If you take many medicines, you may be invited by the practice team for a Polypharmacy Review. This is a 30–40 minute appointment with a clinical pharmacist to make sure your medicines are still right for you.

The aim is to help you feel confident about your treatment, understand your medicines better, and reduce any side effects or problems they might cause.

What Happens at a Review?

• Discuss what each medicine is for
• Talk about any side effects
• Review how your medicines fit into your daily life
• Consider any changes that might help you feel better

You’re welcome to bring a family member or friend for support.

What to Bring

• All your medicines (including vitamins and herbal remedies)
• Any questions or concerns
• Your completed questionnaire (see below)

Patient Questionnaires

You can complete the questionnaires on a computer or phone, or download and print them to bring with you to your appointment. Paper copies are also available at reception.

Before Your Review

This form helps you think about what you want to understand better, any side effects, and how your medicines affect your daily life.

Download Pre-Review Questionnaire (PDF)

After Your Review

This form helps you reflect on what you learned, any changes made, and how your medicines are working now.

After your review, you will be asked to return the questionnaire to reception so that we can save it in your notes electronically.

Download Post-Review Questionnaire (PDF)

Sick Day Rules

If you are unwell with vomiting, diarrhoea, or fever and unable to eat or drink normally, you may need to temporarily stop certain medicines. These include:

• ACE inhibitors (e.g. Ramipril, Lisinopril)
• ARBs (e.g. Losartan, Candesartan)
• Diuretics (e.g. Furosemide, Bendroflumethiazide)
• NSAIDs (e.g. Ibuprofen, Naproxen)
• Metformin and other diabetes medicines (e.g. Empagliflozin)

Restart your medicines once you are well again—usually after 24–48 hours of eating and drinking normally. If unsure, speak to your pharmacist, GP, or nurse.

Download Sick Day Rules Card

Helpful Resources

• Manage My Meds – NHS Scotland Toolkit
• NHS Inform
• Download the Polypharmacy App from the App Store or Google Play

Ageing Well in East Lothian

Staying active and connected is an important part of healthy ageing. In East Lothian, there are many opportunities to get involved:

• Health & Wellbeing Walks: Weekly walks for all ages and abilities. A great way to stay active and meet others. View Walks Schedule (PDF)
• Ageing Well Activities: Join local groups for yoga, singing, walking football, and more. View Activity List (PDF)

These activities support physical and mental wellbeing and are open to everyone in the community.

Specialist healthcare support to help you remain at work, or make a health return to work.

For free, confidential and impartial advice call 0131 537 9579

If you are struggling with a health issue that is affecting your work, Working Health Services Scotland can help you manage your condition so you can remain at work. If you are off with a health condition, they can also help you make a healthy, successful return to work.

CAPS Independent Advocacy is able to offer one to one advocacy support to people experiencing eating disorders in East Lothian. This is a service funded by NHS Lothian and CAMHS. It is available for adults and for children and young people. There are two separate teams of advocacy workers available to prevent any conflict of interest.

The advocacy support can be about anything in a person’s life that is difficult for them and so while they may be waiting for treatment there could be other issues that are affecting their eating that they could help them resolve. They can go with people to appointments too and make sure they understand their options and their rights.

Please find attached leaflets for more detailed information.

Our Community Links Worker, Lisa Brownlie, can offer you a safe space to talk about issues that may be stopping you living well and use it as a time to explore what changes and support you might need to improve your health and well-being – all at North Berwick surgery.

She can also accompany you to attend the places you want to be, helping you connect with community resources (eg Welfare Advice, Mental Health Resources), services (eg Benefit applications, housing problems, befriending, trauma) and groups (eg walking, Men’s Shed, art therapy) helping you resume a regular daily routine, make better life decisions and feel less isolated.

Lisa will be working 10 hours per week. If you would like to be referred please ask your GP, Practice Nurse or Receptionist. She can see you at the Practice or via a community venue if that is easier.

The Practice provides a limited minor injury service.  This service is strictly for patients that have an injury that is less than 48 hours old and needs immediate attention.  Injuries include the following:

–          Wounds requiring cleaning and dressing 

–          Head injury not involving loss of consciousness

–          Minor burns and scalds

–          Minor trauma to hands, feet and limbs

–          Vaccination for tetanus in those patients with a wound requiring this

If you require assistance outwith surgery hours or you fall into any of the below brackets, please contact the Flow Centre on 111.

Patients who meet the inclusion criteria below will initially be offered a Video Consultation (VC) if they have a smartphone or a Face to Face appointment if they do not.  Following a VC consultation the Nurse Practitioner will either give the patients self-care advice or book a face to face appointment.

