Wye Valley Practice

Spring 24 Booster of Covid-19 vaccinations

Invitations are now being sent for eligible patients for the Spring 24 booster. We will be holding vaccination clinics for these, at Trellech Surgery. Invitations are for specific appointment dates/times; please try to attend the appointment given, as options for alternative dates are limited.

Eligible groups are different to those of the Autumn campaign; this booster is for immunosuppressed and patients over 75 years, only.

If you do not receive an invitation in the next 3 weeks, but believe you are eligible as one of the groups above, please call either Surgery to query.

NHS Wales App now available!

Further to our previous post, we are pleased to update that we are definitely now LIVE on the NHS WALES APP.
This App is replacing My Health Online for prescription ordering, so please download and register for the NHS Wales App to become familiar with it before 1st June 24.
The App will allow the usual repeat medication ordering service, as well as views of your medical record for summaries of care, or history of immunisations.
You may well already have the App, as it has been in use for proof of the Covid-19 immunisations for a while.
Whilst MHOL ought still be fully functional until 1st June, some patients have reported MHOL issues with repeat ordering recently; please register for the NHS Wales App, as this may solve those issues.
Finally, please be sure to download the NHS 'WALES' App, as you will not find The Wye Valley Practice under the English app.

Is this just duplicating SurgeryApp?

No, the NHS Wales App is in addition to SurgeryApp, the two offer different features and complement each other in not only offering the repeat medication service, but also simple online submissions to the Practice, bespoke healthcare calendars, symptom checkers, as well as news about local and national healthcare programs.
Using both Apps is recommended for the best online access to the Practice.

Is this all too much online access?

Please be reassured we are NOT stopping our other means of contacting and accessing services at the Practice. We will continue to offer our wide range of communication methods and not restrict access to any patient groups with particular communication needs.

Easter closing and emergency care:

St Briavels and Trellech Surgeries are closed from tomorrow Good Friday to Easter Monday, opening again 8am on Tuesday 2nd April.

For advice or urgent treatment/medication shortages please contact 111 and the out of hours GP service will support you 24/7.

Call 111 option 2 for urgent mental health support, where trained counsellors are available to help immediately 24/7.

For emergency treatment (difficulty in breathing, chest pain, collapse, signs of stroke or severe bleeding) dial 999.

Local out of hours Bank Holiday pharmacy information is available on our Surgery doors, but also on our website, under Practice News:

https://wyevalleypractice.nhs.wales/

Have a wonderful, safe, Easter weekend, The WVP team

We are really pleased to announce that The Wye Valley Practice will soon be active on the NHS App Wales! 🥳

The App will have a much sleeker appearance and better usability. It will allow repeat medication ordering and have summary medical records with immunisation history.

At the moment we do not envisage many appointments being available online, as the criteria for exactly which clinicians and length of time for appointments can't be written into the App. But we'll work on that!

Eventually (in a couple of months) app.NHS.wales will replace My Health Online, but will work alongside MHOL during the interim.

Wye Valley Practice should be 'visible' to you on the app next week!

Dydd Gwyl Dewi Sant! Happy St David's Day! Wishing all our Welsh and border English patients a very lovely spring day!

Have you discovered SurgeryApp, yet? This is a very user-friendly health app for your mobile or tablet, with Practice connectivity. It allows you to monitor your health, research your symptoms, create your own personal Health Hub, contact the Surgery, submit data for medication reviews, self-refer, find out what health initiatives are on locally or click into our e-consult and repeat medication ordering platforms.

Simply download SurgeryApp on either an Apple or Android device. You will need your own email address to sign up and to be sure to pick 'Wye Valley Practice' from the list of GP surgeries available.

Have a look at the information video and give it a try!

For Patients - Surgery App A trusted App from your GP Surgery You don’t always need them but when you do, your GP Surgery is there for you, and now they have an App to help you manage your health and connect with your GP surgery remotely, whenever you need to. So download the App now and connect with your GP Surgery. Explor...

😁Amazing, 😠Awful or simply just 🫤 Acceptable?

