churchside medical practice

Dr. Law & Dr. Mountcastle
Practice
NEWSLETTER
WINTER 2012
NEW BUILD UPDATE!
Following meetings with our Architect, we are very
excited to share with you, the proposed design of our
new Surgery!
Please see our notice board in the waiting area for
the full plans.
WELCOME
We are delighted to welcome to the Practice Dr
Nathan, who joined us on 8th November. She
operates a Thursday morning Surgery from
7.30am – 1.30pm.
Dr Karpagam Kamalanathan
(known as Dr Nathan), qualified as a Medical
Doctor in 1989 from St John’s Medical School,
Bangalore, India and worked there for a few years
before moving to Great Britain in 1994. She worked
as a hospital doctor in mostly Acute Medicine and
Neuro-Rehabilitation, all over England and Wales
and qualified as a GP in 2004 from Nottingham
Deanery working mostly in Nottingham and
Nottinghamshire. Her interests are Mental Health,
Dermatology, Minor Surgery, Infectious Diseases
and Neurology. Dr Nathan lives in Nottingham with
her partner.
FLU CLINIC
We have been busy with our flu clinics. If you have
not yet had your Flu Vaccine and are eligible just
phone and make an appointment with the Nurse or
mention it to the Dr or Nurse during your
appointment.
We were awarded this amazing opportunity to
relocate to new state-of-the-art premised earlier this
year. Due to the dedication and hard work of
everyone at Drs Law & Mountcastle, the Practice has
flourished and grown over the last 2 years. This new
facility will enable us to work in the most patient
centered way. We have always strived to make
patient experience excellent and this will enable us to
improve and enhance our services further.
Our new Surgery will be built on the old St. John
Street Surgery site.
Only 1 street away <100 meters’ from here.
Closer to the centre of town.
Our new building is being designed and built with
maximum input from us to provide a brand new,
purpose built surgery for our patients. The Surgery
will be built and ready to move into in approximately
18 months time.
The project is now gathering pace.
As always our patients are at the forefront of
everything we plan. Thank you for all your
suggestions to date. We are still keen to have and
would welcome further suggestions. Please feel free
to ask any of our staff any questions. We are all
very excited and keen to talk about it!
NEW NAME!
We obviously need a new name for our Practice and
would appreciate and welcome any suggestions/ideas
you may have. Please feel free to give as many
suggestions as you wish. Please pop them in our
suggestion box, which is located on the central pillar
in the waiting area.
WE ALWAYS WELCOME NEW PATIENTS AND WILL
CONTINUE TO DO SO UP UNTIL, DURING AND AFTER
THE MOVE.
WINTER WARMERS
DRESS WARMLY
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Wear several layers of thin clothing both
inside and outdoors. This traps air between
the layers to keep you warm.
Clothing made from wool, polyester or fleecy
synthetic fibres are usually warmer.
Wear thermal underwear, and thick tights or
long socks, with warm slippers when
indoors.
When sitting down, wear a shawl around
your shoulders, and/or a blanket over your
knees.
When going out, remember to put on a
warm coat with scarf, gloves and especially
a hat, as a lot of heat can be lost through
your head.
ANTIBIOTICS
The number of infections due to antibiotic-resistant
bacteria is growing rapidly, inappropriate use of
antibiotics is the main driver of antibiotic resistance.
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KEEP PHYSICALLY ACTIVE
Try not to stay sitting down for long periods. Get up
and move around if possible, move your arms and
legs, and wiggle your fingers and toes frequently.
KEEP YOUR HOUSE WARM
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The recommended room temperature is 21
degrees Celsius, but vulnerable people often
need a higher temperature to feel
comfortable. Keep a thermometer handy to
check.
If you are finding it too expensive to heat
the whole house, keep only the living room
and bedroom warm, closing doors to rooms
not in use.
Try to keep your bedroom heated overnight,
or warm the bedroom before going to bed.
If you can only manage to heat one room,
have your bed moved into the living room
rather than sleeping in the armchair.
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Antibiotics are important medicines and
should only be taken when prescribed by a
health professional.
When antibiotics are prescribed by a health
professional it is important that you always
take it as directed, a lower dose or twice
instead of three times daily may not be
effective and encourages resistance to
develop.
Antibiotics can upset the natural balance of
bacteria in your body. This allows other more
harmful bacteria to increase. This may result
in diarrhoea and thrush.
Antibiotic resistant bacteria don’t just infect
you, they can spread to other people in close
contact with you.
Do you want to improve health and health services in
your local community?
Do you want to have a say and get involved in the
way your health service is run?
If the answer is yes, then please give your details to
our Receptionist and someone will contact you with
details of our next PPG meeting, where you can come
along and meet some of our established members.
