July 2013 - NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale

Our ironwoman
Rochdale GP Jennie
Ransome is gearing
up to tackle one of the
toughest endurance
challenges in the world.
Jennie, who is a GP
at Stonefield Street
Surgery in Milnrow,
will take part in the
Ironman UK triathlon
on Sunday 4 August
to raise money for two
charities – Christian
Aid and Springhill
Hospice.
The gruelling race involves a 2.4-mile open water swim, a 112-mile cycle
and a 26-mile marathon finishing in Bolton town centre.
Jennie said: “My background is mainly running but I’ve done a couple of
half iron distance triathlons which have gone well and I’m training hard.
“I manage to fit the running and swimming around my life, but have used
annual leave to practice the cycling as you need to do up to seven hours
at a time.”
Jennie is hoping for dry, cool weather and her husband and children will
be there to support her on the day.
You can sponsor Jennie online on her Just Giving pages for Christian Aid
and for Springhill Hospice.
New sites for sore eyes
NHS Heywood, Middleton and
Rochdale Clinical Commissioning
Group has commissioned a minor
eye conditions service to allow
the assessment and management
of recent onset minor eye
conditions within the primary
care setting.
Management of the patient will
be maintained, where possible,
within this new primary care
service in order to reduce the
demand for urgent hospital
appointments.
From 19 August, patients can
self-refer or be signposted to
the service by GPs, optometrists,
pharmacists and A&E
Patients will need to telephone
the service provider to book an
appointment directly. Health
professionals signposting patients
to the service will be expected
to provide patients with written
details of the provider so that
the patients can make an
appointment. Where necessary,
health professionals can make an
appointment on their patient’s
behalf.
The service is provided by
accredited optometrists across
the Rochdale borough. Copies
of a patient leaflet containing
details of participating
optometrists and posters to
promote the service will be
sent out to all practices in
coming weeks.
Further information, including
the full list of conditions covered,
electronic copies of the leaflet
and poster, will be made available
on the CCG website in due course.
There is also a dedicated website
for patients www.hmrmecs.co.uk.
Guidelines on managing
allergic reactions in
children and young people
The Children’s Community Nursing Teams covering
Bury, Oldham and Rochdale, provided by Pennine
Care NHS Foundation Trust, have developed new
guidelines for how to manage allergic reactions
in children and young people.
The guidance states that all children and young
people with severe allergies and an adrenaline
auto injector pen prescribed should have an
up-to-date allergy management plan in place.
The child, parents and carers (including school
and nursery staff) will receive annual updates
for allergy awareness and administration of the
adrenaline auto injector pens.
To enable the delivery of this training, teaching
sessions will be delivered for health professionals.
Please see the guidance for details and
professional responsibilities.
Any queries should be directed to Donna Pearce,
Community Nursing Sister, Children’s Community
Team, on 01706 676333 or by email
donnapearce@nhs.net.
Teaching parents
to self-care
Dr Danielle Peet,
GP at Dr Stockton
and Thompson’s
Surgery, Middleton,
and Clinical Lead for
Children’s and
Maternity, has run
two pilot sessions
to help parents understand how best to care for
babies and young children.
The sessions took place on 19 and 26 July at Langley
Sure Start Children’s Centre and were well attended
and received by local parents.
Danielle said: “We regularly see high numbers of
parents bringing babies and young children to the
surgery with minor health ailments, so these
sessions were about giving parents the confidence
they need to self-care for their little ones while
understanding how to recognise symptoms and
when they need to seek medical advice.”
The sessions were led by parents and provided an
opportunity to gain views on what they would like
to see if they were rolled out across the borough in
the future.
Danielle added: “The parents were enthusiastic
about learning about things like what symptoms
to look out for in their children and understanding
when a temperature can be ok and when it’s not.
We also discussed what is important to have in the
home to help self-care.”
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