Retail therapies
As in previous years, GP surgeries will be starting to give flu jabs in late September or early October and it will be safe for you to go to the surgery to have it done as GPs are keeping a separate area for possible Covid-infected patients.
The flu jab will not give any protection against Covid-19, but having the two illnesses together could be particularly lethal. So more than ever this year, it’s really important that if you are invited to have a flu jab, you make sure you have it.
QI HAVE a totally benign paraprotein that was discovered in 2007. I see a consultant once a year but have never had any treatment for it and am not on any medication.
In mid-April I received a shielding letter which I ignored. Last week my local council rang to ask if I needed any help with shopping and today a message was left on my answer machine saying I should register as vulnerable even if I didn't need help.
I am fit and well... and very angry that someone, somewhere has harvested my private details and my phone number without my knowledge or permission. How do I complain and get removed from this list please?
AWHEN you register with a GP surgery, an electronic record, known as the summary care record, is created. It contains basic information including the medicines you are on and any allergies. During the coronavirus pandemic, extra information is being added to this record, including your significant medical history, both past and present and also your vaccinations.
Anyone in the NHS involved with your care can access this information, which means, for instance, if you were involved in a car accident and taken to a hospital in a coma, the staff would know if you had diabetes or were allergic to penicillin.
The record can only be accessed by someone with an NHS computer pass card and they must have a good reason for doing so.Access to records is carefully audited, so unauthorised access would soon be detected.
The paraprotein that was detected in your blood has meant you have had annual hospital visits to a specialist haematology clinic.This will be on your record and will have been used to flag up that you could be in the group that needs to “shield” themselves from other people.
The record sharing system is an automatic opt in, so if you do not want your records shared then you have to actively opt out, which you can do at your surgery.
However, I would urge you to think carefully before you do so, as it could potentially make it more difficult for you to be given appropriate emergency care.
If you have a health question for Dr Leonard, email her in confidence at yourhealth@express.co.uk. Dr Leonard regrets she cannot enter into personal correspondence or reply to everyone.
IF YOUR family are fans of sausages, but you'd rather reduce the amount of cancercausing nitrites they consume when tucking into processed pork, check out Heck's Chicken Italia Sausages (£2.50; Tesco). The chipolatas have tomato, mozzarella and basil in the mix and even our youngest taste tester declared them delicious.
LOVE your furry friends but hate the sniffles they create? The Shark Cordless Handheld Vacuum Cleaner (£179; sharkclean.co.uk) is lightweight but powerful enough to banish every trace of cat and dog hair from sofas and car seats in seconds. Filtration technology captures dust and particles while the “pet tool” is perfect for refreshing upholstery.