Opening hours: 08.00 – 20.00 Monday to Sunday inclusive

Telephone: 111

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients 8 years old and over
• Must be able to make own way to Minor Injuries Unit (can be either RIE Edinburgh, RHSC, SJH or WGH)
• Injuries within 14 days
• Wounds less than 24 hours old with controlled bleeding with or without foreign body
• Foreign body in  nose or ear
• Crush injury to fingers/toes with no wound 
• Ring removal from fingers/toes
• Minor burns or scalds (not involving hands, face or genitals)
• Head and face injuries not in exclusion criteria
• Eye injuries not in exclusion criteria
• Limb injuries (below shoulder or below knee)
• Animal bites including insect bites and stings
• Patients with fracture that require review after being treated outwith NHS Lothian
• Animal bites with localised swelling and no evidence of allergic reaction

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients 7 years old or under
• Patients who require transport to or from MIU
• Injuries that happened more than 14 days ago – advise back to GP
• Wounds that happened over 24 hours ago – advise back to GP
• Head injuries with loss of consciousness, vomiting/disturbed vision/altered behaviour, underlying blood conditions or patient on anticoagulants
• Human bites
• Dangerous mechanism of injury eg fall from higher than patients ow height or road accident with combined speed of 40mph
• Intoxication or overdose
• Minor burns and scalds to neck, face and genitals and chemical burn
• Eye injuries with visual disturbance or penetrating injury 
• Insect bites with non-localized swelling or evidence of allergic reaction
• Injury or foreign body to abdomen, chest or back
• Unsafe environment/social circumstances

Children Age:	Video Conferencing consultation	Booked face to face appointment
Children under 1year old	Not suitable	NO. Self present to RHSC or SJH
Children 1 year to 7 years	Not suitable for VC consultation. Book face to face if meets clinical criteria	YES – WGH, SJH or RHSC only
Children 8 years to 16 years	Suitable for VC consultation if meets criteria	YES – WGH, SJH or RHSC onlyRIE ED does not see children under 16 years old

NHS Lothian’s community treatment & care team (CTAC) can provide a range of care to you and your family.

You can call them direct on 0300 790 6292 for the following services, you don’t need to wait to speak to us. This will save you time and means you’ll get the care you need, more quickly.

Appointments available: Monday-Friday 8am-5pm
Phone line open: Monday-Friday 8.30am-12pm & 1.30-4.30pm.

• Wound care – all wounds, including post operative wounds, chronic wounds and leg ulcer management. The exception to this is minor injuries: please contact the Minor Injuries Unit for these
• Taking out sutures and staples
• Some secondary care phlebotomy (blood tests you’ve been told to get by a health professional in a hospital)
• Pre-chemo blood tests
• Doppler assessment
• Vitamin B12 injections
• Certain types of vaccinations

East Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership

East Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership provide a service to support the mental health and wellbeing of people in East Lothian. It gives you a quicker way to access a wide range of Mental Health Specialists. CWIC Mental Health is a Primary Care service for patients aged over 17 years and 9 months.

Please read the attached leaflet for further information including how to make direct contact with this service.

IN TIMES OF CRISIS IF YOU NEED TO TALK URGENTLY …

• Breathing Space 0800 83 85 87 (Mon – Thurs 6pm – 2am. Weekend Friday 6pm-Monday 6am): A confidential phoneline service for anyone in Scotland feeling low, anxious or depressed
• Samaritans 116 123 (24hrs, every day, free phone): Telephone support for those experiencing feelings of emotional distress or despair, including those which could lead to suicide. Email jo@samaritans.org for a response within 24 hours if you find it easier to write your thoughts and feelings down. Not suitable for urgent support.
• Saneline 0300 304 7000 (4.30pm-10.30pm, every day): national out-of-hours telephone helpline offering emotional support and information for people affected by mental health problems including family, friends and carers.)
• NHS24: Tel 111

Other telephone support services

• Cruse 0808 808 1677 (9:30am – 5pm Monday+Friday, open until 8pm Tues/Wed/Thurs): The CRUSE bereavement care free helpline is staffed by trained bereavement volunteers, who offer emotional support to anyone affected by bereavement
• Living Life 0800 328 9655 (Mon – Fri 1pm – 9pm): Appointment based telephone counselling service based on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, where you will receive a series of appointments with a self help coach or therapist to help with anxiety, stress, depression.
• 1st Response 07966 526 452 (leave a message and someone will call you to arrange an appointment.): Open to anyone aged 18 years old and over who lives in East Lothian and is experiencing distress and reduced mental wellbeing. Run by specially trained practitioners and peer workers – people who use their own experience of mental health difficulties to help others achieve recovery.

