December 2024 Patient Newsletter
🌟 Happy holidays!
We would like to wish our patients who will be celebrating Christmas and Hannukah a happy holiday season!
The surgery will be closed on Wednesday 25th & Thursday 26th December 2024 and Wednesday 1st January 2025. The last date for ordering prescriptions to ensure they are processed before Christmas is midday on Friday 20th December 2024.
To find a local pharmacy that is open over the festive period, search for the three most local pharmacies to Tudor Lodge using https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/pharmacy/find-a-pharmacy
If you require medical care when we are closed, please call NHS 111.
🤳🏻 Are you following our WhatsApp Channel?
Tudor Lodge Health Centre has launched a new WhatsApp channel to keep patients updated with:
- Surgery news
- Helpful tips and advice
- Health resources and tools
Simply click here to join http://bit.ly/40JdpT1
Subscribing to our WhatsApp channel does not give us or any other group member access to your phone number or any other details, and users can opt-out at any time.
For personal enquiries or to book an appointment at the surgery please use our online form to contact us.
đź”´ How to identify a stroke
The FAST acronym (Face, Arms, Speech, Time) is a test to quickly identify the three most common signs of stroke:
Face weakness: Can the person smile? Has their mouth or eye drooped?
Arm weakness: Can the person raise both arms fully and keep them there?
Speech problems: Can the person speak clearly and understand what you say? Is their speech slurred?
Remember: Face or Arm or Speech, at the first sign, it’s Time to call 999.
👩🏾‍💻 A reminder about managing your bookings online
We’re committed to making it easy for you to book appointments online. You can visit our website and click the “Make an Appointment” tab or “Contact us about your request” to submit your appointment needs. A clinician will review your request to determine the best timeframe, type of appointment, and the most suitable healthcare professional to see you.
Our friendly reception team will then contact you with the doctor’s recommendations and book your appointment within the specified timeframe.
đź“ť Our November round-up!
At Tudor Lodge Health Centre, our team works tirelessly to deliver exceptional healthcare services. Over the past year, the team has processed thousands of requests, delivered thousands of appointments, and dispensed thousands of prescriptions. In November we:
- Answered 3,132 phone calls
- Processed 2,699 online requests (that’s an average of 90 requests a day)
- Delivered 3,420 appointments (face-to-face and telephone).
- Offered 2,616 GP appointments, 1,076 nurse appointments and 404 other healthcare appointments.
- Processed 1,388 prescriptions.
🗓️ Could you help us to reduce waiting times?
We are working hard to reduce the waiting time for an appointment. You can help us do this by cancelling appointments you no longer need. In November, 44 hours of clinic time were wasted because patients didn’t cancel unwanted appointments. That’s 166 appointments that we could have given to patients waiting for one. Please give us plenty of notice (more than an hour) if you need to cancel your appointment. We have begun removing patients who fail to attend or don’t give us at least one hour’s notice. We are a very busy surgery, so your help makes a big difference.
💟 If you’re feeling lonely this Christmas…
According to a recent survey, almost half of people in Britain experience loneliness during the festive period, and more than a third will be spending Christmas apart from loved ones this year. Christmas can be a time of loneliness and isolation especially when everyone seems to be celebrating with family and friends. If you are feeling like this, there is support in the local area. Roehampton Community Shed is a weekly group where people over 60 can meet and work on practical projects, such as furniture upcycling, and enjoy a cup of tea and a chat. Age UK Wandsworth has a weekly coffee morning for those over 60 as well as other group activities. Wandsworth Council also has some useful links to groups in the area.
🏥 Remember to think Pharmacy First this festive season
Your local pharmacy can provide some prescription medicine without you seeing a GP first. They can offer advice and supply medicines for:
- Sinusitis
- Sore throat
- Earache
- Infected insect bites
- Impetigo
- Shingles
- Uncomplicated urine infections (UTI) in women
- Oral contraceptives
For more information visit www.nhs.uk/thinkpharmacyfirst
If you would like to opt out of receiving these monthly updates, please complete this form.
