Barton Family Practice News – March 2023

Byhowbeck

Barton Family Practice News – March 2023

Most of us are aware of the health benefits of physical exercise, a healthy diet and losing weight, but do you know the damaging effects of spending too much time sitting? Sedentary time is the time we spend sitting down and not moving. It is increasingly recognised that sedentary behaviour increases our risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and premature death, and minimising sedentary behaviour reduces these risks. Even if we exercise regularly, spending a lot of time sitting down can be bad for us. The latest physical activity guidelines recommend limiting sedentary time by replacing sitting with periods of physical activity across the waking day. Many workplaces have made changes, such as height adjustable desks, relocating printers and wastepaper bins to encourage staff to move more, but we also need to move more when we are not at work. You can find useful suggestions to keep moving online at the British Heart Foundation website – 5 ways to spend less time sitting down, and the NHS website – Why we should sit less – NHS. We need to sit less and move more.

A note on a new physiotherapy service being offered to East Staffordshire patients – First Contact Physiotherapy. The service has been running for several months and aims to provide an assessment service for uncomplicated musculoskeletal problems, i.e., joint, muscle and tendon problems. These physiotherapists are specially trained to assess and diagnose musculoskeletal problems and advise on the right sort of treatment for the problem. You may well be offered an appointment with a First Contact Physiotherapist if you ring for an appointment and have a suitable problem. Importantly, this does not replace the current physiotherapy service to which patients can be referred after being assessed by a GP.

We are pleased to welcome a new member of staff, Jenny, our Pharmacy Technician. She joins Ruth, our Clinical Pharmacist, and will support her in providing advice to patients about their prescriptions, looking after requests for repeat prescriptions, updating discharge medications and improving the safety of prescribing in the practice. We are lucky to have her on the Team.
Some of you might have met Ed Wiley, an Advanced Nurse Practitioner (or ANP), who has started doing sessions at the Practice. An ANP is a senior nurse who has been specially trained to diagnose and treat a range of conditions, such as respiratory and urinary tract infections and joint and muscular problems, to mention but a few. They do not treat mental health problems, pregnant women or small children and babies. ANPs are becoming an increasingly important part of the practice team. Our Nurse Practitioner, Claire Stamp, is currently training to become an Advanced Practitioner.
Best wishes, as ever, from the team at Barton Family Practice.