A warm hello from the Marnock Medical Group in the first of our quarterly
newsletters.
Our Marnock team strive to provide the best service we can in all aspects of your care
and we hope that our newsletter will give you some insight in to the many projects we
are doing at the practice to improve both our own health and yours. This will include
a focus on physical and mental wellbeing as well as a look at advice and resources for
specific topics from time to time. After all, we all know that prevention is better than
cure. In this newsletter we would like to specifically look at physical activity.
If you have had contact from the practice recently it is likely you that will have been
asked about your exercise level in one form or another, for example; “Do you get out
much?”, “How far can you walk?” “Do you exercise regularly?” “Will you be able to
make it to the practice today?” “Do you have anyone that can help you?” These
questions are asked by all members of our team, whether that be the staff on the
phones or the doctors and nurses during your consultation. This is because ability to
move and exercise relates to everything we do!
These are all important questions and we value your honesty in answering them.
Exercise is profoundly important in maintaining both your physical and mental health
as well as your overall wellbeing. At Marnock we have taken this difficult period
during the pandemic to reflect upon how we can lead by example, so that when you
are asked about exercise or encouraged to do more, you can take it on board knowing
we are practising what we preach.
Some of the improvements we have made recently include;
- Walking tutorials with our trainees- you might have seen us walking about the streets during work hours!
- Various staff and GP walking and physical activity groups and challenges.
- Standing desks for some GPs
- Updating our records on patient heights and weights- we ask you for this to work out your BMI which helps us when assessing any medical problems you may have, and what medications are safe for you
- Increasing discussion about stopping smoking and reducing alcohol intake
We would encourage all of you to start thinking about, and if possible, to increase
your physical activity at a level that is safe for you. This might simply mean getting
up from your chair when you are working from home every hour, going up the stairs
an extra time throughout the day or doing an extra mile on your usual walk or run.
Did you know that we are a parkrun practice?
Have a look at Parkrun and get involved!
Would you like a challenge?
We will soon be launching our virtual “Killie round the world walk” with worldwalks and we will also be looking for patients to participate and help with some activities such as walking groups…… watch this space…..
Have you seen these resources?
We will try and keep you informed and up to date with useful resources and events
If you have any ideas or want to get involved with our MMG physical activity strategy
please get in touch.
Movement for Health
NHS Ayrshire & Arran Musculoskeletal Service (MSK)
We hope you enjoyed our first newsletter, and hope you can take some inspiration
from it and our photos. We would love to hear of the changes you make in improving
your physical activity, so let us hear the next time we speak to you.