The Abbotsbury Patient Participation Group (PPG)NEWSLETTER
Eastcote Health Centre, Abbotsbury Gardens, Pinner, HA5 1TG
Telephone: 020 8866 0121 or 020 8866 8382. Fax: 020 8426 1028.
Practice Website:
PPG email address:
Issue 3August 2012
Welcome to the third newsletter prepared by the Abbotsbury Patient Participation Group (PPG). The health topic we have selected for discussion in this issue is: VITAMIN D
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Good sources of Vitamin D
Most of our vitamin D is made in the skin in reaction to sunlight. The best source is summer sunlight, but the benefit is blocked by sunscreen creams. For light skinned people we recommend that you get out in the sun for 20 minutes in a short-sleeved top three times a week with no sunscreen, or a low factor one if the sun is bright. Do not overdo it and take care not to get burnt. People with darker skins, such as those from Asian or Afro-Caribbean origin, need more sun exposure and so may benefit from supplements which can be bought from the chemist.
Vitamin D is also found in a small number of foods, such as:
- Oily fish, such as salmon and sardines
- Eggs
- Fortified fat spreads
- Fortified breakfast cereals
How much vitamin D do I need?
You do not need vitamin D in your diet every day. This is because the vitamins that your body does not need immediately can be stored for future use. Most people should be able to get all the vitamin D they need by eating a healthy balanced diet and by getting some sun in summer.
However, the Department of Health recommends that the following people should take daily vitamin D supplements:
- All children aged six months to five years old
- All pregnant and breastfeeding women
- All people aged 65 and over
- People who are not exposed to much sun, such as people who cover up their skin for cultural reasons or those who are housebound or confined indoors for long periods
- People with darker skins such as people of African-Caribbean and South Asian origin.
What happens if I take too much vitamin D?
Taking high doses of vitamin D for long periods of time could weaken your bones.
What does the Department of Health advise?
Most people, apart from those listed above, should be able to get the vitamin D they need by eating a varied and balanced diet and by getting some sun. Taking 1000 units (25 micrograms) or less a day of vitamin D supplements is unlikely to cause any harm.
New Chairman – June 2012
Our Patient Participation Group (or PPG) formed in June 2011 is made up of twelve patients registered at the Abbotsbury Practice – at present seven Ladies and five Gentlemen, with differing ages and backgrounds.
The Group is very well organised and operates very professionally within a succinct four page Constitution with elected Chairman, Vice Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary (that’s me!) We meet once a month with minutes being taken and recorded as a permanent record. Apart from the meetings we are frequently in touch via email.
Our first Chairman, nominated by the Practitioners, had to step down due to an ever increasing work load at a local hospital and, at our June meeting following a ballot, Ms Nalini Chandarana was elected as our new Chairman.
So, over the past months a dozen comparative strangers have gelled into an active Group beavering away as a link between the Practice and the Patient Body.
The Abbotsbury PPG was set up at the suggestion of the Practitioners with the intention that in time we would be totally autonomous; we have, I think, now achieved a great measure of the hoped for autonomy and work well with the Doctors for the ultimate benefit of both patients and the Practice.
JP – June 2012
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VACANCY
We have a vacancy in the PPG and if you would like to join the group as a member please contact Reception or email to:
Abbotsbury Patient Participation Group (PPG) MEMBERS :
Nalini Chandarana (Chair)
Peter Wright (Vice Chair)
John Pearson (Secretary)
Verena Clark (Treasurer)
Roger Elliott, Janice Fitton,
John Hardy, Elaine O’Sullivan,
David Payne, Dorothy Reile,
Gillian Richiardi
VACANCY
The 2012 Flu Campaign will start in late September or early October, depending on vaccine deliveries. The following people are eligible for the vaccine:
- People over the age of 65
- Very young children
- All pregnant women
- Patients with chronic illnesses
If you have any queries, please ask a member of the practice team.
