News from the Quantock Medical Centre

Notes from The Quantock Medical Centre – July 2018

We have now set up a number of community groups which we hope our patients will enjoy taking part in:

• Weekly Walking Group on Tuesdays from 11 am from the Medical Centre or a nearby Beauty spot (transport can be arranged)
• Weekly Singing Group from 10 am at the Stable Loft St Marys Church Centre
• Monthly Art Group on 1st Tuesday of the month 1pm – 3pm at the St Marys Church Centre
• A Drop in Gardening Group at the Nether Stowey Allotment.  If you would like to garden with others for company whilst you get some fresh air and exercise, come along and help maintain, weed, water, plant and grow (ask at reception for more details).

We ask for a small contribution towards room hire  for the singing group and room hire and equipment for the art group.

If you want to find out more do pop into the Medical Centre and pick up a leaflet or ask at Reception.

Notes from The Quantock Medical Centre – June 2018

Well its been another busy month for us all and thankfully the weather has been good and is cheering everyone up.

We are about to start up our community allotment project to get people out working together on an allotment to; grow, produce, share knowledge and of course keep fit in the fresh air. If anyone is interested in joining this group we are having our first meeting on Tuesday 12^th June at 2 pm, meeting first at the medical centre, then walking down to the allotment. Please come in suitable clothing and footwear.  We are also asking any keen gardeners/ vegetable growers in the village if you have any seeds, plants, equipment you no longer need or would like to donate to this project, please get in touch with Kate on reception or myself. Donations would be greatly appreciated.

We have also had a request from the Dispensing team to our patients requesting repeat prescriptions: ‘please could you help us to spread the work load through the week and maybe not order your repeat medications on a Monday if you don’t need them until Friday’, as they find they are inundated on a Monday and sometimes a little quieter through the rest of the week.  You could also order your repeat mediation in a number of other ways such as applying for:

• ‘online access’ to order your repeats, book appointments and see the results of your investigations and parts of your medical records which are coded, come along to reception with some ID (Passport/ drivers licence) complete a form and we can sort out your on line access codes  for you.
• Email us on our new email address : quantock.mc@nhs.net

We had our Patient Group Meeting in the Library on Wednesday 16^th May which was really well attended (anyone can come along please look on the notice board for dates and times). One issue that was discussed was the snow we had earlier in the year, we were very grateful to patients who offered to deliver medication to patients in Nether Stowey and surrounding villages this really showed how a community does pull together. Whilst discussing this we thought it might be a good idea to have a list of people who would be willing to be called in a crisis situation who would be happy to help others should the need arise, whether it would be people with 4 X 4s who would be willing to deliver medications or help people get to a hospital if an ambulance crew were unable to get into the village, or deliver medication to people or even come and help out if ever the occasion arose. If you think this is something you would be prepared to do for your community please do contact me  helen.stacey2@nhs.net with your contact details…. This might not ever happen again but it’s a plan for just in case.

Our cleaning contractor is looking for cleaning cover for the surgery if you would like to know more or and interested please get in touch for more details helen.stacey2@nhs.net

Thank you for our support.

Helen Stacey

Practice Manager

News from the Quantock Medical Centre – May 2018

We would like to thank patients for their kind words and donations for our receptionist Jane  who retired in March. We were very sorry to lose Jane after 15 years working at the practice she had to leave us suddenly due to a family bereavement and eye sight problems . Her calm attitude and caring nature will be greatly missed. We would also like to welcome Grace who has joined the practice and started learning the role of receptionist in April.

We have had a bit of disruption at the Practice due to  relaying the main path to the building and clearing off the roof due to moss (hopefully this will stop some of the leaks!) so thank  you  for your patience whilst the car park and paths have been blocked.

Cases of Measles seem to be on the increase, eight cases across the region have been hospitalised with complications. We are trying to maximise all opportunities to ensure children and young adults are vaccinated with 2 doses of MMR (in particular 16 – 29 year olds as most vulnerable). We are also able to offer adults the vaccination if they have not had been vaccinated in the past.

We have also had to say good bye to Sian Cocks who ran a ‘chair exercise class’ at the practice on a Thursday lunch time, numbers have been reducing and this was unfortunately no longer viable, however if anyone would like to be put in touch with Sian for personal training and exercise motivation we can pass on her details. There are a great deal of exercise classes available in Nether Stowey and surrounding Villages for anyone to join, we keep information at the surgery and these are advertised in local magazines so we encourage everyone to try something different to increase their exercise for their health.

Our Singing group at the Stable Loft on a Wednesday at 10am is in full swing and open to anyone who would like to come along and join in, meet new friends and put a smile on your face (very helpful breathing exercises to start our session for anyone who wants to expand their lung capacity). Our walking group is on a Tuesday at 11am from the surgery so if you fancy a bit of exercise at your own pace come and join in.

It’s never too late to improve your health and fitness and try something new!

Helen Stacey

Practice Manager

Notes from the Quantock Medical Centre – March/ April 2018

All positive news this month. We held our annual resuscitation training event at the Church Centre Nether Stowey earlier this month and had a good turnout of over 35 people attending (still small numbers when you look at the population across our rural villages), but those who attended fed back that it was extremely useful and gave them a bit more confidence if they were faced with this kind of situation.

We have at last started our Singing Group thanks to the enthusiasm of Mike Wilkins and Sarah Pearson, the first session was great fun and well attended and brought a smile to everyone’s face. If you are interested in coming along I can confirm that it will be every Wednesday 10am at the Stable Loft Church Centre Nether Stowey. Come along meet some new people, sing some old songs and smile, all welcome.

We will also be starting our walking group thanks to the energy and enthusiasm of  Elisabeth Woolcock which will help to improve circulation, get your heart working, strengthen bones and muscles,  increase your lung capacity, reduce stress and lift your mood, come along and meet new friends. The walks are graded  1 boot (fairly flat for beginners) and 2 boot (may be slight slopes, styles etc).  Please see list of dates and grades of walk below. First 1 boot walk will be Tuesday 3^rd April at 11am from the Quantock Medical Centre.

All walks will be on a Tuesday from 11am at the Quantock Medical Centre, please wear sensible clothing appropriate to the weather. There will be initial registration paperwork on your first walk. We look forward to see you.

Helen Stacey

Practice Manager