Please have your say on your experiences with St Briavels and Trellech Surgeries, in our 2023-2024 Patient Satisfaction Survey. It will only take ~2 minutes and your responses will very much help shape our future services. Thank you for your time and feedback, it really matters to us!

https://forms.office.com/e/fhGGhQTmwY?origin=lprLink

A Happy and Healthy 2024 to all our patients and fb followers!
We're now fully open again with normal Surgery hours.

We really appreciate your help, so if you are able to, please consider supporting our 'Medical Equipment Fund' via Easyfundraising. We use this fund to purchase equipment such as trollies that help us provide the best possible service to our patients.

You could help Wye Valley Practice MEF win £5,000 by opening 's Advent Calendar! Plus, there are daily chances to win a £100 donation for us! It’s completely free. Just open the Advent windows every day until 24th December! If you're not supporting us on easyfundraising yet, now's the perfect time to get involved:

You spend, brands donate to Wye Valley Practice MEF. Help us when you shop with 7,000+ brands. Join now.

We're sharing these useful infographics, illustrating the benefits of increased exercise for improving your health.

One is aimed at adults, the other at children and young people.

We're sure you'll agree with the key messages:

'Some is good, more is better'

'Make a start today; it's never too late'

'Every minute counts'

We are running our FINAL mini mop up Covid & Flu vaccination sessions as dates below. Please note, we will NOT be able to offer Covid boosters after 30/11/23. Flu vaccinations will remain available until well into 2024, but we recommend vaccination before end of December for better protection.

Wednesday 15/11/23 @ St Briavels Surgery (after 17:30)
Thursday 16/11/23 @ Trellech Surgery (after 16:30)
Wednesday 22/11/23 @ St Briavels Surgery (after 17:45)
Thursday 30/11/23 @ Trellech Surgery (after 15:55)

Please call either surgery to book a slot.

Our seasonal flu and Covid-19 booster vaccination programme is starting to wind down.

We have clinics running on Thursday 26 October (14:00 to 17:30) and Saturday 4 November (09:00 - 13:00) at Trellech surgery. These are likely to be our last.

If you think you are eligible and have not heard from us, please call either surgery and ask a member of the team to help. As the eligibility has changed slightly this year, we may need to check if you fit the revised criteria. If you do enquire, please allow enough time ahead of the clinics for us to check.

The Welsh Blood Service have blood donor sessions in your area during October and November with over 140 appointments to fill. The link below will provide fuller details, but dates/venues are:

Weds 1st Nov - Monmouth, Bridges Community Centre
Fri 3rd Nov - Chepstow Tesco (mobile unit)
Fri 27th Oct, 24th Nov and 29th Dec - Waitrose Abergavenny

Current bloodstocks in Wales are lower than they would like them to be. They aim to have at least 7 days of each blood type to help patients in need and maintain the supply and demand of the 19 Welsh hospitals. Don’t know your type? No problem, they will do that bit for you when you donate. The Welsh Blood Service need more people to sign up as donors to help patients across Wales.

The Welsh Blood Service is coming to your area and we need your help! Why not come along we’d love to meet you; did you know only 3% of the population are Blood Donors! Let’s try to get that number higher – it only takes 45 minutes to help save a life, our team will take very good care of you – plus we have a lovely selection of biscuits!

🖱️In a few clicks you could join them in helping to save and improve the lives of patients across Wales
👇🏻

WBS Booking

We will soon start issuing invitations for our Autumn Covid booster & Flu vaccination programme. As in recent years, the invitations will come in the form of letters from ABUHB and not directly from us. Please be assured, if eligible, you will be offered both vaccinations at your appointment, even if the letter does not state this.

Eligible patient groups for Covid and Flu include: - People aged 65 years and older (age on 31 March 2024) - People who are severely immunosuppressed and their household contacts - People aged 18* years to 64 years in clinical risk groups - Pregnant women, carers and people with a learning disability

*= under 18s may be eligible for Covid vaccinations but we are not authorised to deliver here at surgery.

In addition, children aged 2 to 4 will receive an offer of a nasal flu spray. All children in years reception to 11 will receive a nasal spray flu vaccination via their school. We will be inviting children aged 16 to 18 and in an 'at risk group' to the surgery for their nasal spray flu vaccination.