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COMPUTER UPGRADE
As you may know, the practice computer software was up-graded on 17th July. This means that all the practice team (including the doctors and nurses) are being retrained to use the new system. Your patience is appreciated during this changeover period.
TOPICS OF INTEREST
PATIENT SURVEY
The closing date for completion of the patient survey is being extended until:
MONDAY 6TH AUGUST.
The results of the survey will be published in due course.
NEWSLETTER CIRCULATION
If you would like to contact the PPG or receive the Newsletter by email please email your details to:
Alternatively, you can collect your copy of the Newsletter from Reception.
The Newsletter is also available on the practice website:
OUT OF HOURS EMERGENCIES
If you need medical assistance when the surgery is closed there is a new number to call.The 111 number is available to all Hillingdon residents & patients registered with Hillingdon GPs.
The Alexandra Avenue Clinic
OPEN WEEKENDS & BANK HOLIDAYS – ONLY, from: 8.00am to 3.30pm.
Tel: 020 8966 6300
The Pinn Medical Centre
Open from: 8am to 8pm; every day.
Tel: 020 8866 5766
Other useful contact numbers:
- Hillingdon Hospital:
01895 238 282 - Mount Vernon Hospital:
01923 826 111 - Northwick Park Hospital:
020 8864 3232 - Watford General Hospital: 01923 244 366
- District Nurses: 01895 486 127
- Chiropodist: 01895 488 810
- Non-emergency Police number: 101
- Samaritans: 08457 90 90 90
- AGE UK Harrow: 020 8861 7980
- AGE UK Hillingdon:
020 8756 3040
PHARMACIES IN EASTCOTE
OPENING HOURS
BOOTS:
123 Field End Road, HA5 1QH
(nearBudgens)
Tel: 0208 866 1366
Pharmacy opening hours:
Mon to Fri: 9am to 7pm
Sat: 9am to 5.30pm
Sun: Closed
Lunch hour daily: 1pm to 2pm
BOOTS:
169-171 Field End Rd, HA5 1QR
(near the Halifax Building Society)
Tel: 0208 866 3191
Pharmacy opening hours:
Mon to Sat: 9am to 6pm
**SUNDAY: 10am to 4pm**
No fixed lunch hour
SUPERDRUG:
143 Field End Road, HA5 1QL
Tel: 0208 868 7979
Pharmacy opening hours:
Mon to Fri: 9am to 6.30pm
Sat: 9am to 5.30pm
Sun: Closed.
No fixed lunch hour
THE EASTCOTE PHARMACY:
111 Field End Road, HA5 1QG
(near Sambuca restaurant).
Tel: 020 8866 2572
Pharmacy opening hours:
Mon to Fri: 9am to 6pm
Sat: 9am to 1pm
Sun: Closed
No fixed lunch hour
THE BEST UNPAID JOB IN THE WORLD, apart from, of course, being part of the Abbotsbury Patient Participation Group!
Do you pop into a charity shop to buy books? Ever thought of the person in the charity shop, who sorts and prices the books?
Like any book shop, a charity shop with lots of room can display books by subject and by author. A smaller shop can only put out a few books. No matter what – the books must be clean and reasonably priced and no rubbish.
Before this there is the task of sorting the books donated. This can be a challenge, but also great fun – finding the book, which cost 4/- years ago and which you thought was out of print.
Then there is a box “of jolly good text books” – well they were when the donor of the books went up to Oxford to read Law in the 1950s.
Never forget the books, yellowing with age and with that funny musty smell that have been in the loft since forever; in to the re-cycle bin they must go.
Then there are the gems – a book published in Paris in 1836 - an up to date copy of the Domesday Book which cost me £10 - the autographed autobiography of a celebrity – a huge mid - 19th Century Family Bible
For the quick sale are the books for holiday reading – then there are the old text books (no academic value) but look good on a student’s book shelf.
When I have finished with my books? I keep too many I know – and the rest? back to the charity shop.
J P - July 2012
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