West Calder

Lorna Graham clovenford@yahoo.com The Friendship Café Meets on the third Thursday each month. The café meets in West Calder Community Centre from 1.30 to 3.30pm. Raffle tickets cost £1 per strip and tea/coffee plus a biscuit or two costs 50p. So please come along and bring your friends. Everyone is welcome. Tuesday Club in Stewart Court is at 2pm every Tuesday with entertainment followed by afternoon tea at a cost of £1.50 The Club is open to anyone in the Community. West Lothian Fibromyalgia Support Group meets on third Sunday of the month, 1.30pm - 3.30pm at West Calder Community Centre. Join us for support, information, friendship, talks, and outings. See sites. google.com/site/wlfibromyalgia or call Sheila on 0844 887 2388 for more information. Looking for work? Access to employment will continue to reside in WEST CALDER COMMUNITY CENTRE. Access2employment advisors help people to develop confidence with job searching, compile and advise on preparing a CV, provide interview guidance, assist with the completion of paper and online application forms and provide over all employability support. Appointments available with an advisor on Friday’s, to arrange an appointment please call 0800 032 9768 Polbeth Harwood Church Sunday morning worship starts at 11:15am where a warm welcome awaits. There is a crèche every Sunday for children under 3yrs of age. For further information visit us at west-kirk-polbethharwood.co.uk a warm welcome awaits The West Kirk of Calder Sunday morning worship starts at 9:45am where a warm welcome awaits everyone. There is a crèche every Sunday for children under 3yrs of age. Everyone very welcome Rosebery Centre (a day centre that works closely with people within the community who lives with Dementia) formerly based in Livingston St Pauls Church but now at Polbeth Harwood Church Chapelton Terrace Polbeth. The day service opens three days per week Tuesday Wednesday & Thursday. There are two staff members Anne Marson Manager and Karon Sheridan Assistant West Calder Medical Practice.GP Shortage. Dr Gribben and Dr Hewitt will both have left the practice by the end of October 2017. Dr Downer left in December 2015. Since December 2015, we have advertised for replacement doctors but unfortunately we have been unsuccessful. This is not unique to our Practice; there is a nationwide shortage of GPs and there are recruitment issues in all areas. There are increasing instances of doctors having to hand back their contract to the NHS leaving patients with no continuity of care. The list size in West Calder Medical Practice has remained fairly static over the years but is now expected to grow rapidly due to the extensive new building in the area. We have continued to take on new patient registrations so that the residents of West Calder and surrounding area could have easy access to GP services. From October, we will be very short of GP sessions, although we will continue to advertise for replacements. In the meantime, we will have to put contingency plans in place. We will continue to remove patients who fail to keep appointments and remove also those patients who move out with our boundary area but do not register with a new GP. We have a highly qualified and experienced Nurse Prescriber in post – this will allow patients to consult her rather than the GP where ap- propriate. When you contact us to make an appointment, our Reception staff will need to ask some questions about your condition that will allow them to make the most appropriate appointment for you. These questions will not be detailed but will merely give an indication of who will be best for you to see and whether your conditions require same day attention. The Receptionists have been trained to ask certain questions; they are not prying into your medical history. We are committed to continuing to provide the best healthcare we can but need your cooperations and assistance to do that. One of the ways to help us is to self-care for minor ailments. Please contact your local pharmacist in the first instance. We want to reiterate that patient care is our priority and although we are aware that appointment access will be more difficult after the end of September, we will strive to find new ways of working and we hope that patients will support us in this time of change.