Useful Websites

• Moodjuice: Patient information booklets and more information on subjects including abuse, anger, anxiety, bereavement, dementia parenting. To help you think about emotional problems and work towards solving these.
• Anxiety Canada: Free online, self-help, and evidence-based resources on anxiety and anxiety disorders . Information for adults, children and parents of those with anxiety.
• The Royal College of Psychiatrists: have a range of information leaflets about mental health conditions and relevant support services written by psychiatrists and patients.
• Living Life To The Full: Free online courses covering low mood, stress and resilience. Work out why you feel as you do, how to tackle problems, build confidence, get going again, feel happier, stay calm, tackle upsetting thinking and more. Also includes support and courses to help deal with chronic pain, pregnancy, birth and more.
• Moodgym is an online self-help program designed to help users prevent and manage symptoms of depression and anxiety. It is like an interactive, online self-help book which teaches skills based on cognitive behaviour therapy. Cost for 12 month access [approx. £20 in June 2019]
• East Space: Information for people in East Lothian on how and where to access support services in the local area. Also includes events, courses, classs available locally.
• Changes: Tel: 0131 653 3977 Community Health Project which aims to promote the positive wellbeing of people living in East Lothian. They offer a wide range of courses, groups, therapies and activities to help manage stress, anxiety and depression and maintain wellbeing. Includes stress control classes, mindfulness, counselling, CBT and more. Audio tracks for mindfulness, meditation and relaxation available to listen to via website as well as links to self help resources.
• Wellbeing Lothian: Find information and tools to help with your wellbeing and mental health.

Apps

• Feeling Good App: Feeling good is a free Positive Mental Training programme which uses relaxation, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and resilience building techniques to help improve positive feelings, self-esteem and self-confidence.
• Headspace: Headspace is an app which teaches meditation and mindfulness in just a few minutes a day. This has been shown to help people stress less, focus more and sleep better.
• Calm: Guided meditations and relaxation techniques to help you manage anxiety, lower stress and sleep better.
• Happy Not Perfect: Tools to help with feeling anxious, stressed, tired, frustrated, including daily ‘happiness workouts’
• CalmHarm: App to help resist and manage the urge to self harm (age 12+) Groups and volunteering
• Poldrate Arts and Crafts Centre: Located in Haddington in the Elizabeth Hamilton Buildings, offers a wide variety of arts and crafts classes and self-help groups for adults (16+ year olds).
• Sew Forth: Sewing and stitching group meeting regularly in Gullane

Counselling 

• CrossReach: 01875 814 933 Confidential counselling for adults, children and young people in East Lothian experiencing a range of mental health issues
• Changes East Lothian: See ‘useful websites’ – self refer on 0131 653 3977 or info@changeschp.org.uk
• British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy:  Search for a private counsellor in your local area

Other Services available

• Carers of East Lothian: tel 0131 665 0135 Support and practical advice for anyone who is a carer, including caring for those with mental health problems.
• Penumbra: tel 0131 665 5818 email east@penumbra.org.uk. Voluntary organisation throughout Scotland Promotes wellbeing, recovery and self management including 1:1 wellbeing coaching and workshops. Suitable for those with mild-severe mental health issues who require support to identify and overcome difficulties in daily life.
• ALISS: ‘A Local Information Service for Scotland’ Search for useful community support, groups and resources in your local area

East & Midlothian Children’s Physiotherapy Department run a telephone Help Line Service on Mondays and Thursdays between 9am and 11am where parents and professionals can ring the department to discuss any concerns.

To seek advice or to discuss a child with them, please phone
Musselburgh Primary Care Centre on 0131 446 4144
Discussions are confidential and personal details need not to be shared.  If a request for assistance is advisable you will be asked to complete a written form.
Anyone can ring if you would like to speak to a Physiotherapist for advice.  You do not need to go to your GP or school to access this service.

East Lothian Health and Social Care Partnership have launched a new helpline for people suffering from muscle or joint pain. The phone line supports people who are suffering from Musculoskeletal (MSK) problems so that they can get an assessment, support and onward referral to more specialised support if they need it. They can deal with a wide range of MSK problems like stiff necks, bad backs sore shoulders and knees.

The East Lothian MSK support line is now open from 09:00am to 11:30am on Mondays to Friday inclusive. You do not need a referral from a GP or other clinical professional to use it.

When you call, a member of the team will take your details and make an appointment for you for a telephone review with an advanced physiotherapy practitioner. The advanced practitioner will then call you back at a convenient time for you, assess you over the phone and offer advice.

All you have to do to access this service is phone us on 0300 3690680 Monday to Friday between 09:00am to 11:30am.