Solihull Living Jan - Feb 2021

normal life, but we can’t, the pandemic is
not something that we can just ignore it has
very serious repercussions in all ways and
we have to keep this in perspective. I think
we have to be patient. We are in a society
that is used to having instant gratification
and if we want something, we want it now,
unfortunately we can’t do that. The National
Health Service is distracted by the worst
global pandemic for over 100 years with
very serious repercussions and we have to
be grateful for what we have, make some
adjustments, be patient and get through
this by helping each other out as much as
possible as well as looking after ourselves.
It is quite scary and most of us are on
tenterhooks with what’s going on and
naturally if you go back to April when
the weather was lovely and warm, but
now rain, cold snap, bit of wind and
the dark days it’s rather gloomy so is
this a concern with you in the medical
profession?
Of course, and people are feeling down
and tend to, get Seasonal Affective
Disorder in the Winter anyway with the dark
days and not much daylight “What is there
to look forward to?” people might say.
Mental Health Charities are being kept very
busy, much more so though than in the last
few years. It’s always been a challenge, but
I think a lot of people are feeling particularly
anxious even if they weren’t before or more
anxious if they were before and feeling
depressed, not sleeping very well. I think
we have to be able to manage we have
to be able to give people the support so
they can reach out to mental health apps,
counsellors, doctors and just talking to
friends and family about our concerns
as I think everybody has this degree of
apprehension at the moment but that’s
normal it’s a sort of protective mechanism
but if we can share our fears and concerns
that really helps.
It’s worrying on so many levels for
instance whether you are an employee
and people you have worked around for
years are being made redundant or the
business you are working in is at threat,
it’s going to make people very jittery
and it really brings it home and makes it
difficult for most of us and knowing how
to keep above it?
I think it’s choosing the things we can do
despite it being Winter, we can still exercise
as much as possible in daylight hours, we
can cheer ourselves up with a good book,
a good film or some uplifting music. We
can talk to the people that we trust and we
love, so there are many things that we can
still do, there are some things we can’t do
but there are still plenty that we can do and
we need to hang onto those and spend as
much time enjoying life as we possibly can.
What’s concerning, and I have heard
this from a lot of people is that they are
worried about Christmas, worried about
their families and the whole thing moving
forward is unsettling. Christmas time
is usually when we can see and spend
time with our elderly relatives, and you
would maybe notice any problems or if
26 | www.solihullliving.co.uk
something is developing that you could
help with?
I suppose it’s the time of the year that
families get together after a long busy
year so the thought of having to forego
that is distressing for a lot of people but
at the same time we don’t know where
we are going to be in a couple of months’
time. I think for me as a doctor health
is paramount and we need to protect
our elderly and people with pre-existing
conditions but there are ways of connecting
and communicating which are safer than
others. If we care for our parents, then we
are already caring for them however if we
are in different households and there’s any
risk of transmitting the virus then talk on
the phone or online. It may be that we just
have to wait a little longer and have what we
would normally have at Christmas a couple
of months later.
Do you have faith in a vaccine being
beneficial?
Yes I think it’s likely that amongst all the
hundreds of vaccines that are being worked
on at the moment that we will have several
that have a good protective effect it may be
that we have to use a combination or use
a combination several times a year. There
are some very clever people working on this
and we have created vaccines against all
sorts of diseases that we couldn’t master
before like meningococcal meningitis C and
A and respiratory in situ virus in children. We
are developing vaccines all the time which
are effective and safe, and I do have faith
that a vaccine would be the answer.
With the measles jab, people stopped
having it done and am I right in saying
that rose again and more children were
getting measles and it’s a very serious
illness in children?
Yes, before we had a measles vaccination
hundreds of children died of complications
of measles and of rubella and occasionally
mumps so MMR has saved thousands of
lives and whilst people were worried by a
study from one just man that was dismissed
the coverage for a vaccine is back up to
where it was before, thank goodness.
People have forgotten that a hundred years
ago 1 in 4 children died before their 5th
birthday of disease.
We mentioned the care for our elderly
relatives and I think it’s an opportunity
when we don’t see them from year to year
to see how they are getting on and we
might as the middle aged children of elderly
parents recognise changes in them that
have been gradual that nobody else has
noticed. We might find for example that
their cognitive function is a bit slower, that
their concentration is less, and they can’t
find the words that they were looking for.
They might be forgetful or hard of hearing. If
they can’t hear you on the phone or online,
then they are going to miss out on activity.
We know that loss of hearing is the leading
preventative cause of dementia. If we can
correct peoples hearing, then they are less
likely to develop dementia.
34% of people aren’t aware that there are
things that you can do to prevent or delay
the onset of Dementia and top of the list is
making sure that people can hear well. If
people have a mild hearing loss it doubles
their Dementia risk but if they have a severe
hearing impairment the risk is 5 times that of
someone that can hear normally. Checking
on the elderly checking their hearing making
sure their vision is good, making sure they
are not too isolated, eating & drinking
properly and keeping their mind busy
with crosswords, books that sort of thing
physical activity all of these things help.
These are things you can discuss on the
phone and you can encourage people to
get their hearing checked for example.
So if somebody does have bad hearing can
a specialist visit them at home or do, we
have to take them to a specialist?
There are NHS services but they are very
much under strain at the moment but there
are some good high street outlets such
as Hidden Hearing where you can go and
have a free hearing test. You will be given
advice about what level of hearing loss if
any you have and what could be done. It
may just be something simple such as wax
removal is needed but it could be a degree
of hearing loss caused by increasing age
that could be corrected with a hearing
aid. This can change people’s lives almost
overnight and can have a dramatic effect.
It reconnects them with the world, they can
understand conversation, share jokes, they
can socialise. It makes a huge difference
and that means no more isolation or
depression and happiness again.
Finally, everybody has different things
that they have missed since this has all
happened. What have you missed most
during this difficult year?
I’ve got 5 children, 3 grandchildren and an
elderly mother whom I look after. I would
love to invite my children round or go to
stay with them, but I haven’t been able to as
it’s just too risky, I don’t want to put them at
risk and vice versa. We speak on the phone
a lot and I miss them terribly, but I look
forward to the time when we can all meet
up again.
The interview took place before we
had the news that a vaccine had been
approved, and until fully implemented
everyone should continue following the
Government’s advice. Go to www.gov.uk
for more information.