We are proud to promote VCH (Volunteer Centre Hackney) and their activities, which have an array of sessions to attend for patients and residents to keep busy at this time of the year. If you wish to join or attend a session please give Ellie a call at 07305016640 or you can reach out to her on the alternate methods on the poster.

From 31st January 2024, people across Hackney can pop down to their local pharmacy for help with seven minor conditions which would previously have required a GP appointment.

Earlier this year 75% of people said they wanted to see pharmacies offering more healthcare services such as treating urinary tract infections or sore throats, and now they will be. Almost all pharmacies will offer the new service, giving advice and, if needed, NHS medicines, to treat seven common health conditions – and all without needing to get a GP appointment.

As experts in medicines and managing minor illnesses, pharmacists have been backed by Government and the NHS to provide a new NHS ‘Pharmacy First’ service. Many pharmacies across City and Hackney have signed up to support people in certain age groups seeking help for sore throats, earache in children, sinusitis, infected insect bites, impetigo, shingles, and urinary tract infections in women.

If you have symptoms that suggest you may have one of these conditions, you can now walk into a pharmacy and be offered a consultation with the pharmacist. Under the new service pharmacists can provide advice and, if clinically necessary, will offer an NHS medicine to treat it (NHS prescription charge apply if you normally pay for medicines supplied on prescription). Should the pharmacy team be unable to help, you will be directed to your GP surgery or A&E as appropriate.

By thinking ‘Pharmacy First’, people will find it easier and quicker to get the help they need and bypass the 8am rush to book an appointment with their GP. The new service is part of a wider expansion of healthcare services that will empower pharmacists to use more of their skills and give people more choice about their healthcare. It is also hoped that the service will be expanded to include more conditions in the future. Find the new service at a pharmacy near you using the NHS website: https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/prescriptions-and-pharmacies/

Dear City & Hackney Residents,

Bowel cancer is the 4th most common cancer in the UK, but early detection can make all the difference.

When caught early, survival rates increase significantly, making the screening process vital​​​. Our public forum will explore the testing process and give you an opportunity to share your experiences.
Date: Tuesday, December 12th
Time: 3:30 PM
Location:  Online Zoom meeting
Speakers: Cancer Alliance & NHS Bowel Screening Service

Click on the link below to book your place now. Your Voice Matters!
 See you on the 12th December,
 The Community Voice team.
Click Here to Book your Place

From the first of November the NHS App is changing for the better now allowing you view your records and book appointments too. Plus much more…. Download the NHS app for Android and IOS.

Visit the website to find out more

Visit the website to find out more

The Young Hackney Scheme is provideing young people under the age of 25 with free condoms, this can be accessed from a range of local venues including pharmacies, youth hubs and colleges.

The NHS Community Pharmacy Consultation Service (CPCS) is an NHS England initiative providing more convenient treatment closer to patients’ homes.

Lots of conditions are more appropriate for a consultation with a Community Pharmacist, rather than a GP.  Our Receptionists will discuss your symptoms and, if appropriate, send you for a same day appointment with an NHS Community Pharmacist for a personal consultation.  You will have a choice over which pharmacy you are referred to.

Community Pharmacists are highly trained healthcare professionals with 5 years training and spend a high percentage of their time helping patients with minor illness

What to do if your child is unwell A4 Leaflet

What is Scarlet Fever Poster

What is Invasive Group A Strep Poster

Returning Inhalers

Dear patients please click on the following link to read our 2022 patient survey results. We will be discussing with our patient participation group as well to agree on any areas of improvement.

https://www.gp-patient.co.uk/patientexperiences?practicecode=F84619

Many patients have expressed concern over the extraction of data by NHS Digital. A new system was scheduled to take place on the 1^st September but has now been postponed without a date being set for when it will take place. This is to allow NHS England and the government to make changes in the light of concerns that have been expressed and to engage with patients and doctors.

This information is important to the country and has been used to plan the response to the Covid 19 pandemic, including the vaccine roll-out and to understand how to support patients suffering from ‘long Covid’.

However, the new data extraction will only now take place, when;

• You, as a patients have the means to delete your data from a data upload, even after a data collection has taken place. You will be also able to opt-out from any future collections. The way that you will do this is being made more simple.
• The present back-log of opt-outs expressed by patients, whether at practice level or on-line ( with NHS Digital) have been cleared.
• A “Trusted Research Environment” has been developed and implemented within NHS Digital itself.

This mean that the data collected will only be accessed within this environment and that it will not be able to be copied or transported outside of the environment. Data can only be copied and transferred outside of this secure environment, if you, as a patient have given your explicit consent; e.g. for a specific research study.

NHS Digital promises that:

• The data extraction will continue to be both pseudonymised, i.e. the data identifyingyou as you does not reach NHS Digital and will be encrypted by GP System suppliers.
• Wants to improve its communications:
  1. By continuing to listen to patients and other stakeholders,
  2. Will consult via series of events that aim to explain the programme and engage in co-design with stakeholders as to how the programme will move forward.
  3. Will demonstrate howpublic feedback is being used to shape how the data is collected and how the data informs research and planning across the NHS

Jo Churchill, the under-secretary of State for Primary Care promises that:

“Once the data is collected, it will only be used for the purposes of improving health and care. Patient data is not for sale and never will be for sale.”

The full text of his letter is available here as a PDF.