Mark Rochell
September 5, 2023
11:03 am

Patient Participation Group for St Helens Medical Centre – September Newsletter

ST HELENS, ISLE OF WIGHT PPG

Patient Participation Group for St Helens Medical Centre

NEWSLETTER

We hope you enjoy reading our September edition and find it of some benefit.

Practice update

We are delighted to share some exciting news; a salaried GP will be joining St Helens Medical Centre from mid-November working 4 days a week.

Roles at the surgery you may not know about – Social Prescriber

St Helens have 2 Social Prescribers, Liz and Laura who work mostly remotely, surgery based once a month and are able to arrange home visits. Social Prescribers work with patients and their families to help them access a range of local community services for practical or emotional support and guidance of a non-medical nature. This helps improve the health and wellbeing of people in the community and allows people to remain independent and live their best lives. The Social Prescriber leaflet is available below and as a download.

Flu open days

Our walk in flu clinics for registered patients aged over 65 and at risk patients will be held on:

Thursday 14^th September 8.30am-12pm (Bembridge)
Thursday 19^th September 8.30am-12pm (St Helens)

No appointment needed. If you are unable to make these dates, we will have bookable clinics available from October onwards. We kindly ask that you do not contact the surgery regarding this until after Thursday 19^th September.

Keep warm and get help with heating

Keeping warm over the winter months can help to prevent colds, flu, and more serious health problems such as heart attacks, strokes, pneumonia, and depression.

Heat your home to a temperature that is comfortable for you. If you can, this should be at least 18°C in the rooms that you regularly use, such as your living room and bedroom. This is particularly important if you have a health condition. It’s best to keep your bedroom windows closed at night.

Check your heating and cooking appliances are safe. Contact a Gas Safe registered engineer to make sure they’re working properly. You can find an engineer from the Gas Safe Register website.

Make sure your home is fire safe. For fire safety advice specific to you and your home, visit the online home fire safety check website to complete a safety check for your home.

Make sure you’re getting all the help that you’re entitled to. There are grants, benefits and advice available to make your home more energy efficient, improve your heating or help with bills.

You can find out more from https://www.gov.uk/browse/benefits/low-income.

Patient Group Members