Social Prescribing

Social Prescribing and what you can do to help yourself

Social prescribing enables GPs, nurses and other primary care professionals to refer people to a range of local, non-clinical services. Social prescribing, sometimes referred to as community referral, is a means of enabling GPs, nurses and other primary care professionals to refer people to a range of local, non-clinical services. Recognising that people’s health is determined primarily by a range of social, economic and environmental factors, social prescribing seeks to address people’s needs in a holistic way. It also aims to support individuals to take greater control of their own health. (Taken from the Kings Fund description of Social Prescribing)

We always advocate that patients and carers should have full access to their GP electronic health records to gain a better understanding of their healthcare needs alongside social prescribing so that you can get the best from what the community offers as well as getting the best from the practice. Over 8000 patients now have full access to their electronic health records in the practice and this is growing. 

The practice website is a great resource for trusted information about what is available in the practice for you and your family as well as in the local community and wore widely across Greater Manchester and the UK. Please look at the resources here and contact the practice if you need further help. Many of the resources available here can be accessed without needing to see the GP or nurse. Please go ahead, look at what is available here and if you need help contact them directly! You don’t always need a doctor to give you permission to find out more for yourself! 

Here are other resources on what is self care too that you may find helpful and things you can do to help yourself! Don’t forget there is Time to Talk, a drop in session also on the 3rd Tuesday of every month or you can contact the Patient Participation Group htmcppg@gmail.com to find out more.

Ischaemic Heart Disease Care

Helping patients with ISCHAEMIC HEART DISEASE (heart disease) to get the best out of the NHS.

Immunisations

girl getting vaccine

It’s official – vaccines are amongst the safest medicines available! Vaccines save lives – read here about why vaccinations are important and the safest way to protect yourself and your loved ones. Listen to Dr Rupa Shah talk about Vaccines – are they safe for my child reinforcing how important vaccines are.

Learn about vaccines here

NHS Choices: The NHS Vaccine schedule and all you need to know about each of the vaccines

Immunisation tips for parents

Haughton Thornley Medical Centres strongly recommends all people to have their vaccinations as soon as they are due. The tables below show the variety of vaccines people need at different stages in your life. It is important you understand why you need them, what you are protecting yourself and your loved ones from and that the decisions you make not only impact on you but also all those around you too. If you have any concerns then please raise them with your doctor or nurse. 

We also recommend you should have access to your records so that you can check your immunisation history and share it with others if asked to do so. This is particularly useful for people who may be at risk of life-threatening conditions. Remember people outside the GP practice are unable to see this information and rely on your memory or for you to share this information with them. This is particularly important when you are seen in the Out of Hours, walk in centres, A&E or even when calling 111. Please scroll down to the bottom of this page for screenshots of the test patient to see what the information looks like. 

See the schedule of what is needed below – click on the table to download a PDF version which may be easier for you to read too. 

Immunisation against infectious disease: the green book front cover and contents page. The green book has the latest information on vaccines and vaccination procedures for all the vaccine preventable infectious diseases that may occur in the UK. First published in 2006 as Immunisation against infectious disease, this publication is now available as individual chapters via the Immunisation section of the GOV.UK website and not in printed form. These chapters are updated as necessary to reflect the current policies and procedures as advised by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.

Table taken from patient.co.uk where you can find more information.


View your Immunisation History and check you and your loved ones are up to date!

Click here if you would like to sign up for access to your records now and you are a patient of Haughton Thornley Medical Centres. You will need to complete the Records Access and Understanding safety checklist questionnaire

Eczema care

Helping patients with ECZEMA to get the best out of the NHS.

Instead of having to come to the surgery lots of times a year to get high dose steroid creams that could be harmful to your skin long term, once you have understood what eczema is and what advice your doctor or nurse are giving you by reading your GP-held electronic health record, you may find that your skin improves greatly, whilst you are using less steroid cream and sleeping better as a result of not itching as much. If your child is the patient then not only does he or she or sleep better but so do you and of course spend less time at the surgery.

Most importantly, by working together and understanding each other’s needs better, we can help you to get the best out of the practice and the wider NHS.

New-born Baby Care

Congratulations on your new-born baby. It is a very exciting time but can also be scary for parents who are unsure what to do next or what challenges. So here are some simple tips for you and your baby to get the best from the practice.

