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| This bulletin is emailed each month to GP practices in Islington and Haringey. It contains useful information and updates from our GP medical director about Whittington Health. If you have a news item, event or update you would like to share with other GPs through this bulletin, please email communications.whitthealth@nhs.net |
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| A note from Dr Greg Battle |
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Welcome to the May edition of Whittington Health's GP Bulletin.
Since the last GP Bulletin we have seen the election of a new government. We know the NHS is going to face further challenges as we go forward and it's important we are equipped to deal with these.
As a Trust we have a new five year clinical strategy. At the core of this is how our services can support general practice to deal with the continued pressure we are seeing from within our local population. We will be working closer with local partners, in particular GPs as providers in practices and in emerging federations, knowing these relationships and partnerships will be essential in ensuring our local NHS meets the coming challenges.
I will be sending more detail on the strategy to GPs in June.
Best wishes,
Greg
Dr Greg Battle
greg.battle@nhs.net 07808 174 569
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Spotlight on… Voice therapy |
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Whittington Health runs a specialist outpatient service for patients who have voice disorders and their associated symptoms. The service is run by ENT and speech and language therapy and covers both Islington and Haringey.
The service is for anyone with voice problems, such as a hoarse or weak voice, reduced vocal range, or loss of voice which persists after respiratory infections.
Typical patients are professional voice users, which might include teachers, call centre workers, as well as singers and actors. The clinic also sees patients with voice problems caused by other health problems such as acid reflux and neurological diseases. Sudden complete loss of voice can be linked to psychological stress, and this can also be treated with voice therapy.
Referral: Patients should be referred to ENT (even if the patient has previously been assessed elsewhere). All voice patients are managed by an ENT surgeon.
For more information about the voice therapy service, please contact speech and language therapy on 020 7288 5546. |
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Ambulatory care centre update
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Our ambulatory care centre offers access to diagnostic tests, hospital consultants and specialist staff in one place. The adult service is consultant led with a multi-disciplinary team including medical and emergency physicians, community matrons, GPs, surgeons and a full range of hospital based specialities working together in the acute care of patients.
The team has recently undertaken an audit of GP referrals to the service which shows the amount of GPs referring to the centre differs significantly between some practices.
The team has produced an update on the work they do, along with some case studies. You can see more in the GP section of our website.
The centre is open seven days a week:
Monday to Friday: 8am – 8pm
Weekends and bank holidays: 9am – 5pm
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Phlebotomy update |
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Whittington Health runs a number of phlebotomy clinics in the community and one in the hospital. Patients must bring a signed GP request form (with three patient identifiers) to any of the following clinics. No appointments are necessary.
Hospital:
- Whittington Hospital, 5th Floor, Outpatients Block, Magdala Avenue, N19 5NF: Between 9am and 4.30pm, Monday to Friday (excluding Bank Holidays).
Adult Outreach Phlebotomy is provided at the following locations:
- Dartmouth Park Surgery, 18 Dartmouth Park Hill, London, NW5 1HL: Monday and Wednesday, 9:30am-1pm
- Highbury Grange Medical Practice, 1-5 Highbury Grange, London, N5 2QB: Monday and Thursday, 9am-12:30pm
- Islington Centre Medical Practice, 28 Laycock Street, London, N1 15W: Wednesday, 9am-12:30pm and Thursday, 9am-11am
- The Mildmay Medical Practice, 2a Green Lanes, London N16 9NF: Wednesday 8:30am-12noon
- Northern Medical Centre, 580 Holloway Road, N7 6LB: Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 8:30am-12:30pm
- Partnership Primary Care Centre (PPCC), 331 Camden Road, London N7 0SL: Friday, 8:30am-12:30pm
- Queenswood Medical Practice, 151 Park Road, London N8 8JD: Monday – Friday, 9am-12:30pm
- The Tufnell Surgery, 244 Tufnell Park Road, London N19 5EW: Tuesday, 8:30am-12:30pm
These clinic details are also available on our website under blood tests. |
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The TB Centre at The Whittington Hospital celebrated its first birthday on Thursday 14 May. Since opening, the centre has diagnosed over 165 cases of TB and patients in over 6,500 appointments, of which over 400 of these were for children aged 16 and under. Everyone who comes into the centre is tested and if necessary treated for TB using the latest methods. The centre was officially opened by actress Emma Thompson in October 2014 (pictured).
The centre brings together specialist doctors and clinicians from Whittington Health and UCLH (University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust) to provide the best and quickest care for people with TB or suspected TB.
GPs can refer directly to the service or patients can drop in to a session.
For more information on the service visit the website. |
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Dermatology study day |
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We are running a dermatology GP study day on Wednesday 14 October on skin cancer.
The provisional topics for the session are:
- The One Stop Service
- Dermoscopy of benign and malignant skin lesions
- Photodynamic therapy
- Skin lesion quiz
The lecture will run 2pm-5pm, with a lunch served from 1pm at The Whittington Education Centre (WEC), The Whittington Hospital.
To reserve a place please contact Carol O'Brien at: carolobrien@nhs.net |
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| Study dates |
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| Whittington Education Centre, Magdala Avenue, London N19 5NF. |
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ENT update
Wednesday 21 May
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If you would like to attend any of these study days, please email carolobrien@nhs.net
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| Feedback |
| If you have any feedback about a Whittington Health service, please feel free to email me. I’ll find the right person to help you. |
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