Flu – Coughs – Colds and sore throats These diseases usually get better by themselves and last only a few days. They are commonly due to viral infections. Coughs, colds, sore throats, aches and pains, fevers and nausea all usually improve without any need to see a doctor.
If the symptoms are uncomfortable then you can take simple measures like bed rest, Paracetamol and/or Aspirin, fluids or simple foods.
What to do if you have a temperature
A raised temperature often happens even with mild infections like colds or coughs. A normal temperature is 37 degrees centigrade or 98.4 degrees farenheit. People usually know if they have a temperature they feel hot or cold, sweaty or shivery and unwell. Children may be miserable, have no energy or look flushed. Small babies may seem very sleepy and not want to feed.
A higher temperature or fever means the body is fighting the infection. Help it along by drinking plenty of water or weak squash, keeping the room at a comfortable temperature with fresh air circulating, and sponging with cool or lukewarm water. Adults can take Paracetamol tablets and you can give Paracetamol syrup to children under the age of 12 years old.
Contact the GP immediately if the person has a temperature over 40 degrees centigrade or 104 degrees farenheit, if there is a stiff neck, cramps or vomiting, or if a child seems weak and listless or suffers a fit or convulsion.
Gastroenteritis (Diarrhoea with or without vomiting)
This is normally caused by an infection (usually a virus) in the stomach and/or bowel. Diarrhoea (the runs) and vomiting may be unpleasant and uncomfortable but are nature’s way of flushing infection out of the system. Unless symptoms are prolonged or very severe, it is usually better not to take any medicines or tablets. These may only interfere with your body’s natural responses, possibly ‘bottling everything up’ which can lead to further problems. The symptoms usually get better by themselves within 24 – 48 hours.
The best remedy is to take sips of plain fluid (water not milk-based), sugar and salt solutions (which you can get over the counter from the chemist) or breast milk for breast fed babies. If the problems continue, or a young baby is affected, the surgery will be pleased to advice on appropriate treatment.
Indigestion and Stomach Ache Most problems are not serious and are usually caused by indigestion, wind or irregular eating habits. Indigestion is a common complaint and often linked to a known cause – such as unwise eating and drinking. Some people suffer the symptoms more often because of an underlying problem like inflammation of the stomach, an ulcer or hiatus hernia. Whatever the cause, the symptoms are usually quite similar and can be distressing. They may include pain in the upper abdomen, wind, nausea and heartburn. They can often be helped by taking antacids, peppermint, Paracetamol (not Aspirin) and possibly a hot water bottle. If they do not go away and are severe you should seek advice from your doctor.
Coping with Minor Ailments
Burns Cool down the affected area immediately with lots of cold water and continue to do this for at least 10 minutes. If the burn is larger than 4 or 5 inches across, if it is on the face or if the skin is broken, see the nurse at you GP surgery as soon as possible. If the burn is deep, heavily blistered and very painful, or if the skin has turned white or black, go to the nearest Accident and Emergency (Casualty/A&E) department immediately.
Cuts Try to stop the bleeding from a minor cut by pressing it, with clean hands, for a few minutes; hold a cut arm or leg up high. If a cut bleeds freely any germs will normally be washed away by the blood. If it is a deep cut and the edges cannot be pulled together, ask for advice at your GP surgery or go to the A&E department. Redness or swelling can be a sign of infection in a cut or graze and you should make an appointment to have it seen at your GP surgery. You may need to have a tetanus injection if you haven’t had one for 10 years.
Sprains I stands for ice. Pack the sprained area immediately with ice or a bag of frozen peas, wrapped in a cloth, to reduce swelling and speed up the healing process. Keep this on for about 20 minutes.
C means compression. Bind the injured area with an elastic bandage so it is well supported, but not so tight that it restricts blood flow. Re-tighten a few times a day.
E means elevation. Rest the sprained area and keep it held high. For example, if you have a sprained ankle, rest it on a stool that is higher than the chair you are sitting on.
