Our New Web Site -Bye Bye green and yellow!

Our old web site was looking rather dated. Designed by me in the last century and looking like it! I wrote and published our new Practice Leaflet at the start of 2007 which was designed with purple highlights. We thought our web site should follow the new style.

The trouble with designing something "on the fly" and not going with an "off the shelf" design is that one keeps changing things! So colours and images kept changing. Flashy things got written and then removed. I kept introducing new code and experimenting and didn't want to "go live" until it looked and worked ok. I had to convert a design that is portrait (leaflet) into a landscape view, as more and more PC and laptop screens are now "widescreen". So this site is not a fixed width. It should work with all modern browsers and even on a pda. The site passes as CSS2 and XHTML compliant.

Unfortunately it has been a long time coming. Coding has had to come well down my priority list and after a long day at the surgery, web site design comes second to a relaxing glass of wine!

The new site has a lot more information to help our patients get more out of the Practice and it may even save a trip to us! I hope you like the new site.

Dr David Matthews

P.S. To any Practice Managers viewing this..There is no template for my site, so sorry, I wont do your practice web site!

NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme

The Bowel Cancer screening programme has been rolled out in our part of Surrey.

Bowel cancer is the second most common cause of cancer deaths in the UK. Research has shown that screening men and women for bowel cancer using a Faecal Occult Blood (FOB) test can reduce the mortality rate from bowel cancer by 16 per cent in those invited for screening. The programme follows successful pilot studies in Coventry, North Warwickshire and Scotland.

The NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme aims to invite the group of men and women who will benefit most from a population-based screening programme. Men and women aged between 60 and 69 will be invited.

Men and women aged 60-69 and registered with a GP will be offered an FOB test every two years. Those aged 70 and over will not be invited automatically but can request a test kit by calling a Freephone helpline on 0800 707 60 60

GPs are not directly involved in the delivery of the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme but they will be notified when invitations for bowel cancer screening are being sent out in their area. They will also receive a copy of the results letters sent to their patients. Please do not contact the surgery.

See full FAQ and link to NHS Cancer Screeing web site.

Winter Vomiting and Influenza

Winter Vomiting Virus

Properly known as Norovirus, it is currently sweeping through the country. This causes an acute gastroenteritis (upset stomach). Noroviruses are also called the "winter vomiting disease" because people tend to get them during the winter months. However, they can occur at any time of the year. They often spread rapidly through institutions like nurseries, schools, hospitals and homes.

The first symptom is usually a sudden onset of nausea, which is followed by projectile vomiting and watery diarrhoea. Symptoms normally last between 12-60 hours. Most people make a full recovery within one to two days. However, the diarrhoea may last slightly longer. There is no specific treatment for a norovirus, apart from letting the condition run its course. Information sheet here (pdf). See full details on NHS Choices here.

Influenza

The 'flu season has officially begun in England a month earlier than usual. It normally starts in January but this December has seen a massive rise in cases of Inluenza. On Monday 15th December we saw twice the usual number of emergencies in surgery. Many of these patients had symptoms attributable to 'flu and colds. These are self limiting viral illnesses that people make unnecessary trips to their GP with, when they should be resting at home.

Your local pharmacist can sell you a choice of cold and flu treatments or simply take Paracetamol and/or Ibuprofen and drink plenty. Information sheet here (pdf). You can find more information at NHS Choices here.

We hope most patients at risk have had a flu jab.

Snow

Adverse weather conditions affected our service.

Unfortunately the snow and freezing conditions forced us to reduce the number of appointments week begining 2nd February.

Normal service has been resumed from Friday 6th February.

Thank you for your patience.