All vaccinations will be delivered at our Trellech surgery, starting in late September. Invite letters will start being issued in the next week. When you receive your letter, if the date/time is not convenient, or if you do not wish to take up the offer, please contact us at the surgery. We will do our best to accommodate an alternative date/time or will record your decline. This helps us hugely and will stop you from being contacted.

We will be inviting patients in cohorts, so please do not worry if your partner/spouse/friend has received an invitation letter but you have not yet. If you believe you are eligible for Covid or Flu but have not heard from us, please do contact us towards the end of September. There will still be plenty of time to ensure you are vaccinated.

Please also note that otherwise healthy 50 - 64 year olds will not be eligible for Covid/Flu vaccination this Autumn, as they were during Covid-19 pandemic, following assessment by the Welsh Government.

UPDATE: All working again

A power cut in St Briavels has interfered with our internet access, meaning our phones are not working there this morning. We have reported to our IT support and they are working on it. If you need to call this morning please contact the Trellech site on 01600 860302 and the team can help you.

Will update again once we have more news. Apologies for any inconvenience.

Don't forget there is a bank holiday weekend approaching -☀️🌥🌦🌧⛈?!

If you are going to run out of medication, please get your request to us as soon as possible. This allows our team to ensure we have medication in stock and can get your request ready in time for you to collect.

Thanks in advance.

UPDATE: ALL SYSTEMS NOW BACK UP AND RUNNING

Following a brief power cut in Trellech, we are having issues with our network and IT systems. This means we’ve had to divert our phones to St Briavels for the time being. If you call the Trellech site your call will be diverted and the team there will be able to help.

In order to assist, please consider contacting us tomorrow if your call is not urgent. Thanks for your patience and understanding.

📢 Please remember to allow 2 WORKING DAYS when ordering and collecting repeat medication from our dispensary. The team are doing their very best at present to keep up to speed with requests.

Our dispensaries have very limited storage space which means that we are not able to hold large quantities of stock at either site. There are also sometimes challenges outside of our control meaning that certain items can be difficult to obtain.

Allowing 2 working days between requesting your repeat medication and picking it up means that the team have time to order any items, pick your repeats and store them ready for you to collect. We dispense over 10,000 items in a typical month, meaning our super dispensing teams are kept very busy.

Please keep an eye on any regular medication you take, order when necessary (not too early or too late) and this will greatly help our team.

You can request repeat medication via your repeat prescription sheet (will be in the bag with your last medication), using 'My Health Online' or our dedicated telephone lines:

01600 860990 (Trellech)
01594 530934 (St Briavels)

Thanks in advance for your support.

Due to unforeseen staff shortage, we are sorry we have to close the St Briavels dispensary from 4pm this Wednesday 19th July.

We apologise for the inconvenience and hope to resume usual service as soon as possible, but please do keep an eye on posters and announcements just in case we need to pull down the hatch early again over the next few weeks.

To confirm: St Briavels dispensary will be closed from 4pm on Wednesday 19th July. We will re-open again at 8am on Thursday 20th July.

Happy 75th anniversary NHS. Thank you to all our team for their continued hard work and to all our patients.

Did you know that in the UK, inhalers account for 3 to 4% of the whole NHS carbon footprint?

Metered dose inhalers (MDIs), such as those used for delivering some asthma or COPD medication, use 'hydroflouroalkanes (HFA) propellants' which are potent greenhouse gases. These gases are 1000 to 3000 times more potent than carbon dioxide (CO2).

In the UK approximately 70% of inhalers used are MDIs which is much higher than many other European countries. Visit https://greeninhaler.org/more-environmentally-friendly-inhalers/ for more information.

To reduce the carbon footprint of inhaler prescribing the Welsh Government recommend health professionals to:

1. Optimise asthma and COPD care
2. Use dry powder inhalers or soft mist inhalers as first-line treatment options where clinically appropriate
3. If metered dose inhalers (MDIs) are needed, then chose a brand and dosage regime with care to minimise carbon footprint

For our patients this might mean:

1. A change in your inhaler. As some inhalers have a greater carbon footprint than others, your clinician might discuss changing your inhaler to one that is lower. Generally this might mean moving from an MDI to a dry powder inhaler.

