Issue - meetings

To hear from two local General Practioner’s (Dr. V. Manheim and

Dr. S. Pandya) and a Consultant Physician (Dr R. Luder).

Specifically in relation to the medical aspects of stroke prevention, both primary and secondary.

Dr Vivienne Manheim

General Practitioner, Morum House Medical Centre, Haringey

Haringey has a large non English speaking population and this is reflected at the Morum House Centre.

There is a high Turkish population in the area and therefore the practice has two translators.

Concern re transient population and in particular asylum seekers who may not want to become part of the system and therefore are consistently moving. This makes it very difficult to monitor people and ensure that they attend for follow up checks.

All patients are given an initial medical when they join the practice.  If any issues are found then the practice immediately tries to stabilise them.

Some blood pressure stabilising tablets have side effects which prevent people from taking them.

There is a need to get people to take responsibility for their own health and to gain an understanding of the risks that they are taking.

Every TIA and Stroke needs to be reported and monitored.  This is often a big issue.

There can be poor communication between hospitals and GPs regarding those who have had/suspected of having a stroke.  This is especially an issue with the private sector.

Are the private GPs that do not have a contract with the PCT monitored at all?  These are often used by those who do not want to be part of the ‘system’.  There are also language issues which leads those who do not speak English as a first language to go to a private Dr who speaks their language.

Noted that there are some people in the borough who have been resident in the UK for a number of years but who are not aware that they can access the health service for free.

Expert Patient Groups need to be encouraged as they are often very willing to be involved and to help.

Many patients are unwilling to accept that they may have a stroke.

Points of discussion

Query as to how easy it is for patients to access translation services.  Age Concern research has found that it is often not easy.

Some practices use Language Line to get translators.

There is a need to skill up practitioners so that they gain an understanding of their community profile and also to ensure they are all aware of the translating services available.

Not everyone who has a stroke or TIA is ready at that point to hear about the risks they may be taking and to have a conversation about the implications.

Dr Sejal Pandya

General Practitioner, JS Medical Practice, Haringey and member of the Professional Executive Committee (Haringey Teaching Primary Care Trust)

Dr Pandya’s practice has a weekly walking session which is a practice led initiative.  This now has a number of participants who attend on a regular basis.

There needs to be a national campaign on strokes, for example FAST.  This needs to be a campaign along the lines of the recent campaign on Heart Attacks.

Patient Participation Groups (PPGs) – consideration should be given to making  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23