Newsletter: April 2025

Staffing Changes

We are delighted to welcome Janine Jones to our nursing team. Janine joins us as a practice nurse working alongside Nicola, replacing Jacqui who left us last year. We have also had to say goodbye to our Lead Nurse Isabel who has moved to work at a practice closer to her home. We wish her all the best for the future. We have appointed a new Lead Nurse and look forward to introducing them soon.

We have welcomed Jane Lowe as a new Receptionist to work alongside our wonderful team.

We have also said goodbye to our Practice Manager Emma Britton, who left at the beginning of March. We have recruited a new Practice Manager who will start with us in June, but in the meantime we are indebted to Tracey Wilson who has come out of retirement to support as as an interim Practice Manager until then. Tracey will be a familiar face for many of you, having been our longstanding Practice Manager for over 30 years before her retirement. We are so grateful to have her support.

Patient Participation Group

There is also change at our PPG! We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to Neil Stutchbury, who was our PPG Chair for just over 4 years. Neil has been instrumental in helping to grow and organise our PPG. We have hugely benefitted from Neil’s experience in this area, and are so grateful for the time and effort he has put into this role.

We would also like to thank Dr David Cronk, who has been PPG Secretary for over two years. David has played a vital role in organising our quarterly PPG meetings, arranging external speakers and running the agenda of the meetings. He also set up free Basic Life Support training locally, which was very well-received.

Our PPG is a group designed to provide support to the Practice in the role of a “critical friend”, generate ideas for improvement and development, as well as feedback on Practice performance and changes. We meet four times a year to have an external talk on a healthrelated topic, and update from the practice, and a chance to steer the work of the PPG. Any patient registered at Bourn Surgery is eligible to join, and you can do so via the Patient Participation Group page on our website, or by emailing bournppgsecretary@gmail.com.

We are delighted to have had volunteers come forward to take over the roles of PPG Chair and Secretary, and many thanks to Rosie O’Brien and Julie Pashley for doing so! Our next PPG meeting is scheduled for the evening of Wednesday 21st May, so please do get in touch on the contact details above in advance if you would like to join us.

Lung Cancer Screening

A new NHS Lung Cancer Screening service has been launched locally. Eligible patients in Cambridgeshire are due to be invited from late Spring 2025. If you are eligible, the NHS will contact you directly to take part. Invitations will be sent to patients aged 55-74 years who have a history of smoking or are current smokers. An initial assessment will decide whether a scan of your lungs is needed. We would encourage anyone who is invited to this screening service to take part.

Antibiotic - The Facts

What are antibiotics and how do they work?

Antibiotics are medicines used to treat infections due to bugs such as bacteria and fungi. They are designed to cause the maximum of harm to bugs and the least harm to the human taking them. They have NO effect on viruses such as the common cold. Using antibiotics unnecessarily will increase the risk of antibiotic resistance developing. Once resistant, that antibiotic becomes useless in the treatment of that infection and others like it.

Missing a dose of antibiotics

If you forget to take a dose of your antibiotics, check the patient information leaflet that came with your medicine to find out what to do. If you're not sure, speak to a pharmacist or a GP. In most cases, you can take the dose you missed as soon as you remember and then continue to take your course of antibiotics as normal. But, if it's almost time for the next dose, skip the missed dose and continue your regular dosing schedule. Do not take a double dose to make up for a missed one.

Do I have to finish the course, can I save any spare antibiotic for next time?

It is essential that you complete the entire course of an antibiotic even if you feel better, unless advised not to by a healthcare professional. Stopping an antibiotic part way through a course may lead to the bacteria becoming resistant or the infection returning (relapse). Ensure any extra or unused antibiotic is returned to your doctor or pharmacy for disposal. Do not be tempted to save antibiotics for use next time as this may not be a suitable antibiotic and may be harmful.

Antibiotic resistance

Both the NHS and health organisations across the world are trying to reduce the use of antibiotics, especially for health problems that are not serious.The more antibiotics are used to treat trivial conditions, the more likely they are to become ineffective for treating more serious conditions.

Published: Apr 8, 2025