By appointment patients diagnosed with diabetes will receive advice and annual check-ups from our Specialist Diabetes Nurses.

For more information visit:

• The new baby hubs are a friendly place to drop in and meet other parents
• You can also speak to a health visitor or community nursery nurse about any issues – either privately or with a group of other parents who may have similar questions.
• You are welcome to weigh your baby yourself or have your baby weighed by a member of staff at any of the hubs, you can also get support for feeding and caring for your baby
• Do go along and ask any questions – the team will look forward to meeting you

Thornbury Health Visiting Team:

0300 125 5970

A carer is someone who provides support to family or friends who could not manage without this help. This could be caring for a relative, a partner or friend who is ill, frail, disabled or is affected by mental ill-health or substance misuse. It includes young people who may be caring at home.

We would like to encourage all carers to register with the GP surgery. Carers often neglect their own health as they are looking after someone else. By keeping a carer fit and well, we can support them to look after the cared for person in the best way and also look after their own physical and emotional wellbeing.

If you are a carer please contact the practice and ask to be put on the surgery carers register. You will be given a carers pack with information about support services and how the practice can help you. In most cases we can then:

• Offer a free flu vaccination
• arrange flexible appointment times to meet the carers needs
• share information about the person you care for to help in their caring role
• let you know about other organisations that can help
  

Bristol & South Gloucestershire Carers Support Centre

Contact Carers Line on: 0117965 2200

Please let your doctor or a member of the surgery team know that you care for someone.

Do you worry about what would happen to the person you look after if you became seriously ill, or had an accident?

• You can carry a Carers’ Emergency Card which identifies you as a carer and has a personal identification number.
• If you are taken seriously ill or have an accident, anybody who finds you can ring the phone number on the card and tell the emergency response team that the person you care for needs help.
• This service is free and operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Pick up a Carers Emergency Card Scheme leaflet from the surgery or visit: 

Useful Contact Numbers

• Bristol City Council Health and Social Care;
  Care Direct 0117 922 2700:
  www.bristol.gov.uk ; provides information, advice, assessment and commissions and arranges care and support services
• South Gloucestershire Health and Social Care
  Adult Duty Team 01454 866807
• The Integrated Carers Team (Bristol): 0117 3521668. Provides carers simple assessments.
• Carers Support Centre; Carersline 0117 965 2200:
  www.carerssupportcentre.org.uk ; provides information, advice and services focussed on supporting carers
• Well Aware; 0808 808 5252
  www.wellaware.org.uk ; offers a database of health, wellbeing and community resources
• Age UK: Bristol: 0117 929 7537 www.ageuk.org.uk/bristol
  South Glos: 01454 411 707 www.ageuk.org.uk/southgloucestershire
  Provides day care services, information, advice and advocacy to ensure a smooth transition into care for older people.
• Alzheimer’s Society: (Bristol and South Glos) 0117 9610 693
  www.alzheimers.org.uk
  Provides a range of services including dementia cafes, carers support groups, singing for the brain.
• Health Links: (Bristol) 0117 902 7115 or 07900264435
  www.briscomhealth.org.uk provide interpreters for health professionals
• Carers Direct; 0808 8020202;
  Website www.nhs.uk/CarersDirect ; provides a free national service offering information, advice and support for carers

Home measurement with an accurate machine can be very worthwhile, it can give you more control over your blood pressure and be reassuring. Many patients also find that their readings are lower at home than in the surgery.

In general an upper arm monitor will give you a more accurate reading and all of the research studies on blood pressure have been done with measurements from the upper arm. The first wrist monitor to be validated as accurate by the British Hypertension Society has recently been added to their list (see below). If you want to use a wrist monitor, it is vital that you follow the instructions for use very carefully, as the cuff around the wrist needs to placed exactly at the level of the heart to give an accurate reading. Even then, a special computer chip has to change the reading because blood pressure is different at the wrist compared to the upper arm.

Click on the following link to view blood pressure machines that are of a good quality (validated by the British hypertension society): 

Wrist devices are subject to errors that are not presently evaluated in the available validation protocols. The most important source of error with wrist devices is the position of the arm in relation to the heart. A wrist device may fulfil the accuracy criteria of a validation protocol when strict attention is paid to having the wrist at heart level but in home use this may not happen and as a consequence the measurements can become inaccurate. For this reason validated upper arm devices are recommended in preference to wrist devices.

We recommend that you purchase a home Blood Pressure monitor that is validated by the British hypertension society.

To view wrist devices that are acceptable view: www.bhsoc.org/bp_monitors

Losing someone close to you us a painful thing to happen to you and there is no certain way to grieve. To signpost you to help and support if you have been bereaved, please follow the link below:

By appointment Asthma sufferers and patients with other respiratory conditions will receive advice and support from our practice nurse who specialises in respiratory care.

For more information visit: