Fallowfield Medical Centre

Measles cases on the rise in England and across Europe. Make sure you and your family are protected against becoming seriously unwell with measles by checking you are up to date with the MMR vaccine. 

Across England, on average one in ten children are not up to date with their MMR vaccinations, with some areas of the country as low as two in five, putting thousands of children at risk of catching measles and the disease spreading in unvaccinated communities.  

Just two doses of the MMR vaccine gives you and your family lifelong protection against catching measles. The first vaccine is given at age one year an the second at age 3 years and 4 months old. If you’ve missed any doses it’s not too late to catch up. Contact your GP Practice today to book an appointment to get up to date.  

If you are unsure if you or your child are up to date check your child's red book or GP records and make an appointment to catch up any missed doses.  

For more information on the NHS vaccination schedule, please visit.

Veterans living in England can contact Op COURAGE for support with their mental health and wellbeing. Visit http://nhs.uk/opcourage.

Remember: Your local pharmacy can offer advice and treatment for lots of minor illnesses and ailments - without the need for an appointment!

Dental support can be accessed via the Greater Manchester dental helpline (0333 332 3800), available from 8am to 10pm every day, including weekends and bank holidays for those who need help urgently when their practice is closed, or do not have a regular dentist.

Greater Manchester’s Urgent Eye Care Service can provide assessments and treatment quickly if a sudden change in vision, red or painful eyes or new flashes or floaters are seen. This is a free NHS service, made up of local optician teams. Available to anyone registered with a Greater Manchester GP. To find out more, visit www.primaryeyecare.co.uk

Foodbanks - There are lots of foodbanks across Greater Manchester. Many of these services offer more than just food, some may offer support around mental health and wellbeing, food parcels, financial advice and support, community ran groups and much more. For support in your local area, visit www.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk/helping-hand/food.

Mental health crisis support - Free, 24/7 mental health crisis support is available across Greater Manchester. If you feel you need mental health support, please contact one of these 24/7 helplines - they’re available to anyone of any age:

• For Bolton, Manchester, Salford, Trafford and Wigan residents, call 0800 953 0285.
• For Bury, Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale, Oldham, Stockport, Tameside and Glossop the number is 0800 014 9995. 

Bereavement support - If you have been bereaved and need support or advice, call the Greater Manchester Bereavement Service on 0161 983 0902 or visit www.greater-manchester-bereavement-service.org.uk. This service is available for anyone living or working in Greater Manchester who has been bereaved or affected by a death by whatever cause, no matter how long ago.

Loneliness and social isolation support (Chatty Cafes) - The Chatty Café Scheme is a non-profit organisation tackling loneliness and offers three services designed to reduce loneliness and/or social isolation. They include face to face meet ups at venues offering ‘Chatter and Natter’ tables where customers can get together and have a chat, virtual sessions, and a telephone service. For more information or to find your local Chatty Café visit www.thechattycafescheme.co.uk.

Free digital mental wellbeing support - Access free, safe, and anonymous professional support online. There are no waiting lists for support and no referral needed. Access to these platforms is available instantly 24/7. Support available includes: Live chat or messaging with qualified mental health professionals; self-help tools and activities; Visit Kooth (for ages 10 to 25) www.kooth.com or Qwell (for ages 26+) and  www.qwell.io/.

You can also access SilverCloud, an online therapy programme for adults proven to help with stress, anxiety, low-mood and depression.

• SilverCloud for adults 16yrs +
• Supporting an Anxious Child (for parents and carers of children aged 5 to 11)
• Supporting and Anxious Teen (for parents and carers of teenagers aged 12 to 18)

You can access these programme here gm.silvercloudhealth.com/signup.

As always the first port of call for non-emergency health needs should be  NHS 111 Online or call 111.

Did you know you can manage repeat prescriptions from Fallowfield Medical Centre in the NHS App?

You can easily choose where your prescriptions are sent. So, if you know you'll be away from home or you are moving home, you can change your nominated pharmacy from within the app.

It’s easy to use, and, if you hit a snag, you can go to ‘Help’ in the top right-hand corner of the app or visit nhs.uk/helpmeapp.

Find out more about the NHS App at: www.nhs.uk/nhsapp

Anyone in England can register with a GP surgery to access NHS services and it's free to register. You do not need proof of address or immigration status, ID or an NHS number. 

However, if you can provide us with supporting documentation, it can help us:

• confirm the spelling of your name and address
• help the surgery find your medical records or transfer them from your current GP
• confirm that you live in the surgery's area (or "practice boundary") if we do not accept patients from outside this area

If you do not have a permanent address, you can still register using a temporary address or the address of the GP surgery. For more information on registering with a GP practice, please visit the NHS website, or if you have any questions please contact us directly.

About Long Covid

The Ellies Gift App

Alternatives to Admission - Wythenshawe ED (Manchester Community)

Dear patients, 

The strike action taking place means that the ambulance service in Greater Manchester will be prioritising emergency treatment - patients seeking urgent treatment will be seen. 

Ambulance staff will be striking in Greater Manchester, however there will be no nurses striking. 

This means that on some or all of the days where striking is taking place, there will be problems accessing ambulances and non emergency hospital services may be disrupted. 

Regardless of any strike action taking place, it is really important that patients who need urgent medical care continue to come forward, especially in emergency and life-threatening cases - when someone is seriously ill or injured, or their life is at risk. 

GP services are not impacted by this strike action and none of our practice staff will be striking. Please continue to attend your GP appointments, unless you are contacted and told otherwise.  

There will be fewer ambulances on the roads during industrial action, with the NHS prioritising those with life-threatening needs. As a result, patients whose conditions are not life-threatening are unlikely to get an ambulance on strike days. 

During strike days, it is likely 999 call handlers will be very busy. NHS 111 call centres will have fewer staff and longer call response times are expected. For this reason, people are advised to seek help from NHS 111 online, unless their call relates to a child under 5 or they do not have internet access. 

If you need medical help or advice, please consider the other services available first, details of which can be found on the NHS GM website. 

Check that you have sufficient supply of regular medicines for the festive period. Order repeat prescriptions via your GP practice or local pharmacy and leave plenty of time as they may be busy. Please avoid using NHS 111 for this purpose. 

Patients should only call 999 if it is a medical or mental health emergency [when someone is seriously ill or injured and their life is at risk]. 

Ambulances will still be able to respond in these situations, but this may only be where there is an immediate risk to life. 

For more information on when to call 999 and when to go to A&E, you can visit the NHS UK website.