dppg newsletter summer 2013
DESCRIPTION
The Summer 2013 newsletter from Davenport House Patient Group, Harpenden UKTRANSCRIPT
Health Fair— Saturday 28
September 2013
As many of you will know, the
Davenport House Patient
Group is marking its 20th
anniversary with a Health Fair
to be held at the Harpenden
Public Halls on Saturday 28
September from 10.00am to
2.00pm The Fair will be
promoting the health and well-being of families
with young children: ‘The Essential Guide to
the Health Galaxy - You, your children and
their health’. Supported by the NHS—Herts
Valley Clinical Commissioning Group.
Planning is well advanced, with a working party
of doctors and patients bringing together a wide
range of participants. Those of you who
supported the Patient Group’s earlier Health Fair
in 2010 will recognise the format. We learned
some valuable lessons from that event. This
time the hall is larger, the programme of talks
will take place in a side hall, and the overall
noise level should be lower, but we still want to
recapture the buzz and interest of the occasion.
We plan to inform our adult visitors and to
entertain and involve their children and
grandchildren – it will be very much a family
affair.
More than twenty stalls will be set up by
organisations providing the full range of support
for healthy living for families and children,
including those who have to cope with every sort
of special need. A programme of short talks by
a range of health experts, including some by our
Davenport House doctors, will run throughout
the event. There will be an active programme of
activity for the younger children, to include
clowns, face painting and story-telling. In
addition there will be a series of short displays
on the stage by groups of children from a range
of local organisations, from football to dance. A
full programme will be published in the autumn
edition of the Newsletter.
We should like to attract even more visitors to
the Fair than the 500 attending last time.
Admission will be free. You will be able to drop
in at any time, to wander through the stalls, to
enjoy a coffee in the café, to watch an event on
the stage or to catch a talk on a topic which
interests you; or you may prefer to plan a visit
with a particular purpose. Please help us by
spreading the word to your family and friends –
we shall look forward to your joining us at the
Harpenden Public Halls on 28 September.
Teddy Bear’s Picnic—Saturday 17 August
One other date for the diary for those of you
with younger children - the ‘Teddy Bear’s Picnic’
on August 17 at Lyddeker Park 11am to 2 pm.
There will be a magician on hand to help the
doctors conduct teddy bear health checks! See
back page for more details.
New Surgery Pod
In further recognising our 20 years of successful
partnership with the Davenport House Practice
we have purchased a new Surgery Pod costing
£6,306 which will enable patients to take their
blood pressure, calculate their body mass index
and assess many other health factors prior to a
consultation with their GP.
A full report on this new item of equipment is
featured on the opposite page.
THE CHAIRMAN’S COMMENTARY
By Roger Gedye
Patient Group Voluntary Committee
Roger Gedye Chairman
John Harris Treasurer & Newsletter Editor
Rosemary Horne Secretary & Proof Reader
Bob Fletcher Website
Helen Hartley Membership/Newsletter delivery
Samantha Mills Younger Patients
Gillian Thornton Newsletter Assistant
Sheila Uppington Education
Viviane Vayssieres Marketing
In addition, the Patient Group has an army
of voluntary Newsletter deliverers
organised by Helen Hartley, to whom we
are greatly indebted.
Email contact addresses for committee
members can be found on the Patient
Group Website.
HEALTH TESTS ARE SIMPLE WITH THE NEW SURGERY POD
By Gillian Thornton and John Harris
Davenport House is delighted to announce the
arrival of its latest service to patients and this
time you don’t even need to see a doctor to use
it.
High-tech but simple to use, the brand new
Surgery Pod will take your blood pressure and
pulse, work out your body mass index (bmi),
and give broad advice on other health issues
from drinking and smoking to depression.
Costing over £6,000 the equipment has been
paid for by the Patient Group and was installed
this spring in the small private room opposite
the reception area. It couldn’t be easier to
operate. Just input your name and date of birth
on the touch screen and then follow the simple
instructions, all in complete privacy.