Hopefully you already have full access to your own GP electronic health record and can see what your doctor or nurse has written about you. If you have registered your baby then why not also register for you to be able to see their electronic health records too. You can then also see what their doctor or nurse has written about them. For many babies, the first consultation can often be the 8 week baby check-up as part of your baby’s health and development reviews when they also get their first immunisations too. Why not register your baby so that you can see what the doctor or nurse have written and also check what immunisations they have had. If you have not yet done so then please complete the Record Access and Understanding Safety checklist questionnaire . You will need to have registered yourself on Patient Access and use this to get proxy access so that you can use your passwords to access their records with (if you have parental responsibility).

Your new baby

Feeding, teething and tantrums

Netmums

Healthy Eating in Pregnancy

Pregnancy Care

This guide includes all you need to know about trying for a baby, pregnancy, labour and birth.

Pregnancy – NHS

Medicines in pregnancy

Most medicines taken during pregnancy cross the placenta and reach the baby.

Before taking any medicine when you’re pregnant, including painkillers, check with your pharmacist, midwife or GP that it’s suitable.

When deciding whether to take a medicine during pregnancy, it’s important to find out about the possible effects of that medicine on your baby.

This is the case both for medicines prescribed by a doctor and for medicines you buy from a pharmacy or shop.

Learn more here from NHS Choices

We invite all pregnant women to get full access to their GP electronic health record so that they can monitor their healthcare needs and also learn how to use the NHS app before their baby is born. It will help you as your baby grows

DR Amir Hannan

Evidence-based safety information about medication, vaccine, chemical and radiological exposures in pregnancy

Helping our patients who are PREGNANT to get the best from the practice, the NHS and other resources you might find useful.

Obesity Care

There are lots and lots of theories on how to lose weight and claims on the best way to do this. Here we try to provide advice on what is available locally to help you and what you can do for yourself too!

How obese you are is currently determined by your Body Mass Index. You may find this in your medical record or you can calculate it based on your height and weight. Adults with a BMI of 25-29.9 are classed as overweight. BMI over 30 are obese. BMI over 35 are very obese and BMI over 40 are morbidly obese.

Here are some useful links for further information on obesity and what can be done about it

NHS Choices: Obesity

NHS Choice: Lose weight

Patient.co.uk (Obesity and overweight in adults)

Patient.co.uk (Obesity and overweight in children)

See Be Well Tameside and get 1:1 support to help motivate you to lose weight

Article in the Washington Post – Take off that FitBit. Exercise alone won’t make you lose weight by Dr Aseem Malhotra.

Your doctor or nurse can help you to devise a personalised plan that can help you

You can get 1:1 training and support to lose weight via Be Well Tameside. This is how you can also access further care potentially leading to weight losing surgery as well.

Personal Trainer from Active Tameside

Ask questions from other people via HealthUnlocked Blog

Many patients do not realise they are overweight or obese because so many people suffer with it without realising it. You need to know your Body Mass Index and Waist Circumference. Often obesity can be associated with other complications including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, osteoarthritis, depression, stroke, abnormal liver tests, gall bladder disease, sleep apnoea, certain certain cancers and hypertension. Many of these things can be reversed or their impact reduced by reducing your weight. Assuming there is no specific underlying medical cause, your weight is ultimately dependent on the types and quantity of food you eat and the amount of exercise you do.

It is important to monitor your weight. Agree goals with your doctor or nurse which have SMART objectives (Specifiic, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely). That way you can see how well your strategies are working and whether they need to be reviewed or not. If you are over 40 then you should have an NHS Health Check done every 5 years. That will give you a baseline to start from. Then see if you can make small changes in your lifestyle that you are able to adopt. Your doctor or nurse will be able to inform you about what else you need to do over the coming year if you have other related conditions that also need to be managed.

Screenshot
You can use the My GM Care app to record your weight and set your Goal enabling your clinicians looking after you to also see this

Make a plan to help lose weight

  • Agree a care plan with your doctor or nurse which includes regular monitoring of your weight
  • Agree small changes in your weight that you hope to achieve over the next few weeks and how you hope to achieve them.
  • Agree changes in your diet and exercise that you hope to achieve. Making small changes rather than wholesale change is more likely to succeed in the long run.
  • Make a note of your weight so that you can see what is happening over time.
  • Make notes on what is helping you and also what is hindering you. These are personal to you but which will provide insights now and in the future on how to make the necessary changes for you to succeed.
  • Do not be disappointed if you do not get the expected reduction in weight as you hoped for,
  • See if you can get your family and friends to join you. They will help to motivate you too and we all need a little help (even if you are the one motivating them too!)
  • Have a lot of fun and be happy. Imagine how much your weight would be if you did not do what you are doing now!

