Queen Edith Patient Group (PPG)

Complementing the Work of the Practice

PPG email:  ppg@alanwilliams.org.uk

NEWSLETTER NO 30:  July 2022

Editor – David Blake 

 

 

 

CONTENTS

 

1. Introduction

2. Practice News 

3. News from the Cambridge University Hospital Trust

4. The NHS and ICS

5. Healthcare Snippets

 

 

1. INTRODUCTION by David Blake, PPG.

 

The Patients Participation Group (PPG) aims to support the work of the QE practice by offering  suggestions and opinions in a constructive manner and put forward ideas on behalf of other patients.   Any patient of the QE practice can join the PPG.  Further details about the group are at  https://www.queenedithmedicalpractice.co.uk/patient-participation-group

 

The PPG produces this newsletter four times per year and endeavours to organise talks on medical issues that may be of interest to patients.

 

We do want to stress that the PPG is independent of the practice and that the articles in this newsletter as written by PPG members, may not necessarily reflect the views of the practice, unless otherwise stated.

 

2. PRACTICE NEWS by Claire Surridge, QE Practice Manager.

 

Changes to our appointment system

 

From Monday 11th July, we will be making some changes to our appointment system with regards to the booking of GP appointments.  At the beginning of the Covid pandemic, we had to move almost overnight to the majority of GP consultations being on-the-day for both urgent and non-urgent problems. This, combined with ever increasing demand, has created rather a monster and an unsustainable way of working for our GPs and the practice as a whole.  We also know how frustrating it is for our patients to be repeatedly told to call at 8.15am!  We hope the new system will have a better balance of on-the-day appointments for genuinely urgent/acute problems and pre-bookable appointments for non-urgent/ongoing issues (which may be anything from 1 to 4 weeks in the future).  The majority of appointments will still be telephone or video consultations, but we will also be offering a limited number pre-bookable face-to-face appointments alongside these.  We appreciate the changes may take a while to adjust to and we may need to tweak as go along – we intend to review after 3 months and will be seeking patient feedback at the that time.

 

At the end of this week we intend to send out a text message and/or email to all patients with a link to a more comprehensive guide to the new system, how it will work, what exactly the changes mean for you as patients and how you can help work with us to make it a success.  Full details will also be added to our website – www.queenedithmedicalpractice.co.uk

 

 COVID-19 Vaccinations and Information

 

The practice gets a high number of calls each day regarding vaccinations, travel abroad and general information and in most instances we are unable to answer your query.  Therefore, before calling the practice, we would ask that you do the following first, as they are better suited to answer all COVID-19 queries -

 

go to:               https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

 

For the most up to date advice and information on COVID-19 and the continuing vaccination programme

 

or call               119

 

If you have a specific issue with your own vaccination data/need to answer a specific query.

 

This will help ensure our phone lines are available for those who may be in need of urgent care.

 

 

3.  NEWS FROM THE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL TRUST by Howard Sherriff, Patient Governor Addenbrookes.

The Covid rate in Cambridge and surrounding areas remains amongst the highest in UK.  With high vaccination rates locally, seriously ill patients remain relatively low however.  In-patients in Addenbrookes are around 50 but intensive care unit (ITU) cases remain low.  Because of the recent rise in Covid-19 cases in the local community and in hospitals, Addenbrookes have re-instated the requirement to wear face masks in all clinical patient-facing areas to reduce further spread of the virus and to keep patients and staff safe.

Please remember to wash your hands or use the sanitiser gel on entering Addenbrookes.
There are currently no further changes to visitor guidance, which is available on the CUH website.

As a result of beds remaining allocated to Covid wards,  there are difficulties in tackling elective waiting lists.  To help cope, a 19 bedded unit was opened in March 2022  and a 60 bedded unit for regional elective work is planned for this Autumn.  Staff are being recruited for these wards.

As part of the Addenbrookes 3 project, Phase 1 includes extra capacity for the Emergency Department.  While a location for this has been found, this will mean structural changes and funding so it is unlikely to be available until Spring 2023.  The Governors are asking the Trust what plans are available for the coming winter months to minimise the delays for patients getting into the hospital.

It is planned that the long term need for expanded Emergency Departments will reduce as much more Emergency work will be done in Primary care.  This may be difficult to achieve as the current GP contract does not allow weekend work, and the shortage of GPs is likely to restrict this development, certainly in the short term.

The new Cancer Hospital and Children’s Hospital plans move ahead steadily.  The designs look exciting and there is joint planning with research groups and the University.  A large number of patients have been involved in the planning.  As an example, around 1000 children were asked their views and the architects were surprised at what the children wanted, so their ideas are being incorporated into the plans.

Public Fund raising for the Children’s Hospital is starting now with major donors, and by the Autumn will be expanded to the general public as 50% of the cost is to be paid by public subscriptions.

 

4.  THE NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE (NHS) AND THE INTEGRATED CARE SERVICE (ICS) by Alan Williams, PPG.

 

On 1 July, a new Health and Social Care Act came into force resulting in changes within the NHS.  One of the changes is the formation of the Integrated Care Service (ICS) which will be responsible for the commissioning and delivery of healthcare.  At the local level, ICS will help to deliver additional services via GPs.

In Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, health and social care services will be delivered by a single organisation and the new organisation will be overseen and managed with representation and staffing based jointly on the present NHS structures and Local Authorities.