To take a
blood
pressure
reading, for
instance,
just slide
your arm
inside the
cuff on the
desktop
machine
and 45 seconds later, a reading will appear,
together with your pulse rate. At the touch of a
button this data can then be transferred
electronically to your patient file, saving valuable
Surgery time for patients who need to take
regular readings.
Concerned you might be overweight? Just
stand on the electronic scale to get your weight
in stones or kilos, type your height onto the
touch screen, and wait a few seconds while
Surgery Pod works out your BMI. This can then
be checked against a scale ranging from
underweight to very obese. Again, the result
can be transferred
directly to your patient
records.
If the Surgery Pod
recognises that further
action needs to be
taken, a message on
screen will suggest
that you make an
appointment with your
GP or other health
adviser for one to one
advice.
Anthea Doran, Practice Manager, says
“The Surgery is very appreciative of the Patient
Group’s generosity in providing this equipment,
affectionately known as the Pod. Over the next
few weeks we will be producing posters and
leaflets to help patients both use the equipment
and ensure that the right data is collected to
enable your doctor to provide continuing care.
Although it is very easy to use we are more
than happy to help patients using the Pod for
the first time although you may need to wait
for a member of staff to be free to help you.
Giving your name and date of birth ensures
that any readings or answers to questions are
filed into your medical records. Any data or
option selections are entered on a touch
screen. You do not need to use a keyboard or
mouse.
The idea is to free up clinical time but also to
allow patients more flexibility in managing their
care. GPs will often ask patients to arrange
weekly nurse appointments to monitor their
blood pressure: the Pod will now allow patients
to come to Surgery at a time to suit them and
take their own readings, secure in the
knowledge that if the reading is high the Pod
will alert a clinician so that any necessary
action can be taken. Similarly, patients who are
being referred for surgery may be asked to
provide blood pressure readings, BMI and a
smoking history before the hospital will agree
to see them. All this information can be readily
collected when it is convenient, either as you
leave the Surgery or soon after your GP
appointment No appointment is necessary with
the Pod and so it can fit in with your schedule
and not ours!
We hope that patients will make use of this
excellent service and would be grateful for any
feedback as we are keen for patients to be
comfortable using the equipment.”
What is blood pressure and what is
hypertension?
Are they different? Quite frankly yes, they are
different. Blood pressure (BP) refers to the
pressure exerted by circulating blood on the
walls of your arteries. Hypertension is a medical
condition indicating that a person’s BP is
elevated above “normal” levels. It is rare for
hypertension in itself to cause a patient any
problems, although in severe circumstances it
can, but it is the long term effects of that raised
pressure against your blood vessel walls that
cause damage over time. This increases your
risk of heart disease, kidney disease, stroke,
peripheral vascular disease and retinopathy
(damage to the back of the eye), just to name a
few.
What causes high BP?
The truth is that the vast majority of people with
high BP suffer from “essential hypertension”
which is a fancy way for doctors to say that we
don’t know. BP is generated by the strength of
the heart contractions and the resistance that it
contracts against. The most likely reason is that
there is small narrowing of the very tiny blood
vessels through the body and this causes a
general rise in BP. For a minority of people there
may be an underlying cause, which doctors call
“secondary hypertension”.
What should your BP be?
If you are under 80 years old then a target of
below 140/90mmHg has been recommended by
NICE (National Institute of Health and Clinical
Excellence). See the chart in the opposite
column which illustrates a prudent approach.
If you are over 80 years old then a target of
below 150/90 is more appropriate as we know
that BP goes up with a person’s age.
Diabetics should have a target below 130/80 BP.
What do these numbers mean and what is
mmHg?
The “top” number (e.g. the higher number) is
called systolic BP. This means it is the pressure
in your blood vessels when your heart is
contracted. The “bottom” number (e.g. the
lower one) is called diastolic BP. This is the
pressure in your blood vessels between when
your heart beats, when it is at rest, hence it is
lower.
