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How healthy is Keyworth? |
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If you want to know a little about the health of Keyworth,
Tollerton and the other smaller villages we are the ones to tell you. Below are
some facts and figures and comments. The population of this practice is about
11,000
There are eleven diseases which we we monitor closely to make sure we are achieving quality and outcome targets for treatment according to standards set by the Department of Health. Some statistics and comments about these diseases is set out below. May 2004 to April 2005 was the first year targets for Quality points were given. Here at Keyworth we scored 98.3%. We are naturally pleased with this high score but not surprised, given the effort we know we make and the excellent cooperation and commitment to personal health care that our patients give us. Much of the effort that had to be made to get a high score was to do with telling our computer what we knew already, but that is the age we live in! The high quality of achievement shown by GPs nationally definitely surprised the Department of Health. We always thought General Practice was a high achieving part of the NHS and now we know for sure. We hope they take due note and help us to do an even better job. Coronary Heart Disease (also called IHD or CHD, and includes mainly people who have had heart attacks or get angina) Heart failure This is common parlance for what we call left ventricular dysfunction. This is weakness of the main pumping chamber of the heart. It is usually a result of damage caused by coronary heart disease (above). It is a serious disease but with good treatment, life expectancy can be extended considerably. We have 24 patients with this condition. Most of the care is provided at the Health Centre. Stroke and mini-stroke (TIA). We have 156 patients with either of these. The main cause of strokes is high blood pressure. This is why we like to check everyones blood pressure every few years, and treat it if it is high. People frequently have raised blood pressure for 20 years before they get a stroke from it. High blood pressure (hypertension) We are currently treating 1110 patients for high blood pressure. That is one person in ten! We dont really know why it is so common. But is probably related to lifestyle of ourselves or our parents in some way. Being overweight is a recognised factor for some people. The main consquence of untreated high blood pressure is a stroke but it also leads to heart attacks and some other serious things. Diabetes. 291 patients. There is type 1 that needs insulin injections and usually starts in childhood or early adult life, and type 2 that comes on usually after the age of 50 and is closely linked with being overweight. It is usually treated by diet and tablets, but sometimes insulin injections. This disease can lead to other circulation problems with heart, kidney and eyes and reduces life expectancy. A healthy lifestyle goes a long way to preventing type 2 diabetes. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary disease (COPD). 113 patients. Used to be called chronic bronchitis and/or emphysema. It is a disease almost always caused by smoking. It does not usually show itself until after the age of fifty, by which time much damage has been done which will slowly deteriorate over the years even if smoking is stopped. So it is vital to stop smoking if (when) the disease is detected if the lungs are going to last the remainder of life in any usable form. Some forms of treatment are helpful but most of the treatment effort goes into stopping the cause. Considering the number of people who smoke, the number of 113 might seem low. We think so too, and it is partly because we have not tested many people for it. This number will grow. Also, some people who are labelled as asthma have COPD as well and they are often not counted. Having asthma and smoking as well is almost guaranteed to get you COPD. And by the time you are found to have it, most of the damage is done. We would encourage smokers to come and get tested for COPD. We have a machine that tells us "lung age". We often test smokers age 60 who have a lung age of 100! Asthma We have 698 patients with asthma. For many it is relatively mild, requiring the occasional use of an inhaler. For others it requires the use of many inhalers several times a day. Asthma can be dangerous. The proper use of modern medications, patient education, and personal management plan, is the key to minimising the impact of this disease. Epilepsy. 42 patients. Drugs have improved recently for this condition, and many patients remain completely free of attacks. Underactive thyroid. 283 patients. Very common in elderly people. Easily treated with tablets, this condition does not affect people in any way once detected. Cancer. 78 patients. Most of these patients with cancer are completely healthy, having been cured of it. Once you get cancer you stay on the cancer register even if you had it 30 years ago. Cancer mainly affects those over 50, and many different types are represented. Cancer should not be thought of as a single disease, every type behaves very differently. Mental Health. 43 patients. To be included in this register you have to be suffering from a severe mental illness that requires regular specialist psychiatric assessment and usually anti-psychotic medication. It does not include patients who suffer from most forms of depression unless it necessitates hospital inpatient care, which is very unusual. Comment |
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