Head Injuries For a minor knock or bump, put on a cold damp cloth. The person should be taken to see a GP or to A&E without delay if he/she has the following symptoms: vomiting, unconsciousness, double vision, drowsiness or confusion.
Choking Stand behind the person and hug them firmly above the waist, pushing your fist up under their ribs to make them cough up the blockage. For a young child, hold the child upside down and thump on the back.
The Recovery Position This is a position in which to place a person who is unconscious. Turn the person onto their side with their head turned to one side. Then bring the top leg over so that it is resting on the ground. This will help prevent the person from vomiting or choking.
Warning Signs The following warning signs may tell you something is wrong and that you should arrange to see your GP:
The practice has information on a wide range of local and national self help and support groups. Ask at Reception or your doctor for more information.
Useful Telephone Numbers
Removing a Patient from Our Lists
The doctor must be satisfied that any decision to remove a patient from the list is fair and does not allow any prejudice to influence this decision. The decision must also not be based on a patient’s complaints to the practice or for any financial reasons.
We will follow the following procedure:
The patient will be removed from the medical list on the eighth day after his/her details are received by the Care Trust.
Confidentiality and Information Security:
Why we collect information about you The professionals caring for you keep records about your care and treatment. These help ensure that you receive the best possible care from us. They may be written (manual records), or held on a computer (electronic records). The information can include:
How your records are used to help you Your records are used to guide and administer the care you receive. They ensure that:
Passing on information to other health professionals
We may need to pass information about you on to other health professionals if you are seeing them about a medical problem. We will make sure that we transfer this information in a secure and confidential way.
How your records are used to help the NHS
Some of this information will be held centrally, but where it is used for statistical purposes, stringent measures are taken to ensure that individual patients cannot be identified. Anonymous statistical information may also be passed to organisations with a legitimate interest, including universities and research institutions.
In some situations, person identifiable information may be used for important or essential NHS purposes, such as research. This will normally only ever be done with your specific consent, unless the law requires information to be passed on to protect public health. Examples of this are: if you have suffered from serious food poisoning information may be passed to the local Environmental Health Officer; if you or others are at risk of serious harm information may be passed to the relevant organisation.
How we keep your records confidential Sometimes the law requires us to pass information on to other organisations, such as when a baby is born or to report certain infectious diseases. We may need to share some information about you with other organisations so that we can all work together for your benefit. However, we only ever use or pass on your information to others if there is a genuine need for it. The sharing of some types of very sensitive personal information is strictly controlled by law. With your agreement, your relatives, friends and carers can also be given information about you to keep them up-to-date regarding your care. Ask at reception for a copy of our consent form, or pick up a leaflet in the waiting room.
Passing on Information to other 3rd Parties
If you consent to releasing information from your records to another agency, for example an insurance company or your employer, this permission should be written, signed and dated.
Who are our partner organisations? Your information may also, subject to strict agreements describing how it will be used, be shared with: How you can get access to your own health records You have a legal right to see your own health and social care records. The Data Protection Act 1998 allows you to find out what information about you is held on computer systems, and in certain manual records.
We do not charge for you to look at your records but we make the following charges for copies:
You are not allowed to see any records which include confidential information about a third party, even if this is a family member.
How to Amend Inaccurate Information Under the terms of the Data Protection Act, you have the right to have inaccurate data corrected. This only applies to factual information which is incorrect or misleading, or to an opinion based on factually incorrect or misleading information. You should write to the practice asking for a correction to be made, stating the reasons you believe the information to be inaccurate.
Arrangements for private discussions at the surgery
If you wish to discuss anything of a confidential nature outside the consulting rooms, please ask our reception staff who can arrange this.
Confidentiality and Information Security in other Areas
Telephone: When you phone the surgery our staff will check who you are before sharing any confidential information. Unless in an emergency, we will not leave messages on patients’ answer machines.
Repeat prescription requests by email: Patients may now order their repeat prescriptions by emailing unionbraea84044@nhs.net. Please note we cannot guarantee full encryption of this service.