Blood Pressure Chart for those under 80
Why is my BP always high when I see the
doctor?
Well, you may have something called “white
coat hypertension” (from the good old days
when all doctors wore white lab coats). This
means that the stress response of seeing the GP
has caused your BP to rise, and potentially rise
above the normal level. This is why a doctor will
sometimes take your BP 2- 3 times whilst in
Surgery as it usually comes down during the
consultation. If however it does not come down,
then there is an excellent way of checking if you
have “white coat hypertension” or genuine
hypertension. Purchasing a home BP monitor
from your local pharmacy and checking your BP
at home is a very accurate method of assessing
your BP. Checking it morning and evening
(sitting down, twice each time, one minute
apart) for 4-7 consecutive days before seeing
your GP and showing him the results is a much
more accurate assessment than the 2-3
measures a GP can take in clinic.
What if my BP is normal?
Simple: it is recommended that you have it
checked at least every 5 years or more regularly
if you suffer from diabetes, heart disease,
kidney disease or stroke.
Blood Pressure Control by Dr James Leaver (now left his training period with the Practice)
So what can I do if my BP is high?
Now to the important bits! Lifestyle changes
have shown to reduce people’s BP. If you are
overweight, then losing some of this weight will
definitely help to control your BP. A healthy diet
and regular exercise are terms which get used
frequently. But what does that actually mean?
When should I start taking medication?
It is your body and your choice, so don’t let
anyone else bully you into taking medication
that you don’t understand. General advice from
doctors follows the latest NICE guidelines.
These state that you should be on BP medication
if you are:
1) aged under 80 years with a bp over140/90
(stage 1 hypertension) who have one or more of
the following:
Target organ damage (protein in your urine,
heart strain, changes in the back of the eye)
Established cardiovascular disease
Kidney disease
Diabetes
A 10-year cardiovascular risk equivalent to
20% or greater (calculated by your GP)
Or,
2) any age with BP over 160/100 (stage 2
hypertension)
There was previously concern that treating
patients BP over the age of 80 actually did more
harm than good. This is not the case. A large
multinational study based in London showed
that for patients with BP over 160/90, treating
their BP actually reduced the risk of stroke but
also all causes of mortality.
What treatments can a doctor prescribe
me?
There is a vast array of medications available to
patients suffering from hypertension. Which
treatment greatly depends on your age,
ethnicity and any previous side effects you may
have had with other medications. In general,
medication to treat blood pressure works in 3
different ways.
Vasodilation (dilating your blood vessels to
reduce the total resistance to the blood flow)
ACE inhibition (inhibits the primary
hormone system your body uses to control
blood pressure)
Diuretics (increase volume or urine
formation which reduces your circulating
volume)
A combination of some or all of the above may
well be used depending on your requirements.
Diet
We recommend a diet that is approximately:
1/3 starchy foods (potato, rice, pasta etc),
1/3 fruit and vegetables
1/3 for all of your milk, dairy and protein
(meat and fish) foods. Lean meat is better
and poultry or fish are better than red
meat.
The government recommends 5-6grams of salt
a day and in truth most of us will exceed this
as salt is in many food products you wouldn’t
know about. Avoid adding salt to food at the
dinner table, and substitute herbs and other
flavours when cooking. For a very clear
summary on dietary advice see
www.patient.co.uk/health/Healthy-
Eating.html
Exercise
We recommend that on at least 5 days each
week you should take some regular exercise
lasting 30 minutes or more such as brisk
walking, swimming and dancing. Relaxation
exercises can also reduce BP, but unfortunately
these services are not provided on the NHS.
Caffeine & Alcohol
Another important factor is what you drink. By
reducing your alcohol intake to 3 units per day,
with 2 alcohol free days in a week you can
lower your BP but also improve your general
health. Caffeine products are the ideal boost
and that is why most of us drink so much
coffee. However that same boost gives you a
booming blood pressure as it helps your heart
beat harder and faster, raising your BP, so it is
wise to limit yourself to 1 or 2 cups of a
caffeinated product per day.
