Wye Valley Surgery

Service update 

From the 1st of October 2024, we will no longer be providing post operative wound care to patients. You would be required to arrange this with the hospital who performed the surgery. However, we will continue to remove clips and sutures.

As of the 1st of December 2024, we will be stopping leg ulcer treatment in the surgery. We are currently waiting for information regarding alternative arrangements from the ICB. We aim to update our affected patients with up to date information as soon as we are notified.

Phone lines 

Please be aware that our reception team is currently short staffed resulting in longer wait times on the phone, We understand this is frustrating and we would like to reassure you we are currently working on recruitment to expand our current team . In regards to the phone lines being faulty with calls being dropped and difficulty with hearing the line we are aware of this issue and currently awaiting a confirmation date for when our new cloud based telephone system is being installed.

We would like to thank you for your patience in the meantime.

Older people

Overview

A simple overview of some the local and national support on Bucks Health Hub for older people, including general information on health, is provided under

Medical conditions

Approaching 3 million people have more than 3 long- term conditions, many of them are older people. The good news is that better management of any condition can improve quality of life.

Emergency support

Support for emergencies and general information

Support for safeguarding of adults

Stopping both the risks and experience of abuse or neglect can be found under

Common medical conditions

An overview of medical conditions is found under Overview Adult Health. This includes

Common long term conditions

You can find many of the common long-term conditions under

Under the practice section on long term conditions, we consider a broad approach which many find helpful.

Mental health

There is good support for mental health in older people both locally and nationally, a significant proportion of which can be accessed directly without needing to go through the practice.

Mental health support

Local and national support include

Common mental health conditions

Mental health conditions include

Dementia

Dementia is well supported locally, see under

This includes

Please update your personal details on the practice system if you are a carer

Wellbeing approach

Sometimes symptoms of anxiety or depression are mild, or a person may want to first try some steps themselves.

A positive future

There are some simple steps which can make a real difference.

Mental, social and physical wellbeing

An attention to mental, social and physical wellbeing can make a real difference.

These areas should not necessarily be seen as separate, so for example joining a walking club can provide exercise which can help with mental wellbeing and give you the opportunity to meet other people.

Healthy living

Healthy living is considered here with local support you can access without needing a referral from your GP.

Reduce your risk of … series

The value of considering healthy living goes beyond just a reduction in risk factors for a person’s long-term condition. It can also prevent the development of other long-term conditions and many cancers as explained under

Adopting lifestyle changes

It is important to acknowledge that changing any habit is not easy for any of us. Individually understanding how we can achieve any change on a permanent basis is an important step forward. There is more on this under

Support for the social side of life

We know that what is going on in a patient’s whole life can have an important impact on their overall health. Here there are links to information on the social side of life including local support.

Some social support quick picks include

Vaccinations

The flu vaccine has a protective impact particularly in those people who are at higher risk through age or having some long-term conditions. Vaccinations can have an important protective effect if recommended. There is information on

Screening

Many of the screening services take place outside the practice (e.g., bowel screening). You can access bowel, breast, and aortic aneuysm screening if you have been recommended any of these and missed your opportunity, see under

Health checks

This includes

  • NHS Health Check – available to certain groups of patients
  • We also offer an annual health check for people with a learning disability (see under Vulnerable People).

Reduce your risk of… series

Reduce your risk of many conditions, including

Reducing your risk of falls and accidents

Reducing the risk of

Safety

Staying safe is about knowing what to expect with any illness. Many conditions either get better on their own or improve with simple treatments. Occasionally symptoms may develop which can indicate the development of a serious condition. We consider some serious conditions and what symptoms, and signs might suggest urgent action.

Social care

There is a wide range of support both to help you stay at home, or if you prefer to stay in a care home or nursing home. This includes local support for carers.

Please update your personal details on the practice system if you are a carer

Live longer better campaign

“Live longer better” was a phrase coined as part of a campaign to support older people in remaining, physically, cognitively and emotionally active. The vision of better ageing held by many medical leaders is covered under

Direct help

There is some great local support you can access directly.

Self-referral

Self-referral involves accessing NHS health services and other support yourself without needing an appointment with your GP. This is explained further by patient info Self-referral | Patient.

Most of the local self-referral routes are covered under

Common self-referral pathways

For some of the more commonly used local self-referral pathways see “outside practice self referrals” under

Some local community self-referrals

There may be services in the local community close to the practice, which if available can be found under

Support for common conditions

Many common conditions have a support group which can be found if you look under the various conditions on

Support for groups of people

There are also many support groups for important groups of people. Support for All including:

Support for your medication and many common conditions

Your local pharmacist can offer great support, see under

 

Signposting help

The NHS can be a complex maze particularly when it comes to local services. You can use the information on this website to help you find local services. You can also use the support of

Signposting to transport

There is good support which can signpost you to local services or provide you with transport. This can be found under

Safeguarding adults

Support for safeguarding of adults (stopping both the risks and experience of abuse or neglect) can be found under

Practice Services

There may be support from one of our clinics or other services which has not been covered above and can be of help.

Planning for the future

An introduction

As Marie Curie suggest “Whatever stage you’re at in your life, it can be useful to plan for the future. Planning ahead can help make sure that other people know what you want and may make it more likely that your wishes will be understood and followed in the future. It can also give you more control over your future treatment and care. And it can make things easier for your family and friends, as they’ll know what you want.”
“Getting started with planning ahead.” Marie Curie website. Retrieved 14 February 2023.

Some key questions

The NHS website poses some important questions “Would your partner or family know:

  • about the type of care, you would like to receive or where you would like to die?
  • if you would want to be admitted to hospital or resuscitated (helped to start breathing again, if you stop)?
  • if you want to refuse any types of treatment?

These might not be easy topics to think about but, by discussing your wishes with your family, you could be saving them from having to help doctors make difficult decisions later on without knowing what you would have wanted.”
“Why plan ahead?” The NHS website. Retrieved 14 February 2023.

Local and national support to help you plan for the future

Under End of life there is support for planning for the future, including steps you might take decades before your death such as with

  •  A lasting power of attorney
  • An advanced statement or decision (living will)

Quality care check lists and local support

The planning for the future checklist can help you better understand the options you have with any future planning and some of the local services available to help you. Any plan you make can be revisited and may change over time. The checklist is not submitted to the practice.

The checklist can be found under:

Some other checklists

For a further explanation of checklists and some other checklists which may be helpful, see under

Videos and podcasts

On the videos and podcasts page there are links to some relevant videos and podcasts covering various topics relating to older people.

Friends and family test

We welcome feedback on your experience, including good experiences and where we can improve. This can easily be done through the Friends and Family Test found under

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