Protect your loved ones. Download the app. 

The new NHS COVID-19 app, now available to download for free in England and Wales, is the fastest way to see if you're at risk from coronavirus. The faster you know, the quicker you can alert and protect your loved ones and community.

The app has a number of tools to protect you, including contact tracing, local area alerts and venue check-in. It uses proven technology from Apple and Google, designed to protect every user’s privacy. The app does not have access to phone contacts or any other personal information held on your phone. This includes names. contacts, email addresses or phone numbers.

Find out more and download the app over on the NHS website.

It's never to late to give up smoking, join in and quit for good this Stoptober!

There is plenty of information and support on quitting over on the NHS Better Health website. You can also download the free NHS Stoptober app to help you quit smoking and start breathing easier.

Stoptober is a 28-day stop smoking challenge. The app allows you to:

• track your progress
• see how much you're saving
• get daily support

If you can make it to 28 days smoke-free, you're 5 times more likely to quit for good!

From the 20^th of May 2020 all adults in England will be considered to have agreed to donate their organs and tissues when they die. Individuals still have the option to ‘opt out’ if they do not wish to be a registered organ donor.

Your family will still be involved and your faith, beliefs and culture will continue to be respected in making a final decision. It’s important to tell your family about your choice so they can support your decision and if you change your mind in the future to ensure your decision is honoured.

You can opt in, opt out, change your recorded decision and find out more information on the NHS Organ Donor website.

Due to the current pandemic, flu clinics will be operating slightly differently this year at Alton Surgery. We will be holding two clinics on Saturday 26th September and Saturday 17th October at Alton Village Hall. These are appointment only clinics and currently only available to those in high risk categories.

High risk categories include:

• Adults 65 and over
• Pregnant women
• People with certain medical conditions

Please call reception for more information or to book a slot.

To help everyone access the NHS services they need make sure you know where to go to find the most suitible service and treatment for your needs.

You can find out more about the different services available over on the North Staffordshire Clinical Comissioning Group website.

To help you take control and manage your health from home, Staffordshire County Council is now offering access to a super easy-to-use Health App finder at www.staffordshire.gov.uk/appfinder. Discover hundreds of apps proven to help manage specific conditions and more general health and wellbeing which have all been reviewed and rated, so you can find out what's best for you.

To help you take care of your arthritis and build up support networks during lockdown Arthritis Action have made many of their resources available online.

They have video resources to help you with different elements of self-management from relationships to exercise. They are also running Arthritis Action Group meetings online for peer-led support in managing your condition over lockdown. 

Click here to take a look at their website for more information.

The 15th to the 21st of June is Learning Disability Week! This year's theme is the importance of friendships during lockdown. We have all been living in lockdown which means may people with learning disabilities are feeling incredibly isolated, as they have been unable to see their friends and families. We want to show the importance of friendships to help tackle isolation, as well as exploring the different ways of maintaining friendships during this unusual time.

Mencap have put together some of the ways you can get involved with Learning Disability Week 2020 over on their website.

Click here to see how you can get involved.

If you have been shielding or not able to get outdoors during the lock-down period, Public Health England has released a handy guide to staying active at home.  

The guide is filled with example exercises, plenty of tips and tricks, advice on exercising safely and lists of useful contacts for further assistance.

Find out more information and download the booklet by clicking here. 

If you struggle with getting online you can now call 119 to book a coronavirus swab test. You can also ask any questions relating to having a test and getting results, this includes drive through test sites, mobile test units and home tests.  

The Call Centre handles all enquiries about the testing process, from how someone books an appointment, to what they do upon receipt of their result. 

The Centre is open from 7am to 11pm and can be accessed by people with speech or language difficulties by calling 18001 0300 303 2713, as well as by people whose first language isn't English. 

If you have a learning disability and need to go into hospital during these difficult times the NHS have designed a ‘Grab and Go’ sheet to work alongside your hospital passport.

It gives the information that doctors and nurses will need if you go to hospital because of COVID-19.

If you need help completing the form please ask:

• Someone who knows you well like a family member or support worker
• A social worker
• A support group you are in touch with
• Sign up for a webinar with Learning Disability England.

Find out more by reading the guidance here, and access the form here.

Patients are still able to come into the practice to attend any routine vaccinations.

It is still just as important to protect yourself and your family to help prevent outbreaks of other infectious diseases.

Call the practice to make a planned appointment with one of our clinicians.

You can also check the NHS website here to see what vaccinations you or your child may need.

Have you been getting crafty in lockdown?

Why not take a look at this handy guide from Public Health England on how to make your own facemasks at home.

Click here for all the instructions.

Whether you have had your income reduced or are worried about increasing debt over the lockdown period, Citizens Advice is here to help you.

Our team of local, specialist debt advisers are here to provide valuable help and ease your debt worries, through our phone or email facilities.

Let us help you find long term solutions to your finances, to allow you to get back to ‘normal’ after lockdown ends. We can help with your debts, bills, energy supplies and other financial issues. We can also check you are receiving all the benefits you may be entitled to!

Call 01782 408625 or email moneyadvice@snscab.org.uk for confidential, FREE money and/or debt advice.

If phoning, please leave a message for us with your name and contact number and we will call you within 1 working day.

During this challenging pandemic we wanted to share a few thank yous from all of us here at the surgery.

• Thank you to the team at Lafarge for kindly donating face masks, gloves and antibacterial hand gel from the cement works in Cauldon.
•  Thank you to Painsley Catholic College for sending protective goggles from the science labs.

And...Thank you to all the members of our community who have continued to show their support and understanding during these very difficult times.

We are incredibly grateful!