Smoking
Probably the most important intervention you
can make to your health if you have high BP is
nothing to do with your BP at all. If you are a
smoker, giving up will reduce the added
damage to your blood vessel walls and greatly
reduce your risk of future complications from
hypertension.
FINAL MESSAGE
Blood pressure control is very important in
reducing your risk of stroke, heart disease,
eye and kidney disease. The good news is
that there is a lot that you can do about it
for yourself in partnership with your GP.
As far back as 1973 the
economist, J Galbraith,
said that, ‘Virtually all
of the increase in
modern health
hazards is the result
of increased
consumption’, and this
is as true today as it
was then. Eating too
much salt is linked to
high blood pressure,
which in turn increases
the risk of strokes. Extra sugar is converted in the
liver to triglycerides, a type of fat that goes
straight to the belly and waist to be stored. Sugar
is also linked to diabetes, tooth decay, and some
cancers. However, sugar is a carbohydrate, and is
absolutely vital to life as it is a major energy
source.
Salt is, chemically speaking, sodium chloride, and
Sodium is needed for conducting nerve impulses
and helping muscles contract, whereas Chloride
ions control the acid-base balance in the body.
Where do we find all this extra salt and sugar?
The culprits for salt are processed and fast foods,
ready meals, cheese, canned soups, stock cubes,
snacks such as salted nuts and savoury biscuits,
and preserved meats like bacon, ham and salami.
Excess sugar is found in fizzy drinks, sweets,
cakes, biscuits and puddings. About 25 percent of
the average breakfast cereal is sugar, and cereals
also contain salt! On top of all this is what we put
in our own home cooked food while cooking and
at the table.
How to limit your salt and sugar intake
Any food that contains more than 1.5 grams of
salt per 100 grams is too salty, but less than 0.3
grams of salt per 100 grams is okay. Adults
should aim for no more than 6 grams of salt (half
a level teaspoon) a day, although the ideal is 3
grams per day.
If a food item contains more than 10 grams of
sugar per 100 grams, that is too much, and less
than 5g per 100g is considered a healthy amount.
Processed foods are the biggest culprits for both
salt and sugar, so eat as much of your own home
cooked food as possible. Fresh vegetables and
fruit, lean meats and wholegrain should be our
staple diet.
Keep salty snacks, puddings and desserts to a
minimum. Eat fresh fruit instead of a sugary
snack, and if you must eat tinned fruit, make sure
it is in its natural juice instead of syrup. Fizzy
drinks and supermarket juices are often loaded
with sugar. Look carefully at food labels when
buying your groceries. Be careful how much salt
you add while cooking, and don’t add salt at the
table.
Finally
Sugar and salt are very addictive, but the good
news is that it is easier to change your habit with
these than with tobacco and alcohol! And the time
to start is now. Look at your diet and see what
needs to change and begin making changes
slowly. If you take 3-6 months to change your
shopping and eating habits, it is more likely to be
a more permanent change.
Books to read:
Sweet Poison: Why Sugar Makes Us Fat by David
Gillespie
Salt Matters: The Killer Condiment by Trevor
Beard.
SUGAR AND SALT; TIME TO CALL A HALT
By Dr Alka Cashyap
Life does not need to be miserable, and we
do not need to stop eating the forbidden
foods completely.
Try and follow the 80:20 rule as a
minimum, which means that you could try
and eat healthily 80% of the time, and be
‘naughty’ 20% of the time.
Drugs
Drug dependency/addiction means you need that
particular drug to function normally. Most people
think of heroin, cocaine and amphetamines but
nicotine, alcohol and also prescribed drugs like
Temazepam and Zopiclone are addictive.