Hypertension Care

High blood pressure, or hypertension, rarely has noticeable symptoms. But if untreated, it increases your risk of serious problems such as heart attacks and strokes.

Around a third of adults in the UK have high blood pressure, although many will not realise it.

The only way to find out if your blood pressure is high is to have your blood pressure checked.

Blood pressure is recorded with 2 numbers. The systolic pressure (higher number) is the force at which your heart pumps blood around your body.

The diastolic pressure (lower number) is the resistance to the blood flow in the blood vessels.

They’re both measured in millimetres of mercury (mmHg).

As a general guide:

  • high blood pressure is considered to be 135/85 mmHg or higher (or 145/85 mmHg or higher if you’re over the age of 80) when measured at home
  • ideal blood pressure is usually considered to be between 90/60mmHg and 120/80mmHg

Blood pressure readings between 120/80mmHg and 140/90mmHg could mean you’re at risk of developing high blood pressure if you do not take steps to keep your blood pressure under control.

Everyone’s blood pressure will be slightly different. What’s considered low or high for you may be normal for someone else.

Listen to Dr Hannan talk about checking your blood pressure and how to measure it

You can record your own blood pressure readings using the “My GM Care app” Download it for FREE now

How to measure your blood pressure at home.
Click here to learn everything you need to know to check your blood pressure safely

Blood Pressure UK

Learn more about the

If you are at risk of developing high blood pressure or already have high blood pressure and take medication for this or take medication that could cause your blood pressure to rise or have diabetes, heart disease, had a stroke, have chronic kidney disease, suffer with headaches then it is important that you monitor your blood pressure. Many people would usually come to the GP practice to check their blood pressure. However, you may wish to consider buying a blood pressure machine so that you can safely monitor your blood pressure and pulse too in the comfort of your own home and also measure it over a week. It also means other family members and friends can also use it to check their own blood pressure too.

The price of blood pressure machines has dropped and you can buy a good one from about £19.99. If you plan to buy one, please ensure it is clinically validated.

Ideally you should check your blood pressure 3 times,waiting 1 minute after checking your blood pressure each time and then noting down the lowest readings of the 3.

Repeat this again twice a day for a week

Take an average of the top readings and the bottom readings so that you have an average blood pressure reading over the week.

This gives us a better understanding of what your blood pressure is like

If your blood pressure is very high (more than 180/120) then you should get in touch with the surgery sooner or call 111

Helping patients with HYPERTENSION (High Blood Pressure) to get the best from your doctor and the NHS.

Heart Failure Care

Heart failure means that your heart is not able to pump blood around the body properly. It usually occurs because the heart has become too weak or stiff. 

Common symptoms of heart failure include fluids retention (swelling of the ankles or legs), breathlessness (especially when lying flat) and extreme tiredness

It does not mean that it is about to stop. However symptoms can be controlled for many years.

Pumping Marvellous

Click here to download the Heart Failure Toolkit 
Listen to Nick Hartshorne-Evans from Pumping Marvellous talk about Heart Failure and his own experience

Diabetes Care

If you have recently been diagnosed with diabetes or would like to know more about diabetes and what you can do to help yourself  then please see the information below. Click on Type 1 diabetesType 2 Diabetes or  Diabetes and Me for general information from Diabetes UK. Please see below for more specific information about how we as a practice are supporting you and what is available locally as well. 

What is diabetes?

Type 1 diabetes

About 8% of people with diabetes in the UK have type 1 

What is type 1 diabetes?

Insulin and diabetes. Some positives of type 1 diabetes. My child has type 1 diabetes. Coping with type 1 diabetes. Not sure where to start with type 1 diabetes – try the Learning Zone today

Type 2 Diabetes

About 90% of people with diabetes in the UK have type 2 diabetes.

Newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes? What is type 2 diabetes? I have type 2 diabetes – what can I eat? Some people can reverse type 2 diabetes – want to find out more? How do I treat my diabetes?

