People living with long-term conditions in Ayrshire and Arran are being offered a new support service.

‘Buddy’ support is being offered to anyone living with Chronic Bronchitis, Emphysema, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) or Type 2 Diabetes. The ‘Buddy’ is someone who is also living with a long-term condition and has found ways to self-manage their condition. They are available to offer support and friendship over the telephone. Although they cannot offer advice a ‘Buddy’ will be able to signpost people to health and social services if needed.

Carol Nixon, Lead Nurse for Co-Creating Health, said: “We have set up a ‘Buddy’ support service for anyone who is living with COPD or Type 2 diabetes – and who feels they would like a bit more support from people just like themselves. All our ‘Buddys’ are men and women who have gone through similar experiences to the people they will support. Our ‘Buddys’ have also gone through training to allow them to provide this support. We know that many people often do not feel comfortable talking to healthcare professionals as they don’t want to take up their time. We hope this service will give people the chance to talk to someone just like themselves.”

Anyone interested in the ‘Buddy’ service should telephone Carol Nixon 0n 01294 323471 or email carol.nixon2@aapct.scot.nhs.uk.

The ‘Buddy’ will always call back so that patients do not have to pay for the telephone calls. 

Assurances for patients on use of Metal on Metal (MOM)

hip replacement

NHS Ayrshire & Arran has been reassuring patients with hip replacements who are worried about complications arising from Metal on Metal (MOM) hip replacements.

NHS Ayrshire & Arran has carried out no MoM total hip replacements or resurfacing surgery at Ayr or Crosshouse since 2010. Between 2004 and 2010 a small percentage of patients who had a hip replacement – 129 out of 2290 patients – had a MoM total hip replacement or resurfacing surgery. Of these patients, four have needed revision surgery. This rate of revision surgery is similar to revision rates reported for conventional total hip replacement.  All other patients are doing well.

Any patient from Ayrshire who had a hip replacement in University Hospital Crosshouse, University Hospital Ayr or the Golden Jubilee Hospital before 2004 will have had a conventional hip replacement, the results of which are excellent and give no cause for concern.

We review all patients who have had a MoM hip replacement or resurfacing every year. If your surgeon did not specifically discuss the possibility of using a MoM hip replacement or resurfacing before surgery and you have not been contacted since then for follow-up, then you should have no cause for concern about your hip replacement.

The Directorate of Orthopaedics for NHS Ayrshire & Arran follows updated guidance issued by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) about the management and monitoring of patients with metal-on-metal (MoM) hip replacements.

When you’re ill, know who to turn to

NHS Ayrshire & Arran has been working with a group of people with learning disabilities to design a new poster that will help explain who to turn to when they are ill.

Involving people from across Ayrshire, the group met in the North West Kilmarnock Centre to discuss two new sets of drawings and revised wording for the poster, before voting anonymously for their favourite one.

The ‘When you’re ill, know who to turn to’ campaign outlines the choices people have when using their local health service and helps people to a speedier recovery by helping them to make better choices. It is currently featuring in communities across Ayrshire, with leaflets, posters, on-line information, display stands, pens, drinks mats, and targeted events.

Irene Campbell, Project Manager for the campaign, said: “We were absolutely delighted with our consultation event. More than 40 people attended, and gave us a huge amount of valuable and constructive feedback.  From colour preferences and issues of clarity, to adjusting some small but important details, participants highlighted aspects of the poster they found confusing or distracting and came up with some great, creative alternatives. I am confident that we will be able to incorporate these comments into the final design and produce a poster that will be easy to understand and that gets the message across. In addition, as a direct result of the success of the event, we are also going to look at revising our current leaflets and banners to produce simpler versions that will match the new poster.”

The current campaign leaflet clearly outlines the eight options available to people who need assistance from their health service alongside a list of symptoms that could be appropriately dealt with by each option. These include:

• Self care – for minor illness or injury you can deal with yourself, such as hangover, grazed knee, sore throat, coughs and colds
• Pharmacist – for expert advice or information on medicines and healthcare including the Minor Ailment Service.  Examples of minor ailments include coughs and colds, indigestion, constipation, aches and pains
• Dentist – for regular check ups, routine treatment and emergency care
• Optometry – for any eye problems including blurred vision, difficulty seeing well or discomfort – red eyes, irritated eyes
• Family doctor – when your illness or injury just won’t go away make an appointment to see your GP who can provide  advice and information about conditions such as vomiting, ear pain, sore belly, backache
• NHS out-of-hours service – Turn to your NHS out of hours service when you are too ill to wait until your GP or dental surgery is open.

Call NHS 24 on 08454 24 24 24

• Minor injuries service – if you require urgent care for a minor injury such as cuts, minor burns, sprains
• Accident and emergency – Turn to 999 or your hospital’s A&E department only for serious illness or accidents such as suspected stroke, heart attack, head injuries, fracture or wounds requiring stitches

The newly designed materials will provide shortened versions of this text and should be available within the next couple of months.

Liz Moore, Director of Integrated Care and Emergency Services, explains: “The ‘When you’re ill, know who to turn to’ campaign provides the people of Ayrshire and Arran with valuable information about the wide range of health services available to them, along with advice on how and when to use them.  It is really important to us that the campaign is understood by everyone.  We felt it was vital to involve people with learning disabilities in the creation of this new set of ‘when you’re ill, know who to turn to’ materials, to make sure the options available to them are clearly understood and suitably designed.

“All too often we see people coming in to accident and emergency when they would have been better using one of their local services such as their pharmacist, GP or dentist. Knowing which NHS service to use, and when, is extremely important both in terms of patient care and the running of the NHS.  Choosing the wrong service can lead to delays, patient frustration and inefficiencies. We hope the new posters will help people with learning difficulties access their health service more easily and get the advice, expertise and treatment they need in the right place at the right time.”

For further information on the ‘When you’re ill know who to turn to’ campaign contact 0800 169 1441.