Drug dependency can involve several aspects:
Psychological addiction – a craving, feeling
compelled to use a drug.
Physical addiction – you feel unwell if you
stop a drug (withdrawal). We often give less
addictive drugs or slowly dilute the drug down
to minimise this effect.
Tolerance – certain drugs are less effective
the more you use them. You therefore start
using more of the drug to get the same effect.
Drugs that are commonly prescribed which can be
addictive are Codeine, Temazapam and Zopiclone.
We try and prescribe in smaller amounts these
days to avoid addiction. More serious addiction,
e.g. heroin and cocaine, needs more specialist
advice. Please see your doctor. A useful source is
0800776600 or www.talktofrank.com
Smoking
It remains the largest avoidable cause of death
and disability in the UK and causes 120,000
deaths per year. Most common diseases include
chronic bronchitis, lung cancer, coronary heart
disease and stroke.
Quitting is not easy but we are confident that if
you see me, the smoking adviser for the Practice,
we can maximise your chances of success.
Nicotine is put in cigarettes with the result that
you get a physical withdrawal if you quit. We can
replace this nicotine and slowly titrate the dose
down to minimise this effect. There are various
methods to assist in quitting, for example,
tablets, patches, gum sprays and others
depending on your preference.
The psychological addiction is related to
motivation. We try to personalise the consultation
depending on your health problems and focus on
the positive effect of quitting. For example, saving
money, smelling and tasting better. We measure
your carbon monoxide which binds to your blood
when you smoke and stops oxygen binding. After
4 weeks of quitting this should be normal, leading
to improved breathing and circulation. Last year
we were one of the most successful Practices in
the area for successful quitters. See your GP or
www.smokefreehertfordshire.nhs.uk
Alcohol
The recommended weekly amount of alcohol is
currently 21 units for men and 14 units for
women. This should be spaced out during the
week, ideally no more than 4 units for men and 3
units for women per day. The liver can only
metabolise small amounts of alcohol per day-
above this it can cause damage.
Most of us enjoy a social drink. Harmful drinking
is a pattern above the recommended amount that
causes health problems, such as stomach ulcers,
throat cancer and liver disease. It is thought that
33% of men and 16% of women are potentially
harmful drinkers. This pattern can lead to alcohol
dependence where the symptoms include craving,
increasing tolerance and withdrawal symptoms if
you stop.
Tips for lowering your alcohol intake include low
alcohol beer, having alcohol free days, pacing
yourself and alternating with soft drinks. Avoid
social situations where you will be tempted and
resist peer pressure.
If you are worried please see your doctor who will
screen you for dependence and may do some
tests to check for harmful effects. This may
include blood tests, medication to help you come
off alcohol or referral for therapy. If you are a
very heavy drinker see
your doctor BEFORE
stopping alcohol,
otherwise there is a risk of
a seizure.
For more info please see
National Alcohol Helpline
08009178282 or
www.alcoholic-
anonymous.org.uk
SMOKING, ALCOHOL AND DRUGS
By Dr Chas Thenuwara
BEATING HEART DISEASE
Report of Patient Group meeting - Shelia Uppington
We were privileged to have an evening led by 3
of our local cardiologists - Dr David Hackett, Dr
Masood Khan and Dr Philip Moore - and have any
fears allayed about having to visit their
departments in Watford, Hemel or St Albans
Hospitals.
Watford has a critical cardiac unit, a cardiac ward
and 2 catheterisation labs and consultant ward
rounds are carried out twice daily including
weekends.
In an emergency ambulances will carry out an
ECG and take the patient to Watford in the day
and possibly Harefield at night. Two specialist
surgeons visit Watford once a week to carry out
cardiac surgery to save patients having to go
further afield.
About 100-150 angiograms are carried out every
month (done to investigate artery blockages)
plus around 35 pacemakers fitted (keeps the
heart beating when rhythm slows) and 30 stents
(to hold blocked
arteries open).