Further information If at any time you would like to know more about how we use your information you can ask the person in charge of your care. If you do not feel comfortable doing this you can also find out more by writing to:
Practice Caldicott Guardian and IG lead is: Hilary Ford
Alternatively, you can speak to someone by phoning: 01289 330 333
Information available from Union Brae and Norham Practice providing medical services under contract to the NHS) under the Freedom of Information Act model publication scheme
Information covered by this scheme is only about the primary, general or personal medical services we provide under contract to the National Health Service.
This will be current information only
Current and previous financial year as a minimum Current and previous year as a minimum Current and previous year as a minimum Current information only (mark “not held” against any policies not actually held) Currently maintained lists and registers only Current information only
Remember - I C E
Berwick Infirmary
08448 118111
Berwick Maternity Unit
01289 356623
Tweedmouth Clinic
01289 356960
Social Services
01289 334000
Home Help Organiser
01665 603411
Health Visitor
01289 356952
District Nurse
01289 356953
Your information may also be used to help us:
Information to be published How the information can be obtained (eg hard copy, website) Cost
Class1 - Who we are and what we do
(Organisational information, structures, locations and contacts)Website and leaflet Free of charge
Doctors in the practice Website and leaflet Free of charge
Contact details for the practice (named contacts where possible with telephone number and email address (if used)) Website and leaflet Free of charge
Opening hours Website and leaflet – and surgery signs Free of charge
Other staffing details Website and leaflet Free of charge
Class 2 – What we spend and how we spend it
(Financial information relating to projected and actual income and expenditure, procurement, contracts and financial audit) Via the Practice Manager on request Free of charge
Total cost to the PCT/LHB/HSSB of our contracted services. Via the Practice Manager on request Free of charge
Audit of NHS income Via the Practice Manager on request Free of charge
Class 3 – What our priorities are and how we are doing
(Strategies and plans, performance indicators, audits, inspections and reviews) Practice PDP available from Practice Manager Charge for copying
Plans for the development and provision of NHS services Practice PDP available from Practice Manager Charge for copying
Class 4 – How we make decisions
(Decision making processes and records of decisions) HQS Policies and Clinical meeting minutes available from Practice Manager Charge for copying
Records of decisions made in the practice affecting the provision of NHS services HQS Policies and Clinical meeting minutes available from Practice Manager Charge for copying
Class 5 – Our policies and procedures
(Current written protocols, policies and procedures for delivering our services and responsibilities) N/A N/A
Policies and procedures about the employment of staff HQS Policies and available from Practice Manager Charge for copying
Internal instructions to staff and policies relating to the delivery of services HQS Policies and available from Practice Manager Charge for copying
Equality and diversity policy HQS Policies and available from Practice Manager Charge for copying
Health and safety policy HQS Policies and available from Practice Manager Charge for copying
Complaints procedures (including those covering requests for information and operating the publication scheme) HQS Policies and available from Practice Manager Charge for copying
Records management policies (records retention, destruction and archive) HQS Policies and available from Practice Manager Charge for copying
Data protection policies HQS Policies and available from Practice Manager Charge for copying
Policies and procedures for handling requests for information HQS Policies and available from Practice Manager Charge for copying
Patients’ charter HQS Policies and available from Practice Manager Charge for copying
Class 6 – Lists and Registers
None held N/A
Any publicly available register or list (if any are held this should be publicised; in most circumstances existing access provisions will suffice) None held N/A
Class 7 – The services we offer
(Information about the services we offer, including leaflets, guidance and newsletters produced for the public) Website and leaflet Free of charge
The services provided under contract to the NHS HQS Policies and available from Practice Manager Free of charge
Charges for any of these services Only where photocopying of documents required N/A
Information leaflets HQS Policies and available from Practice Manager Free of charge
Out of hours arrangements HQS Policies and available from Practice Manager Free of charge 
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Debbie McLeman October 2011