2. A change in your prescription dosage, selecting the most appropriate strength inhaler to minimise the number of puffs required for the same dose. For example, 1 puff of 200mcg Clenil twice a day rather than 2 puffs of 100mcg Clenil twice a day. This can effectively halve the carbon footprint of treatment.

We hope that in the future there will also be the opportunity to offer a recycling service for used inhalers, allowing the harmful HFA gases to be recycled safely. We will update on this once we have further details.

We very much hope that a large number of people making small changes will have a bigger impact overall than a small number of people making big changes.

BOOKS!!

Do you have any pre-loved books at home that you no longer need? We are looking for second (or third) hand books that we can include in our 'books for charity' initiative. If you have good quality books that you are willing to donate, we'd love to take them off your hands, especially in our St Briavels surgery.

Please make sure they are still readable with no damage etc. We are looking for:
- hardbacks
- paperbacks
- fiction
- non-fiction
- young adult or children's books

Thank you in advance. PS, we are not accepting magazines at this time.

URGENT @ 8

Bookings at 8am for 'on-the-day' appointments are now only for URGENT severe symptoms.

All other symptoms will be offered slots as soon as possible, according to severity and appropriate clinician. No need to call back!

Our Doctors have authorised appointments according to symptoms and our team is trained to book you the right slot, at the right time with the right person

Why URGENT@8?
• So that we can prioritise our on the day slots for the medically most severe patients, to give immediate care
• So that symptoms are seen as soon as clinically appropriate, which may not be on the day but will not be a long wait if important
• So that every patient gets an appointment in one call, at the right time for their symptoms.

What are medically urgent symptoms?
Eg: sudden severe abdominal pain, sudden change in existing condition, unexplained bleeding, breathing difficulties, chest pain more than 2 days (999 otherwise), child under 16y sudden change or fever, sudden confusion, stroke worries, acute bowel obstruction, emergency contraception, sepsis concerns, sudden pregnancy concerns, persistent severe migraine, fits (not first, 999)

What do GPs say can wait for up to a week?
Eg: breast concerns, bowel concerns, fainting with recovery normal, gout, mole concerns, testicular or prostate concerns, non-sudden changes in medical conditions, adult fever not responding to paracetamol longer than 5 days, persistent unexplained cough

What do GPs authorise as routine?
Eg: Non-life threatening allergies, backache, medication reviews, orthopaedic concerns, X-rays, Ultrasound, steroid injections, sick notes, annual reviews, contraception, forms, HRT, learning or behaviour concerns

What is a 999 or A&E emergency?
Eg: life-threatening illness or serious injury, extreme difficulty in breathing, sudden chest pain, collapse, signs of stroke, severe bleeding, serious trauma, acute sepsis (fever, chills, fast heartbeat, fast breathing), first fit

What does a Minor Injury Unit Hospital see?
Eg limb injuries, wounds, grazes and minor burns, head injures without loss of consciousness or anti-coagulation medication, minor neck and back injuries, eye, ear and nose injuries, rib injuries, insect, animal and human bites, dressings, X-rays

What can a Pharmacy or Optician help with?
Acne, athlete’s foot, backache, covid and coughs/colds, chickenpox, cold sores, colic, conjunctivitis, new constipation without other symptoms, emergency contraception, dermatitis, diarrhoea, dry eyes, hay fever, head lice, indigestion, ingrowing toenails, fungal infections, mouth ulcers, nappy rash, ring worm, scabies, teething, UTI, verrucae, warts

What can our Practice Minor Illness Nurses help with?
If the help of a chemist hasn’t worked for any of the above, our Practice Nurses can, but can also see rashes, tonsils & sore throats, sinusitis, earache, measles, infected insect bites, cellulitis

Our waiting rooms are returning to their pre-Covid state! We are re-introducing leaflets and a few toys to help keep the little ones entertained. Please see the signs regarding cleaning the toys before use.

We are also returning our very special blood pressure monitors. These fantastic machines are very simple to use and are a handy way of keeping an eye on your blood pressure. You don't need an appointment to use them, you can just pop in or use them when you're passing by or collecting medications/scripts and follow the simple instructions. So pop in, take a seat and check your BP!

