|
Your health
A major Government scheme to improve GP and community health services and accommodation in Hull is giving patients a lift. Following a successful bid for funding from the Department of Health, over £30m of investment is planned by the new Local Improvement Finance Trust (LIFT) to bring outmoded facilities up to date.
Drug story
Lansoprazole
Generic Name
Lansoprazole. Each capsule contains either 15mg or 30mg. Available only on prescription.
Brand Name
Zoton
Type
It is a member of a family of drugs, including omeprazole, pantoprazole, rabeprazole and esomeprazole, that are used to treat dyspepsia. Often called indigestion or heartburn, dyspepsia is discomfort or pain of the upper abdomen or chest. Other symptoms include burning, fullness, bloating, wind, nausea and vomiting. For most people dyspepsia is not serious, although for some patients it may indicate a more serious underlying condition, such as a stomach ulcer. Each year about 1 in 10 people will need to seek their doctor's advice for dyspepsia.
How It Works
It works by reducing the amount of acid produced by the stomach.
Negative side-effects
The main side-effects are diarrhoea, nausea, constipation, flatulence and abdominal pain.
Local use
In the last 12 months, doctors in Hull wrote 104,149 prescriptions for these drugs at a cost to the NHS of £1,839,456.
Alternatives
National advice to doctors is that many patients will be able to reduce the dose or change to a simple indigestion remedy following an initial 4 to 8 week course of lansoprazole. Simple, effective indigestion remedies and advice are available at pharmacies and lifestyle changes such as stopping smoking, reducing intake of alcohol, coffee and fatty foods will help. Other suggestions include eating smaller meals, not eating before bedtime, propping up the head of the bed and wearing looser clothing.
|
Surgeries across the city will be remodelled or rebuilt as a result, to include new treatment rooms, with appropriate waiting areas, and space for nursing support, health promotion and teaching. The West Hull and Eastern Hull Primary Care Trusts are key partners in the project, together with local GPs, the City Council, local NHS Trusts, the new Hull York Medical School and a private sector partner, to be appointed next year.
Seventeen schemes are planned initially. A number of these, such as a plan to develop a former Methodist church on Anlaby Road, are joint projects between the NHS, the City Council and community organisations. Richard Banyard, the West Hull Primary Care Trust's project director, said that public consultation will be crucial.
"The public need to be confident that they can receive care from family doctors and other health professionals in appropriate and welcoming surroundings," he said. "It is therefore essential that everyone gets involved in planning the future of primary and community health services across the city. "Anyone is welcome to raise issues. For example, are there any parts of the city which you feel are poorly served by GP surgeries currently? How could community health services be improved?
"LIFT provides an opportunity to work jointly to ensure the best possible services for all in the future." As well as addressing the need to improve buildings, the project also aims to boost recruitment and retention of GPs in the area. "It is important to develop new, attractive ways of working for all health professionals," said Mr Banyard.
"That's why we will be working with the new Hull York Medical School, among others, to ensure that we have the sort of facilities that will persuade more medical students to work in Hull once they have qualified." Plans for the first schemes are expected to be ready this summer, with facilities opening to patients in 2004.
How to get in touch:-
West Hull Primary Care Trust
(01482) 606644
The Areas West of The River Hull
Eastern Hull Primary Care Trust
(01482) 335400
The Areas East of the River Hull
|
