June 2025 Patient Newsletter
🌸 A busy spring…
Welcome to our June Patient Newsletter! We continue to be as busy as ever, and we thank our patients for their continued support. In May, we:
Processed 1,525 prescriptions.
Answered 2,918 phone calls.
Processed 2,779 online requests (that’s an average of 90 requests a day).
Delivered 3,018 appointments (face-to-face and telephone).
Offered 2,314 GP appointments, 1239 nurse appointments and 311 other healthcare appointments.
💗 A Little Kindness Goes a Long Way: Supporting Our
Reception Team
Our reception teams handle hundreds of calls every day, and while many are routine, some can be incredibly challenging and upsetting. It’s important to remember that each call our dedicated staff takes is from a patient, just like you, who may be worried, upset, or unwell. These interactions can be emotionally taxing, sometimes even leaving our team feeling overwhelmed. Therefore, we kindly ask for your understanding and patience when interacting with our reception staff. A moment of kindness can make a significant difference, as you never know the circumstances of the call they’ve just handled.
👀 How well do you know your skin?
Melanoma is a type of skin cancer that can spread to other areas of the body. Use the ABCDE checklist to remember some of the signs of melanoma:
A – asymmetrical – is your mole an uneven shape?
B – border – is the edge ragged?
C – colours – is your mole different colours?
D – diameter – is it bigger than 6 millimetres?
E – evolving – has it changed size, shape or colour?
If you are worried or concerned about a mole, make an appointment with your GP. For more information about melanoma visit https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/melanoma-skin-cancer/
💌 Improve your mental health with a mind plan
Boost your mental wellbeing with a personalised Mind Plan! Developed by mental health experts, this free resource offers practical tips to help you manage anxiety and stress, improve your sleep, and feel more in control. Take a quick, 5-question quiz about your last two weeks to unlock your tailored plan and start making positive changes today. Create your Mind Plan here: https://www.nhs.uk/every-mind-matters/mental-wellbeing-tips/your-mind-plan-quiz/
🤍 Grieving on Father’s Day
Father’s Day can be a particularly challenging time when you are grieving, and it’s important to approach the day with self-compassion. To look after yourself, Cruse Bereavement Support, suggests embracing all your emotions, like sadness, anger, jealousy, or numbness, without feeling ashamed or guilty. These feelings are common and will eventually fade. Taking time for self-care is crucial; don’t feel pressured to engage in activities you don’t want to, and consider spending the day doing things you enjoy, whether that’s with family or by yourself, like a long walk or watching films. It’s also perfectly okay to take a break from social media for the day if seeing others’ celebrations becomes overwhelming.
If you wish to mark the day, there are various ways to remember your loved one, such as lighting a candle, planting a flower, visiting a special place, sharing memories with friends and family, or making a donation in their name. Crucially, if you find yourself struggling with grief, remember to reach out for support. This could involve talking to friends, family, your GP, or contacting Cruse directly for helpful information and assistance.
🏳️🌈 Happy Pride Month
June is Pride month so we would like to take the opportunity to remind our patients and readers that Tudor Lodge has the Pride in Practice Gold Award from the LGBT Foundation.
From talking to our LGBTQ+ patients, we know that many of them sometimes worry about accessing public services for fear of experiencing discrimination or even hostility because of their sexual orientation, gender identity or trans status.
Tudor Lodge has been officially recognised for our best practice in providing LGBTQ+ inclusive healthcare. Our team has undertaken LGBT Foundation’s Pride in Practice training programme so we can feel even more confident about the excellent care we provide to our LGBTQ+ patients too.
Bottom line: everyone is welcome at Tudor Lodge! 🏳️🌈
If you are an LGBTQ+ patient, don’t be afraid to talk to us about your sexual orientation, gender identity or trans status so we can better meet your needs. And if you’re LGBTQ+ and looking for a GP practice that understands and can better meet your needs, register with our practice today.
👩🏼⚕️ Please Cancel Nurse Appointments You Don’t Need
In May, 100 nurse appointments were missed without being cancelled in advance. Nurse appointments are highly sought after. If you’re unable to attend or no longer require your slot, please cancel with plenty of notice. This enables us to offer the appointment to another patient promptly, ensuring vital care for all.
🙆🏽♂️ Age better with Age UK
Age UK has launched its new “Act Now, Age Better”
campaign, encouraging everyone to take positive steps today to improve their health in later life. While aging is a natural process, the campaign highlights
that adopting healthy habits can significantly reduce the risk of spending later years in poor health. It’s about making conscious choices now to positively impact your future wellbeing. For more information and advice visit Act Now, Age Better | Age UK
🚫 Quit smoking for good with the NHS Quit Smoking App
When you quit smoking, good things start to happen. You’ll begin to see almost immediate improvements to your health. It’s never too late to quit and it’s easier to stop smoking with the right support. Why not start by downloading the free NHS Quit Smoking app to track your progress and get daily motivation?
The NHS Quit Smoking app is designed to provide personalised support to help you quit smoking for good.
The app allows you to:
– track your progress
– see how much you’re saving
– get daily support
– get inspired by others
Once you reach 28 days smoke-free, you’re much more likely to quit for good!
https://www.nhs.uk/better-health/quit-smoking/
💬 Opening Up Conversations: How to Talk to Your Child About Mental Health
YoungMinds offers advice for parents on navigating conversations about mental health with their children. The core message is to create a safe, comfortable space for your child to open up. This means choosing relaxed moments, perhaps while doing an activity together, and gently checking in on their feelings. When your child does start to talk, the key is to listen without interruption, stay calm, and show genuine belief and understanding of their emotions, offering hope and reassurance rather than quick fixes. For more information and conversation starters visit https://www.youngminds.org.uk/parent/how-to-talk-to-your-child-about-mental-health/
📲 Have you joined our WhatsApp Channel?
Tudor Lodge Health Centre has launched a new WhatsApp channel to keep patients updated with:
- Surgery news
- Helpful tips and advice
- Health resources and tools
Simply click here to join http://bit.ly/40JdpT1
Subscribing to our WhatsApp channel does not give us or any other group member access to your phone number or any other details, and users can opt out at any time.
For personal enquiries or to book an appointment at the surgery please use our online form to contact us.
📋 Your annual medical review is important
A friendly reminder that if you live with a chronic disease such as asthma, diabetes or COPD to look out for your annual medical review. We send text message invites out in your birth month and ask you to book your appointment promptly. If you don’t receive an invite or have had to cancel yours in the past, please get in touch with the practice to arrange yours.
ℹ️ Help us to stay in the loop
From time to time, you may receive a request from us for information so we can keep your records up to date. Please respond to any requests you receive from the surgery, as it helps ensure we’re providing you with the right care for you.
If you would like to opt out of receiving these monthly updates, please complete this form.