In addition, our 'books for charity' initiative will also resume. You will see a trolley in each surgery, containing used books for sale. Any monies received will be donated to charity of our choosing, and this will be rotated on a regular basis. Our current charity is BeatSCAD www.beatscad.org.uk - a charity dedicated to raising awareness, supporting patients with this condition and raising funds to aid research. SCAD or Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection is an uncommon condition that causes heart attacks, cardiac arrests and even death, predominantly affecting young women. It can't currently be predicted or prevented so more research is needed.

Don't forget there is a bank holiday coming up on Monday 29th May. It even looks like we might get some ☀️⛅️🌤!

If you need urgent help over the weekend, please remember:

For advice outside normal hours please call NHS111 on 111 (and 111, press 2 for urgent mental health support)

For urgent treatment/medication please contact Gwent Out of Hours (OOH) 111

For emergency treatment (difficulty in breathing, chest pain, collapse, signs of stroke or severe bleeding) dial 999

For ‘out of hours’ pharmacy/chemist information, please see our website:

Chemists/Pharmacists for 'Out of Hours' help over 29th May bank holiday Please click here to find more information on local Monmouthshire chemists / pharmacists that will be open over the bank/public holidays in 2023.  

Anxiety can affect so many of us and we want you to know that there is help out there to support you to cope. Whether it’s for you or someone you know Melo has a variety of courses for varying ages.

Take a look at our free courses on Melo Wales, our mental health and wellbeing website, just search “anxiety”👉 https://bit.ly/3NYk6dN

Did you know? 🚭 The average pack of 20 ci******es costs a whopping 💰£13.41, you could buy just under 20 pints of milk 🥛 with that money instead, or around 10 loaves of bread🍞.

Start saving your smoking money now and quit today with the help of our team of experts at Help Me Quit - Helpa Fi i Stopio.

📞 Call them on 0800 085 2219 or 📲text HMQ to 80818.

Following the recent Mental Health Awareness Week, we want our patients and local residents to know what support is available to them when they’re struggling with their mental health.

Now available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, the 111 (Press Option 2) service offers urgent mental health help – all from the same freephone 111 number.

With locally-based, specially-trained well-being practitioners on the other end of the phone, the Option 2 service offers direct-access to local mental health services for callers with a wide range of needs.

An experienced mental health worker herself, Rachel White is the Team Manager for the 111 (Press Option 2) service and explains how quick and easy it is to get the right care, in the right place, at the right time when in need of urgent mental health help:

“If you phoned 111 and pressed option 2 [with option 1 taking you to the general urgent care service], you would come through to a well-being practitioner who has been specifically trained for that role. Whether you’re somebody who has a serious mental illness, or have social difficulties, we’re able to support all of those individuals.

“You would then be asked a series of questions so they could see what support you needed. This is not time-limited. Once you’ve been assessed, if the team feel you need further support, you will then speak to a qualified clinician who will be able to get you that care as soon as possible.”

Available to adults and children of any age, the service offers bespoke one-to-one advice, support and care to meet the needs of each individual.

A Well-being Practitioner for 111 (Press Option 2), said:

“[When you call 111 (Press Option 2)], you’re picking the phone up, contacting someone who is there for you and only you.

“It’s not scripted, it’s a lot of real people giving real advice at the end of the phone – we’re that friendly face you can’t see, almost. It’s that real person-centred care, putting the patient first. We will come up with a plan with that individual so that they have their own say in their care as well.”

The service has been very successful since its introduction in Gwent at the end of 2022, and has received excellent feedback from patients, as well as from other health professionals.​​​​​​​

Rachel, said:

“The service users are commenting on how it’s much easier to get hold of somebody, maybe to just talk it through with somebody to be able to learn some basic coping strategies, such as breathing or distraction techniques that might be able to get them through that day, and so they don’t escalate to a crisis scenario.”

With patients at the very heart of the service, the team on the other end of the phone are passionate about providing tailored support and allowing patients to play a lead role in their care plan.

Rachel said: “It’s really patient-focused, it’s patient-led and so the patients feel that Mental Health 111 has made it much simpler for them to get the care that they need any time. Whether that’s in the day or the night, we are here and there will always be a wellbeing practitioner who will be able to help.”

The 111 (press option 2) service is easily accessed by calling 111 and pressing option 2. It's also free to call from mobiles and landlines, even when the caller has no credit left.