Sandeep has been supported by others since his type 2 diagnosis in 2015. Not sure where to start with type 2 diabetes – try the learning zone today

Learn more about how to best manage type 2 diabetes here

Diabetes and Me

Your relationship with diabetes is personal, so your experience on the Diabetes UK website should be too. That’s why they have created Diabetes and Me, so you can save useful information, your favourite recipes and anything else you’re interested in.

Blood glucose testing

Watch this video which shows how to test your blood glucose levels if you have been given the GlucoMen Areo – How to test with the GlucoMen Areo blood glucose meter

You will need to know what type of diabetes you have. If you are unsure then please log into your electronic health record and see what is in your Problems List where it should state whether you have type 1 diabetes or type 2 (or diet controlled diabetes or non-Insulin dependent diabetes). Please note some patients with type 2 diabetes may be treated with insulin and occasionally patients with type 2 diabetes may become type 1. If you are unsure what type of diabetes you have, please speak to your doctor or nurse.

Patients with diabetes often think they need to check their blood glucose levels at home regularly. This is usually not the case for patients with type 2 diabetes unless you are on insulin or medication that may cause you to have a hypo- see here for those who need to check their blood glucose levels. If you are unsure then please ask to speak to a doctor or nurse.

Diabetes UK

Learn about Living with Diabetes from Diabetes UK including dealing with illness, travel, insurance, your child and diabetes, employment, driving, sex, pregnancy, help with giving up smoking & emotional issues

Diabetes UK – 15 healthcare essentials
The care you should receive
Management of Type 2 diabetes

Summary of Main Messages from latest Type 2 Diabetes guidance

Work with your doctor or nurse to identify targets for you to reach
Ideally Blood Pressure should be less than 140/90 in clinic (average home BP monitoring should be less than 135/85) or 130/80 if patient has kidney, eye damage or stroke. If aged more than 80 then aim for Blood pressure less than 150/90. See Diabetes and Blood Pressure
Lifestyle changes are beneficial in helping to control diabetes and limit complications
Going on structured education courses are key to gaining a better understanding of how to manage. Go on a local DESMOND course
Patients without cardiovascular disease do not need antiplatelet therapy (aspirin or clopidogrel)
Ideally aim for HbA1c less than 48 mmol/mol (6.5%) with lifestyle change / metformin
Lifestyle changes are beneficial in helping to control diabetes and limit complications
Patients without cardiovascular disease do not need antiplatelet therapy (aspirin or clopidogrel)
If HbA1c rises above 7.5% then aim to bring down to less than 53 mmol/mol (7.0%) with further medication and individualised care
Self managing of blood glucose is important if you are on medications which may cause you to suffer with hypoglycaemia – this is particularly important if you drive or use heavy machinery 
For more information, see Clinical Knowledge Summaries – Management adult type 2 diabetes
NICE guidance
NICE guidance

When exercising their judgement, professionals and practitioners are expected to take this (NICE) guideline fully into account, alongside the individual needs, preferences and values of their patients or the people using their service. It is not mandatory to apply the recommendations, and the guideline does not override the responsibility to make decisions appropriate to the circumstances of the individual, in consultation with them and their families and carers or guardian

Helping patients with DIABETES to get the best out of the NHS

This web-site is about helping you to understand how you can get the best out of the practice and other resources.

There are some simple steps that are essential for you to understand that will help you on your journey of discovery for your health and well-being:

What condition do you suffer with? 

Diabetes is often described as Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus or Insulin Dependent Diabetes or Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus or Non-Insulin Dependent Diabetes. This latter category includes patients that may be diet-controlled or those who are taking anti-diabetic tablets. It is important for you to know which type of diabetes you have as this affects your management significantly. You should find this term in your GP-held record. 

Click here to learn more about PrediabetesImpaired Glucose Tolerance and Impaired Fasting Glucose

What does Diabetes Mellitus mean? 

Here are some links and resources for diabetes that you may wish to see: 

Welcome to Type 1 Whiteboard
Trevor and the Perks of Diabetes
The Women’s CHAI Project
https://youtu.be/C9XnBIToUc4
Chapatti and Chat cookbook for diabetes

Chapatti & Chat – Food made with love

Download the free book “Chapatti & Chat – Food made with love” developed with the support of Oldham Council to help raise awareness and creatively educate in the prevention of diabetes in adults from South Asian communities.