Calverton Surgery Newsletter – July 2025

Your help is needed on missed appointments

In previous newsletters I have highlighted the problem of missed appointments, unfortunately the issue remains a concern. The latest figures for May are – GP appointments 62, Nurse appointments 50, Healthcare Assistant appointments 18, Blood test appointments 26, Other clinical appointment 26. This gives a total of missed appointments of 182.

Of course, these are all appointments which if cancelled could have been used by others so at a time when there is huge pressure, this feels a significant missed opportunity. The simplest way to cancel an appointment if not needed is to either cancel through your appointment text reminder, cancel on the NHS App, ring 0115 9657801 and press option 0 or of course you can always pop into the surgery.

Next and in the news has been the NHS’s wish to find those as yet unknown victims of the infected blood products scandal. Essentially some blood products given in the 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s were contaminated and it is particularly those with Hepatitis C we need to track down. This is because Hepatitis C can cause long term health problems, often causes no symptoms but is now treatable.

As a result, from June, patients signing up to a GP practice who received a blood transfusion before 1996 will be offered a test for Hepatitis C. As a practice we would also be happy to offer this test to any of our patients who may be concerned about a blood transfusion they received from 1970 onwards. Just let us know by email (via our website) or speak to our reception team (who will message your usual GP) and the relevant blood test can be done here at the surgery. Any questions or concerns please book a routine GP telephone consultation.

Also, a reminder to our smokers who may need help in quitting. Your Health Notts offer a support service www.yourhealthnotts.co.uk  tel:- 0115 772 2515. The benefits are clear – after 20minutes your heart rate and blood pressure improve, 2 -12 weeks lung function increases, 1-9 months reduced shortness of breath. At 1 year the risk of coronary heart disease is halved, 5-15yrs the risk of stroke returns to that of a non-smoker and after 10yrs cancer risks significantly decrease.

Finally, we have several staff to update you on – Cat Goodger has just returned to our admin team from her maternity leave, Claire Stanley joins our dispensary team and Tia Oliver our nursing team. Welcome back and to all!