Appletree Medical Centre

www.duffieldderbyshire.co.uk

Appletree Medical Centre by Dr. Mark Browne So summer did finally arrive, perhaps just a little later than and for not as long as expected. The welcome sunshine heralded some more good news down at Appletree. Many of you will have met Dr David Regan and Dr Helen Fenwick as they have been working at Appletree for a little while now, and, I have to say, it has been a great pleasure working with them, bringing as they have, new ideas and thinking to the Practice. Happily, after a period of time working together, they have accepted our offer of long term partnership here at Appletree, and both will be starting as full partners from September. Both bring new and different skills. Dr Regan has interests in cardiovascular medicine, including atrial fibrillation and anticoagulation, as well as being in the process of up skilling himself in joint disease management. Dr Fenwick has particular interests in mental health issues, including dementia and depression as well as having a wealth of experience in substance misuse. They both have wonderful senses of humour, essential in General Practice; and we are looking forward to working with them for many years to come. So, the Olympics is finally over and what a superb event it turned out to be, showcasing Great Britain and what we are capable of when we put our minds to it. Hopefully it will stimulate generations of people to take up regular exercise as the health benefits are enormous. It has certainly encouraged me to take up cycling again, and with the weather as it has been, seeing the glories of the Derbyshire countryside from the saddle has been a joy. Apparently 6 billion people thought the Olympics was a huge success, apart from the one curmudgeon in Duffield (you know who you are Mr MCS. “It’s just big PE”. I ask you). However, in terms of sunshine, not all that glitters is gold. A few years ago some consultants wondered why rates of referral for suspected skin cancer shot up in the month of August. The dermatologists and the PCT initially suggested it was due to experienced GPs having the barefaced cheek to go on holiday when it was warm and their children were on school holiday, leaving inexperienced juniors more inclined to refer such suspected cases . We had to quietly take the dermatologists to one side, calm them down a bit, and explain that it might more realistically be caused by the fact that August was possibly the only time of year when Brits could safely strip off down to beachwear; thereby giving their friends and relatives a unique opportunity to observe new skin lesions that were covered up for the rest of the year. Look out for new, enlarging, irregularly shaped, differently coloured, itchy or scabby lesions. Most of them will be fine, but it only takes a few seconds for us to be able to sort the wheat from the chaff so don’t feel shy to come to see us if you are concerned. Dr. Mark Browne Appletree Medical Practice 47a Town Street Duffield Belper DE56 4GG Telephone: 0844 477 3476 From outside the UK:+448704230406 Fax:0844 477 3585 Out of Hours: 0844 477 3476 The Appletree Patients’ Participation Group meet at the surgery every last Wednesday of the month. Any patient registered at the Practice and interested in influencing health care in the locality is welcome.