NHS HEALTH CHECKS
The Surgery
The staff they are friendly
The surgery quite new
The Doctors will help you
Just give them a clue
Your health is important
And that is a fact
So if our lines are busy
Please call us back
The Doctor
The doctor she’s smiling
She never wears a frown
Even through the rough days
That really wear her down
She sees all her patients
With tact and deplore
Were thankful we’ve got her
We couldn’t ask for more
These little poems were given to us by one of our
patients.
Everyone is at risk of developing heart disease,
kidney problems, diabetes or stroke, which is why we
are inviting patients aged between 40 and 74 to
come to the surgery and have a free NHS Health
Check.
It only takes 15 minutes and can reduce your risk of
serious illness.
Why do I need an NHS Health Check?
We know that your risk of developing heart disease,
stroke, type 2 diabetes and kidney disease increases
with age. There are also certain things that will put
you at even greater risk.
These are:
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Being overweight
Lack of exercise
Smoking
High blood pressure
High cholesterol
Both men and women can develop these conditions,
and having one could increase your risk of
developing another in the future.
What happens at the check?
One of our Nurses will assess your risk of developing
heart disease, type 2 diabetes, kidney disease and
stroke.
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The check will take 15-20 minutes
You will be asked some simple questions
regarding your family history and any
medication you are currently taking
We will record your height, weight, age, sex
and ethnicity
We will take your blood pressure
We will do a simple blood test to check your
cholesterol level and any other appropriate
tests for example kidney function.
What happens after the check?
You will be given a second appointment to
discuss how we can support you to reduce your
risk and stay healthy.
 You will be taken through your results and
told what they mean.
 You will be given personalized advice on how
to lower your risk and maintain a healthy
lifestyle.
 Treatment or medication may be prescribed to
help you maintain your health.
To find out more call NHS Health Check
0845 850 9850 or visit
www.nhs.uk/nhshealthcheck
HEALTHY BREAKFAST
Drs Law & Mountcastle have continued to do the Healthy Breakfast Show on Mansfield 103.2FM every
Thursday morning. Please have a listen in as the show has evolved and is really good fun and quite tongue in
cheek at times, although does address serious issues. During the month of November (Movember for men’s
health) Dr Law talked the men of Mansfield, through a testicular examination, live on air!!!
TWELVE WAYS TO A HEALTHY CHRISTMAS
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Get your FLU JAB if you are in the relevant at risk group.
Make sure you have enough PRESCRIPTIONS and medications to last over the holidays.
Know how to contact your OUT OF HOURS provider if you need urgent medical help.
STRESS, Anxiety and depression are common during the festive season, if nothing else reassure
yourself that these feelings are normal, don’t expect miracles. If you and certain family members
bicker all year long you can be sure there will be tension at Christmas gatherings, sometimes its
better to accept this and move on.
MODERATION, Try to be moderate, it may be the season to be jolly but too much food and alcohol
is harmful, drink driving is a real danger and remember illegal, if you can’t or don’t want to step off
the social merry-go -round at Christmas at least try and eat and drink in moderation.
SLEEP, Make sure you get enough sleep and plan for some early nights as this helps boost the
immune system.
KEEP MOVING, Keep up your regular exercise routine which can give you fitness and stamina to
make it through the demands of the festive season as well as once again boost your immune
system.
BEWARE OF SNACKS! At Christmas times many of the kilos piled on are due to snacks that lie
around the house. Go easy on the chocolates and nuts because they are full of calories and are
unnecessary when you are also enjoying large meals, as a substitute, have bowls of fruit available
and help fill kid’s stockings with an apple or an orange too.
BOOZE SENSIBLY, When eventually you have a drink remember to space alcoholic beverages with
soft ones allowing your liver a chance to fight back and don’t forget that it is harder for your liver
to metabolize alcohol when your sugar intake has been high it prioritizes the absorption of sugar
over alcohol. So if you have been on chocolates all day any alcohol will remain in your system for
longer.
BE NEIGHBOURLY, This is the season of good will and particularly if you have elderly neighbours,
go around have a check on them, make sure they have got their heating and everything that they
need particularly if the weather is bad.
KEEP WARM.
COMMON SENSE, Go on, use it, especially at Christmas time.
NEW YEAR
We just wanted to say thank you to our loyal patients and friends for another wonderful
year together.
May the New Year bring you everything you hoped for.
Useful numbers
Surgery – 664877
Fax – 664878
Kings Mill Hospital – 622515
NHS – 0845 46 47
www.nottspct.nhs.uk
www.patient.co.uk
www.drslawandmountcastle.co.uk