The Sides Medical Centre now have a free Health Improvement Service to support you to make healthy lifestyle changes and find out what activities are available in your local community.

We can provide support for you in the following areas:

• Healthy eating and healthy weight
• Getting more active
• Stop smoking support
• Reducing your alcohol intake
• Finding activities in your local area
• Family activities
• Building confidence
• Becoming a volunteer

What can we help with?

Get more active

Whatever your ability: we will have a class for you to help increase your physical activity. From Beginners Exercise, basic circuits, health walks, Indoor Curling and Chair Based Exercise, we can support you to access these community based sessions and find ways to help keep you motivated.

We can provide one to one, family and group support to help you eat healthier and to achieve and maintain a healthy weight. This can be done by attending regular weigh-ins, getting information on how to achieve a healthy diet and even by gaining support on how to cook healthy, affordable and tasty meals.

Help to quit smoking

If you are interested in finding out how to cut down or quit smoking, our experienced advisers can give you support, information and advice on how to achieve your goal.

Cut down on alcohol

Get information on what is a healthy amount of alcohol to drink and how to work towards cutting down.

Improve your confidence and meet new people

We can provide you with support to improve your confidence and meet new people. We have a number of community groups and social activities we can support you to attend.

We also have a number of volunteering opportunities.

Referrals to other services

We work closely with a number of other agencies in Salford and we can refer you to the correct service whether it is learning more about your local befriending service or a referral for a fire safety check.

Free gym passes

Every time you meet with our Health Improvement Service, we can provide you with a free gym pass to use at your local Fit City Leisure Centre to try out their fitness classes, swimming and gym facilities.

• Assess, diagnose, plan, implement and evaluate treatment/interventions and care for patients presenting with an undifferentiated diagnosis
• Clinically examine and assess patient needs from a physiological and psychological perspective, and plan clinical care accordingly
• Assess, diagnosis, plan, implement and evaluate interventions/treatments for patients with complex needs
• Proactively identify, diagnose and manage treatment plans for patients at risk of developing a long-term condition (as appropriate)
• Diagnose and manage both acute and chronic conditions, integrating both drug- and non-drug-based treatment methods into a management plan Prescribe and review medication for therapeutic effectiveness, appropriate to patient needs and in accordance with evidence-based practice and national and practice protocols, and within scope of practice
• Work with patients in order to support compliance with and adherence to prescribed treatments
• Provide information and advice on prescribed or over-the-counter medication on medication regimens, side-effects and interactions
• Prioritise health problems and intervene appropriately to assist the patient in complex, urgent or emergency situations, including initiation of effective emergency care
• Support patients to adopt health promotion strategies that promote healthy lifestyles, and apply principles of self-care

Well Person checks are run by our trained Health Care Assistant, and are offered to all our new patients and any existing patients who wish to find out how they could help themselves to stay healthy and check for any underlying problems.

The checks involve lifestyle discussions and advice about how to improve your diet, lose weight or stop smoking. We will check if you are up to date with relevant screening programmes (smears) and advise on self checks to look for the early signs of cancer in both men and women.

We may recommend some routine blood tests to check for diabetes and cholesterol levels if you are at risk for these problems. The checks are a chance to have a blood pressure and weight monitoring and discuss any lifestyle queries with a qualified health practitioner which you may not need a doctor’s appointment for. Ask at the reception to book an appointment.

Please bring a urine sample with you to these appointments.

(BP, Cholesterol, DM, diet, BMI, exercise, smears link, breast screening, alcohol and smoking)

Well person checks are carried out by our nurses and include height and weight measurements, Blood Pressure checks, lifestyle discussion etc. You are asked to bring a sample of urine with you for testing.

Our local chemist Tims and Parker offer advice to help you stop smoking. They offer friendly, non-pressurised support throughout the course to everyone wishing to quit.

They will discuss:

• How much you smoke
• The reasons why you smoke
• Why you want to give
• Nicotine replacement use and options
• Coping mechanisms to help quit

Ask at reception if you wish to book an appointment for this service.

It is important you see your GP to be referred to the service and follow the instructions below to soften wax build up before contacting the local District Nurse Service for an appointment. Not having your ears checked by a doctor means other problems such as infections or perforations may be overlooked.

Some wax in the ears is quite normal. It protects the skin of the ear canal; small amounts are made all the time.

The quantity of wax produced varies from person to person. Sometimes “plugs” form, causing a feeling of fullness in the ears and hearing may be reduced. A build up of wax is more common if you have narrow ear canals, you wear earplugs a lot, use a hearing aid, or work in a dusty environment.

Ear drops alone will often clear wax, but they should only be used if recommended by your doctor.

Ear irrigation with water may be required if drops don’t work. The wax must have been softened with drops before this will be done. Concentrate on one ear at a time if both are blocked.

Ear Drops

Using a dropper, put 5 – 6 drops of room temperature olive oil into the affected ear or ears 2 – 3 times a day for 2 – 3 weeks (or as prescribed by your GP).

This is best done lying on your side and letting the drops “soak in”. Do not put cotton wool into the ear immediately, as this will soak up the oil and it will be less effective.

General Advice

Do not poke anything into the ear such as cotton buds, grips etc. This can push the wax further down the ear canal and cause problems.

Try and avoid water entering the ear whilst bathing/showering/swimming. After bathing and showering, tilt the head to remove water from the ears and dry the outer ear with a towel.

Following Removal of Wax

The nurse may recommend you use 1 – 2 drops of olive oil on a weekly basis. This will help the wax to come out on its own and remain soft.

If the doctor asks you to have blood tests he or she will ask you to make an appointment at reception to attend one of the blood clinics which are held at the practice by the nursing team daily. These clinics are strictly by appointment only. The doctor may ask for a fasting blood test which means no breakfast that morning but do have a glass of water to drink.

These are done routinely in many nurse and GP consultations as part of the service we provide you.

These are run for a short period only in autumn and are particularly aimed at people aged 65 and over, people with long-term medical conditions and younger adults and children whose health is otherwise compromised and may not be able to fight off such a virus. At risk patients will be invited in by letter in advance of our yearly flu campaign clinics. If you wish to be immunised with the flu vaccination and do not receive an invitation letter you may contact local participating pharmacies that can provide this service privately for any patient who wishes to have this that does not meet the required health criteria for invitation into the practice for this.

Pneumonia vaccine is also available. Please enquire about this when you attend for your flu vaccine.

Regular cervical screening, more commonly known as ‘smear testing’ is encouraged. If you have any comments or concerns, please do not hesitate to make an appointment to discuss them with either a nurse or a doctor.

For more information on the cervical screening programme please visit the NHS website. The test is designed to look for any abnormal changes on the cervix before cancer develops, when any problems can be easily treated.

Smear tests are available every 3 years for those aged between 25 and 49 years and every 5 years for those aged 50 to 64 years. Women aged 65+ are only screened if their last 3 tests included an abnormal result. Smear tests are usually booked with the Practice nurses.

After your smear the results will take 6-8 weeks to come back and the results will always be sent to your home address by the screening programme.

Our practice does not provide these services.

If you wish to attend your local Family Planning Clinic for fitting or advice please visit the Family Planning Association’s website for further information on your local clinics and opening times.

www.fpa.org.uk