For many of the organisational changes, it may take some time for patients to notice any difference.  At the top level in Cambridgeshire, the ICS is managed through two Integrated Care Boards  One is based in Cambridge on the Biomedical campus for the South of the County, and in Peterborough for the North.  The southern one includes Cambridge City Council, Cambridgeshire County Council, East Cambridgeshire District Council, South Cambridgeshire District Council, NHS Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Foundation Trust, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Royal Papworth NHS Foundation Trust, Nine Primary Care Networks, NHS Cambridge Community Services NHS Foundation Trust and Community Voluntary Sector.

The Queen Ediths Medical Practice (QEMP) like all General Practices, is part of a Primary Care Network, Cambridge PCN 4, which is one of nine in the south of the County.  The other members of PCN 4 are Cornford House, Cherry Hinton, Mill Road, Petersfield and Woodlands.  It is anticipated that, while remaining independent entities, the practices in each PCN will increasingly collaborate in certain ways  eg. the Covid vaccination campaign in 2021 and evening clinics.  In addition, the PCN employs certain staff directly including for example a pharmacist to coordinate prescribing choices, a social care coordinator and a care coordinator. 

As part of the implementation of the ICS, PCNs are being relaunched as Integrated Neighbourhood Teams (INT) with enlarged responsibilities.  Five of the nine in the South have already relaunched in that form and the other four (including ours) are expected to do so soon.

Of course, it is very early days and the full impact of these changes will not be seen for some time.  However, we hope that PPG members will become increasingly aware of the changes as during the  the next few months the changes evolve and become more visible.  It is important to recognise however that QEMP remains our Practice and our doctors will be responsible for us and our healthcare needs.

 

5. HEALTHCARE SNIPPETS by Alan Williams PPG.

A Vaccine Story Book

The proportion of children being vaccinated in the UK has declined in recent years.  It is good however to report that in late April in Cambridge a children’s storybook called Drew’s Fab Jab was launched.   Some 8,000 copies have been donated to schools, libraries and vaccination centres in the East of England to help families with young children understand the vaccination process, while also comforting those who may be nervous ahead of any vaccinations.  

A New Research Unit on the Biomedical Campus.

The Royal Papworth Hospital, like Cambridge University Hospital Trust, is a provider of healthcare on the Biomedical Campus servicing the whole County and sometimes beyond.  There is now also a new heart/lung centre right beside it and associated with it.  The Heart and Lung Research Institute (HLRI)  will focus on prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular and lung disease, by creating, testing and delivering new treatments to tackle the biggest causes of premature death in the world, all on one site.

The War on Cancer

In early June, an annual conference on cancer and possible approaches to its treatment was attended by about 40,000 people in Chicago.  There were several reports of amazing results for detection and treatment approaches. Whether these will move forward to proven and approved products is not yet clear.  But, there were reports of standing ovations being given to some presentations of novel approaches.

Obesity, Immunity and Cancer

Many are aware that there is an obesity problem in the UK with in excess of 30% of the population having a BMI (Body Mass Index) greater than 30.  Being overweight is defined as having a BMI between 25 and 30.  This seems to be linked to an ever-greater reliance on “junk food” which is often delivered direct to the house.  Covid lockdowns encouraged Deliveroo and others to expand their services.  A  Professor at Vanderbilt University wrote a review article on this subject in The New England Journal of Medicine in May 2021.   Diabetes and cardiovascular diseases are associated with obesity but there is now evidence that thyroid, uterine and liver cancers are more likely, or more severe, in obese people.

 

New Viruses and New Vaccines

The University of Oxford Laboratory that developed the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine is looking at a number of other viral diseases that may become problems in the next few years.  As an article in the Times of 14th June 2022 indicates, Mers, Nipah, Lassa and Marburg might all be future problems.  As the article says, they may all sound obscure but so was Covid two and a half years ago.  Can humanity be prepared for one or all of these and maybe others?

How to lower your blood pressure      

In his weekly column in the Times, Mark Porter on 14/06/22 reiterated the risks of high blood pressure and reported briefly on a device in development not yet approved until tests have been completed.  The electronic stimulator clips to an ear.  Early indications are that wearing the clip for 30 minutes a day lowers blood pressure.  The device sends a signal that influences the behaviour of the heart through a nerve that terminates in the ear. 

The Sanger Centre

When the human genome was first mapped (1995-2000) almost 40% of the effort was at the Sanger Centre in Hinxton.  This work was more focussed in Hinxton than in any other lab in the world, although the Sanger Institute did collaborate with others.  The technology has been improved since then and genomes of other creatures including bacteria are available.  Two recent announcements are about this world-class centre:

 

• Samples of many different species are being collected all over the UK and are being sent to the Sanger for sequencing which nowadays takes a few days rather than more that five years previously.  The plan is to map the DNA of all life in the UK – an estimated 70,000 species as reported by the Times on 14 June 2022.

 

• On 1st June 2022, the Cambridge Independent featured the Centre “Genome Campus expansion will help us better our world”.   Tripling the size of the campus to tackle new projects will mean a total of 7,000 people working there.  The question is where will they all live in the crowded Cambridge area?

Vaccines Prevented Nearly 20 million Covid Deaths Globally In The First Year

A new study at Imperial College London was published in the third week of June and reviewed the impact of Covid Vaccines in 2021.  In 1919, it is estimated that Spanish flu killed around 55 million people.  There was no vaccine for that flu epidemic as vaccines appeared much later.

 

Many thanks

 

David