Canford Heath Group Practice

19/11/2025

Decommissioning of gluten-free foods on prescription

NHS Dorset has taken the difficult decision to stop prescribing for gluten-free foods, which means these products will no longer be available on prescription.

This decision was ratified by the Dorset Integrated Medicines Optimisation in August 2025 following a public consultation which considered a range of both clinical and social factors, including the wider availability of gluten-free products in food shops (both physical and online), and the need to ensure we deliver best value for money.

Dorset currently has one of the highest prescribing costs in England for gluten-free products, despite our small population size. The removal of these products from our formulary aligns with NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight, and other areas around the country such as NHS Somerset.

This change is supported by guidance from NHS England, which states that commissioning organisations can end the prescribing of gluten-free foods if they feel this is appropriate for their population, while taking account of their legal duties to advance equity and have regard to reducing health inequalities.

18/11/2025

Can you help shape a project to support people living with dementia?
Dr Marj Woodhouse, Senior Research Fellow School of Health Sciences, University of Southampton says;

"I’m developing a fellowship proposal that focuses on how assistive products that support fundamental care can be better chosen and used to support people living with dementia at home and in other community care settings. Assistive products include a wide range of items designed to make daily life easier and safer. This project focuses specifically on products that help with activities such as washing, using the toilet, and caring for the skin. Examples include bath seats, toilet frames, absorbent pads, and pressure cushions.

I would welcome informal conversations with:
• People living with dementia who have used assistive products
• Informal carers supporting someone with dementia
• Health or social care professionals with experience of recommending or using assistive products

The aim is to gather feedback by phone, in person or online to help shape the proposal. A small payment is available in recognition of people’s time and to help cover caring responsibilities where needed.

If you’re interested in contributing or would like to find out more, please contact me at: m.woodhouse@soton.ac.uk.

I’d like to hold these conversations over the next few months, ideally by mid-January 2026, with timings arranged to suit people’s availability.

Thank you for helping to share this with anyone who may like to take part.

Best wishes,
Marj

17/11/2025

The 2025/2026 NHS Young Researcher surveys are now LIVE!

Who are the NHS Young Researchers?
As part of the NHS Youth Forum, the NHS Young Researchers are a group of 16 – 25-year-olds who lead on research projects exploring the key healthcare challenges of their generation. This includes developing surveys, which aim to gather the views and experiences of young people from across the country.

Working in partnership with NHSE and Barnardo’s, the Researchers will evaluate the findings and recommend interventions to improve care and outcomes. For more information, click this link: https://www.barnardos.org.uk/nhs-youth-forum

Please find the links for the surveys below to share with services and young people in your networks. If you have any questions, please contact the NHS Youth Forum inbox – NHSYouthForum@barnardos.org.uk

What are the surveys about?
This year, the projects focus on the 3 big shifts in the 10 Year Health Plan.

Analogue to Digital: Where do young people get their health information from? How do health information sources affect young people’s health decisions?
• For respondents aged 13 – 25 years
• Fill out the survey here: https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=GR8bF2d1PE27mnSK0D8wGrkBUHQHf3xNrarMs-VtB8xUNUdFNVQ3STRENVZaVjYxS1hSTkZWTkRHQyQlQCN0PWcu&route=shorturl

Sickness to Prevention: What are the barriers to young people accessing initial care? Do young people feel listened to by health services?
• For respondents aged 13 – 25 years
• Fill out the survey here: https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=GR8bF2d1PE27mnSK0D8wGrkBUHQHf3xNrarMs-VtB8xUOUNPNjAwOERTUjNZUUZMTkVXSzI2T0w3TCQlQCN0PWcu&route=shorturl

Hospital to Community: What are people’s experience of community health care services?
• For respondents;
o Young people aged 11 – 25 years
o Parents/carers of young people in the above age group
o Clinical/non-clinical staff who work within community care for young people
• Fill out the survey here https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=GR8bF2d1PE27mnSK0D8wGrkBUHQHf3xNrarMs-VtB8xUMDdCWERWVVNGV1M2RTgwWUZaSzBWUkhJMiQlQCN0PWcu&route=shorturl

We really hope you can spread these surveys. The care and time taken by the young people to create them has been amazing and their passion to create change is felt throughout these pieces of work!

