News & Events
5th to 11th June is Carer’s Week
Carers Week is an annual campaign to raise awareness of caring, highlight the challenges unpaid carers face and recognise their contribution to families and communities throughout the UK.
Our GP Practices are working with NHS colleagues, councils and voluntary and community partners to recognise, support and value unpaid carers of all ages in our community.
May 3rd, 2023 is World Maternal Mental Health Day.
- The impact of having a child
- Comparing yourself to other parents
- Thinking you are not a ‘good enough’ parent
- Feeling anxious about leaving your baby
- Not enjoying being a parent or feeling overwhelmed
COVID VACCINATION PROGRAMME UPDATE
The COVID Booster Vaccination Programme offered at the Crane Valley Primary Care Network Community Vaccination site will recommence in April.
A spring booster dose of the Covid vaccine will be offered to people at the highest risk of severe illness:
- everyone aged 75 and over
- residents in care homes for older adults
- immunosuppressed people aged 5 and over
This follows new advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).
For more information, please visit our Community Vaccination Information page by following this link>>COVID Vaccination Programme Update
As the NHS reaches the end of the autumn booster programme, Sunday, 12 February 2023, will be the last opportunity for anyone eligible for a COVID-19 booster to take up their offer until the JCVI and government confirm future campaigns.
Staying Well This Winter
Winter can be a challenging time. Viruses spread more easily. Cold and damp weather can aggravate existing health problems and make us more vulnerable to respiratory infections.
But there’s lots you can do to prepare yourself and Stay Well This Winter.
It’s important to keep warm in winter – both inside and outdoors. Keeping warm over the winter months can help prevent colds, flu and more serious health problems such as heart attacks, strokes, pneumonia and depression.
The NHS and UK Health Security Agency have put together a leaflet with important information to help. Follow this link to download and view the leaflet>>
Digital home kidney health testing service
GP Practices in the network are introducing a new service which allows people to carry out a urine test at home with a smartphone and a simple urine test kit, which will be sent to their home address.
The Minuteful Kidney service has been commissioned by NHS Dorset to improve the uptake of recommended urinary albumin to creatinine ratio (ACR) testing for people living with diabetes and/or patients living with hypertension.
The service allows people who wish to do so to complete essential screening tests without needing to come into the Practice. For anyone who does not wish to use the new service, your GP will continue to manage your care within the Practice.
Patients self test using the kit and the Minuteful Kidney app, which guides them through the process. Test results are seamlessly imported to the patient record in SystmOne via a secure NHS messaging protocol.
Improving Access to GP services
Enhanced Access is an NHS term for offering additional appointments in Primary Care.
The Crane Valley PCN website
If you access GP services in Cranborne, Ferndown, Verwood, or West Moors, you may not know about the Crane Valley Primary Care Network (PCN) and its role in delivering accessible local healthcare.
The Crane Valley PCN is a group of 4 local GP practices (The Barcellos Family Practice, The Cranborne Practice, Verwood Surgery and West Moors Group Practice). Whilst each practice has its own identity, through the PCN, these practices work together to build on existing primary care provisions to improve patient access to NHS services cost-effectively.
Healthier You NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme
The Healthier You NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme is a free programme for those at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.
If you're at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, you may be eligible to join your free local Healthier You NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme. This programme can support you to improve your diet, get more physically active and lose weight (where appropriate) to reduce your risk of developing Type 2 diabetes.
The first thing you need to do is find out if you are at risk of developing the condition. You can do this by using the Diabetes UK risk tool below. You'll be asked a series of questions to identify if you are at a low, moderate or high risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. Make sure to have a tape measure handy as you'll need to measure your waist. You'll be invited to sign up to your free local Healthier You service if you're at moderate or high risk.