Several
defibrillators
(shocks the
heart to reset
the rhythm)
and loop
recorders (to
monitor those
suffering from
blackouts) are
also fitted per
month.
A PACEMAKER
We were shown
all these devices,
how they
worked, how
long they lasted
and why they
were necessary.
As a country we
are under-
providing these
device implants compared to many European
countries (partly due to NICE constraints and
funding). However, West Herts is at the top of
the national league in their provision.
The department is developing by reopening a
day ward, and evolving more complex imaging
services which will eventually extend into
community outpatient clinics.
Replacement of heart valves was discussed,
some of which can now be done with minimal
invasion through a tube up the artery from the
groin. The technique of heart 'bypass' operations
was also explained.
It was interesting to hear initially from Dr Charli
Barber-Lomax of his 1970s treatment of heart
disease which was to bed rest patients for 3
weeks and hope for the best. Now, as the team
explained, all the new technology has
revolutionised treatments with less open heart
surgery and shorter hospital stays with quicker
recovery times.
Remote follow-up monitors are used (sitting on
people’s bedsides at night) that alert the hospital
instantly if there is a problem. In fact in an area
such as ours it was felt that because people were
living more healthily and being treated at an
earlier stage the number of heart attacks had
now peaked and was declining. The use of
statins has helped to slow artery blockage by
plaque as they leach cholesterol out of the
plaque.
However in the future
pacemakers would be needed
in greater numbers because
of an ageing population with
cardiac wear and tear.
So thanks to the cardiac
team for illustrating so
clearly what they could offer
us if our hearts missed a
beat.
Measles
I am sure that many of you are
aware that there is an
increasing number of measles
cases being reported across
England. Measles is one of the
most infectious diseases and
far from being just a childhood
illness can cause severe
complications in some patients.
In the next few weeks, Public Health England will
be launching a campaign to prevent measles
outbreaks by vaccinating as many unvaccinated
and partially vaccinated 10-16 year olds as
possible in time for the next school year.
The Surgery will
be contacting
parents of these
children and
offering the MMR
immunisation
although we are
happy for parents
to book a nurse
appointment as soon as possible to ensure that
their children are fully protected. Parents may
wish to be aware that single vaccines were and
are not recommended by the NHS: 2 doses of the
MMR are needed to be considered immune.
Staff News
Patients of Dr Barber-Lomax may be aware that
he has recently undergone a foot operation and
will be recovering until September. We are
pleased that our ex registrar, Dr Nusrat Jabeen
has agreed to look after Dr Barber-Lomax’s
patients in his absence. Dr Jabeen has worked
with us for the last 3 years and will provide an
excellent service to his patients.
In July we will say good bye to Dr Emma
Chakravarty who has been with us for 2 years.
We have been joined by Dr Sapna Dave who will
be training with us until December. Dr Dave has
already slotted into Surgery life and we look
forward to working with her over the next few
months.
NHS 111 Telephone Number
Out of Hours care in
Hertfordshire is now linked to
the national 111 service. This
service has received some
poor press nationally but the
local service appears to be
bucking the national trend.
The service answers calls for
the established Out of Hours
Doctors’ service, HUC and
feedback from HUC GPs is
excellent. As well as being
available when the Surgery is
closed, 111 can be contacted
in the day if you have a medical problem but are
unsure where best to go for appropriate care. If it
is considered that a pharmacy or minor injuries
unit is appropriate they can inform you of the
nearest unit and its opening hours.
SURGERY SNIPPETS
By Anthea Doran
Hospital wins Patient Experience
Award The Luton & Dunstable Hospital has won a Patient
Experience Network National Award for its work
in listening to
patients and
acting on
feedback.
The L&D is
thought to be
the first
hospital in the
country to call
all inpatients to ask their views.
All inpatients are telephoned within 48 hours of
going home to ask about their experience of
hospital.
Clinical staff at the L&D also take turns to be on
duty in the call centre and learn at first hand
what patients think of the care and treatment
they receive.