The NHS Youth Forum
Your opportunity as a young person to have a say about the health services available to you.

16/11/2025

13/11/2025

The Dorset Women’s Health Survey is live until Tuesday, 25 November 2025!
If you’re a woman or girl living in Dorset, share your views and experiences of healthcare by taking part in the survey today.
Click here to take part:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DorsetWomensHealthSurvey2025.

All responses are confidential.

06/11/2025

The Women’s Health Strategy for England (Department of Health and Social Care 2022, updated 2024), sets out 10-year ambitions for boosting the health and wellbeing of women and girls, and for improving how the health and care system listens to women.
Although women in the UK live longer on average than men, the evidence shows they spend a greater proportion of their lives in ill health or disability.
NHS Dorset has been working closely with Dorset Women Community Interest Company (CIC), system partners and women themselves over the past two years to understand how to implement the recommendations from the Women’s Health Strategy for England locally across the county of Dorset, as well as women’s health priorities overall, driving forward the Dorset Women’s Health programme.
As part of the programme, the Dorset Women’s Health Website was developed, to be a central point of reference for all information, education, awareness, self-help, and service provision concerning women’s health for the women of Dorset, as well as five additional projects:
• Menopause
• Pelvic Floor Disorders
• Young Women’s Mental and Physical Health
• Long-Acting Reversable Contraception
• Minority Groups & Mobile Support
A survey was circulated in May last year to help support and direct the work of NHS Dorset and partners. A new survey is being re-circulated to gather views and experiences from women and girls in Dorset to find out if anything has changed. It will also help to develop the website and ensure it remains relevant and useful to the women and girls in Dorset, as well as helping to inform future work being taken forward by teams working across women’s health in Dorset.

The survey is live until Tuesday 25th November 2025. All responses are confidential.
Take part using the following link:

Take this survey powered by surveymonkey.com. Create your own surveys for free.

05/11/2025

At the Chitter Chatter Club website you can find out more about the amazing work the groups are doing, and where your local group can be found to help stop loneliness.

https://www.thechitterchatterclub.co.uk/

There's also the Brew Crew https://www.thechitterchatterclub.co.uk/brew-crew part of the chitterchatter club.

Chitter Chatter Clubs and the Free Monthly newsletter empower guests who want to heal loneliness and belong whilst making friends again. No one is too old to make a friend. CCC's help you improve you confidence, mental health/social mobility and from there build thriving communities where you don't....

03/11/2025

Don't forget Howard, our Digital Champion, will be in the surgery between 9am and 11am tomorrow (Tuesday 4th) to help with anything digital you may need, including getting onto the NHS App and how to navigate it, learning about eConsults to avoid the telephone, setting up Electronic Repeat Dispensing so you don't have to order your medication... and more!

31/10/2025

South Western (SWAST) Ambulance Service – Your Voice Matters!
SWAST is currently promoting its next Patient Participation Panel (PPP); a community-led forum aimed at improving patient care service delivery across the South West region.
The next community feedback forum is taking place online on 21 November 2025 at 10am. If you're interested in having your voice heard about their services please visit:

Patient Participation Panel Your voice matters, so let's talk!  We value the feedback and insights of local people - whether or not you've used our services. Your opinions matter and play a vital role in helping us improve the care we provide. There's no obligation to attend every meeting or stay f...

28/10/2025

As a research practice, we are currently supporting the Imperial College London with their CARE-UK Asthma Study. If your child has Asthma and are aged between 6 and 11 years old please scan the QR code if you are interested in taking part.

27/10/2025

Come along and meet our Digital Champion next Tuesday (4th Nov). Howard can help you get online with the NHS App, talk to you about what the App does, discuss how to use eConsult to avoid having to ring us, talk about setting up Electronic Repeat Dispensing (so you don't have to order your medication!) and anything else digital you wish to discuss.