Supporting young people's sexual health

Macmillan Cancer Support 

If you live in Edinburgh and the Lothians and are affected by cancer (including family members and carers) you could benefit from this new support service.

Macmillan Cancer Support and NHS Lothian are working together to support people affected by cancer access a wide range of support, including benefits advice, help at home and emotional support.

For more information or to access the service call 07977 307 286 / 07929 784 315 or email loth.icj@nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk

Cervical Screening - 'Don't ignore it

Even if you expect everything is fine, don’t ignore your smear test invite.

It can help stop cervical cancer before it starts.

Find out more: getcheckedearly.org

Get the right care, in the right place:

Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA) Screening Programme

The aim of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) screening is to find aneurysms (bulges in blood vessels) early, and monitor or treat them. Treating an AAA early greatly reduces the chance of it rupturing and causing serious problems. Find out how the test is done and what your test results mean.

https://www.nhsinform.scot/healthy-living/screening/abdominal-aortic-aneurysm-aaa/abdominal-aortic-aneurysm-aaa-screening

NHS DIGITAL DATA SHARING OPT OUT

We would like to reassure our patients that the proposed extraction of GP data by NHS digital does NOT include any patient registered with this practice or in NHS Scotland. NHS digital provide services in England so are not able to access any data held in Scotland. You are not required to opt out as your data is already safe. We take patient confidentiality extremely seriously and safeguards are in place to protect this, including when data is used for research.

Further information on how NHS Scotland handles your personal information is on the NHS inform website.

Flu Vaccines

The way you will get your flu vaccine has changed.

People aged 70 or over will now be sent a letter by the national booking system with details of an appointment at a vaccination centre.

From now on, GP practices will not administer the Flu jab. Across Scotland, Health and Social Care Partnerships are taking on this role in line with the GP Contract agreed by BMA Scotland on behalf of Scottish GPs. This change has been agreed to relieve pressure on GP practices. As a result your local practice will not offer any flu vaccinations or handle any booking queries for people in eligible groups.

Instead, the flu vaccine will be delivered by the four Health and Social Care Partnerships in Lothian - East Lothian; Midlothian; Edinburgh and West Lothian.

If you require further information or you need to rearrange your appointment, please contact the helpline on your appointment invitation or the local enquiry line on 0300 790 6296.

Please do not contact your GP - we will not be able to help, we do not have any visibility of appointments or the booking system.

You can find out more on the websites of the Health and Social Care Partnerships or on NHS Inform

Pharmacy/Script processing time frame

Please be aware that local pharmacies are exceptionally busy - they require 24-48 hours from receiving your script in order to process it. If you have any queries regarding when your script will be ready - please speak to the relevant pharmacy directly.

Call MIA

Call MIA helps you get the right care in the right place. If you’ve got a minor injury you can get advice about treatment from the comfort of your own home. Call 111 24/7 and NHS24 will direct to Call MIA. Virtual and face-to-face scheduled appointments are available between 10am-10pm, 7 days a week

Children under 12 years old with a minor injury should attend one of the services at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Western General Hospital or St John’s Hospital, but if under 1 year old should attend the Emergency Department at RHSC or SJH.

Call MIA is available to patients with injuries that are less than 5 days old. Injuries it can advise on include:

• strains, sprains and suspected broken bones to limbs only (not back, chest or abdomen)
• wounds and minor burns (not to face, groin or hands)
• minor bumps to head and face (with no vomiting or loss of consciousness)
• simple eye injuries
• insect bites and stings with localised swelling and no evidence of allergic reaction