Your Local Hospital Governors
Malcolm Rainbow and John Harris continue as
your local Hospital Governors and would welcome
feedback on your experiences at the L&D so that
we can more fully represent your interests.
NEWS FROM THE L&D
By John Harris
Journalist and Patient
Group committee member
Gillian Thornton profiles
the organisers of
Harpenden’s first event to
celebrate International
Day of Older People.
One minute it seems we’re
taking our small children to
school; the next moment,
our children are having
children of their own, and we realise we’re on
the wrong side of middle age. Around 20% of
Harpenden’s population is now over 65, officially
classed as Senior Citizens and entering a new
phase of life.
So if you are one of them – or simply know
somebody who is – you might want to jot down
some numbers from the new poster shown on
the opposite page which is to shortly appear on
the Surgery notice boards. Davenport House
doctors are pleased to be publicising the work of
Harpenden Seniors Forum, which points the way
to a huge range of local clubs and cultural
societies as well as organisations offering
practical help to older residents.
The Forum grew out of a Sustainable
Community Strategy for 2021, published by St
Albans City & District Council in 2005. ‘This
forward-thinking document covered all
aspects of the district from transport to
teenagers, but gave only a passing mention
of the growing population of elderly
people,’ recalls Alan Cox, then Chairman of the
Harpenden Trust. ‘So a meeting of 24 town
stalwarts was called and we agreed to
develop a Harpenden Seniors Forum as a
helpline and information point.’
Working with Town, District and County
Councillors, the Forum convinced the District
Council that there was a yawning gap in their
community strategy and the document was duly
revised in 2009. Meanwhile, the Forum
developed its own website and recruited a team
of volunteers willing to man a helpdesk and
phone line at the Day Centre.
Now Harpenden Seniors Forum is
organising a major event in Harpenden
Public Halls on Tuesday 1 October, which
has been designated International Day of
Older People.
‘Twenty-four organisations have already
agreed to take part, ranging from
Computer Friendly to Helping Hand, Friday
Market to Go Together Travel Club,
Harpenden Trust, and Age UK,’ explains Alan
who is now chairman of HSF. ‘A number of
sports and other clubs are also interested
and we have contacted shops and small
businesses to ask if they will give a
discount that day on production of the
town’s Loyalty Card. The response has
been hugely positive with some even
saying it should run for a week!’
At the same time, the publishers of Harpenden’s
popular What’s On booklet are preparing a
Harpenden Seniors Handbook which should be
available in November and will be delivered free
to members. Around 1400 local Seniors are
currently registered to receive free information
bulletins and invitations to HSF events.
And if that wasn’t enough to keep them busy,
the HSF helpdesk will be moving to a new home
over the summer when the Day Centre is
redeveloped. At the time of going to press, they
look likely to move into the new library premises
on Lower High Street, but the phone number
will remain the same.
‘Our volunteers take a wide range of calls,’
says Alan. ‘It might be someone needing a
gardener or plumber, in which case we will
give them a choice of three numbers. But
we had one lady recently concerned about
a decorator who wanted all his money up
front. Fortunately she was suspicious,
called us, and we were able to direct her to
more reputable firms.’
‘Most people simply need advice or a phone
number, but we do hear occasional cases of
genuine hardship too. Three of us are able
to make home visits, assess the situation
and, if necessary, give a modest emergency
grant from our fund.’
And when it comes to getting out and making
friends, Harpenden has a great deal on offer for
Seniors. ‘The difficult thing is often taking
that first step,’ agrees Alan. ‘But Harpenden
Seniors Forum can at least point people in
the right direction.’ Website:
www.harpendenseniorsforum.org
Telephone: 01582 462926.
If you could spare a couple of
hours to man the help desk - no
previous experience necessary -
just call the helpline.
AT YOUR SERVICE - HARPENDEN SENIORS FORUM
By Gillian Thornton