide advertising campaign has launched to support this, and we are backing this up locally in Kingston.

Thinking NHS 111 First will;

help people get to the most appropriate service – such as a GP, a GP hub or Teddington Hospital appointment – when they may not have to attend the emergency department;
minimise the risk of contracting COVID-19 by helping patients with non-emergency conditions to avoid having to wait for hours in waiting rooms.
shorter waiting times via a booked appointment or referral to another appropriate service
safe social distancing in hospital to protect you and others from COVID-19.