Distington Surgery

13/11/2025

🫶HAPPY WORLD KINDNESS DAY🫶

💕A little kindness goes a long way 💕

12/11/2025

Just a reminder we are closed after 1pm today for training, If you have any medical queries after we close please call 111 or in emergency call 999.
Have a good day!

11/11/2025

🌟 Shoutout Spotlight: Citizens Advice 💙💚

We’re continuing our “Shoutout Spotlight” — celebrating brilliant local initiatives that help keep well and connected this winter. ❄️☕

This week’s spotlight shines on Citizens Advice services across Cumbria – including Carlisle & Eden, Copeland, Allerdale, and South Lakes. (We’ll pop all the links in the comments below 👇).

Citizens Advice offers free, confidential, independent, and impartial advice — available face-to-face, by phone, and online.

They’re here to help people find a way forward with all kinds of issues, including:
💷 Money and debt advice
🏠 Housing and tenancy support
💡 Energy costs and saving tips
💰 Benefits, employment and cost-of-living support
👩‍⚕️ Guidance around health-related benefits and wellbeing

Their advisers don’t just support people one-to-one — they also campaign nationally and locally to improve policies that affect our daily lives.

So if things feel challenging this winter, or you simply need some practical advice, Citizens Advice is here to help.

10/11/2025

Even if you don’t feel it right now - you matter more than you know. Call us for free anytime on 116 123.

10/11/2025

Are you over 65 and haven't had your flu jab yet?

We have appointments available on Thursday 13th November please call reception to book on 01946 830 207.

10/11/2025

Due to illness our clinical team are only able to deal with urgent queries today - please call the surgery later in the week for anything non-urgent.

07/11/2025

We have a flu vaccine clinic for those aged under 65 on Thursday 13th November 2025 with appointments between 09:45 and 12:30 - please call reception to check if you are eligible and make an appointment.

Find out about the flu vaccine for adults, including who should have it, how to get it and side effects.

07/11/2025

Are you a person living on your own? If so, we would like to invite you to our social event which is free to attend, to book your seat at our table, please email thesolwayhall@hotmail.com

🎄 🎅 🤶 🔔 ☃️ ☃️ ❄️

06/11/2025

It's that time of year when colds and flus are pretty much unavoidable. So here are a few top tips to know about diabetes when you're unwell 🤒

📞 Don't panic. Contact your diabetes team who'll help you if you have any queries or if you are unsure about what to do.
💊 Keep taking your diabetes medications. Even if you don't feel like eating. Make sure you talk to your diabetes team or speak to a local pharmacist as soon as you’re feeling ill so they can give you the right advice.
📈 Insulin may need to be increased or decreased when you're unwell. Talk to your diabetes team for further advice on how to manage your insulin doses during illness.
🕰️ If you check your blood sugars at home you'll probably need to do it more often – at least every four hours, or as advised by your healthcare team, including during the night. If you don't test your blood sugars at home, be aware of the signs of a hyper (hyperglycaemia).
💧 Stay hydrated. Have plenty of unsweetened drinks and eat little and often.

For advice on what to do when you're poorly, plus much more, check out our website: https://orlo.uk/sick-day-rules_VvNSP

05/11/2025

There are many many things that frustrate us and potentially make us angry...

- Bad weather and politics.
- Waiting and delays.
- Being behind someone driving slower than you want to drive.
- Being in front of someone who’s practically on your bumper when you are driving the speed limit.
- Endless advert breaks on online videos now (“Skip ad”), including everyone promoting things within the videos themselves too... “today’s video is brought to you by Dr Drake Ramoray.”
- & perceived patronising posts on social media that talk about what makes us frustrated and angry. 🤔

Anyway, the point we’re making is that sometimes all this can understandably build up - and occasionally, that frustration ends up being taken out on the people who are just trying to help.

It really saddens us that in recent weeks, some GP practices have reported incidents where members of staff - particularly reception teams - have experienced abuse and threatening behaviour from patients. This behaviour is unacceptable, and practices will respond accordingly to protect their teams. In serious cases, practices have the right to remove patients from their list if they are violent or abusive.

We completely understand that everyone can feel anger or frustration at times - healthcare can be especially stressful for both patients and staff. But at the end of the day, we’re all human.

And yes, this should absolutely work both ways. Healthcare staff should treat patients fairly, kindly, and respectfully too. If you have concerns about your care, there are formal complaints routes to raise them safely and effectively - abusive behaviour is never the right route.

This message doesn’t just apply to GP practices - it includes all wider healthcare teams: dentists, opticians, pharmacists, hospital staff, community services, and everyone working hard to support patients across our area.

Maybe technology and outside factors have changed our patience, concentration, and expectations, but unfortunately not everything can be instant. Healthcare teams are working hard to provide the best care possible in a system under huge pressure.

So, in a world where so many things seem to be sadly increasing in cost, remember - kindness is still free to share. 💚💙

29/10/2025

Updated 1:45pm – 29/10/25:
We’re pleased to report that the technical issue with the phones across some of the GP Practices has now been resolved by providers. Thank you very much for your patience during this time. 💚💙

Updated 8am - 29/10/25 - this is still the case this morning for some practices with providers still working to fix the issues as soon as possible. We will keep you updated.

4:00pm - 28/10/25
We're receiving reports from some GP Practices that they are having some issues with their phone lines currently, which is resulting in limited lines/an intermittent service. This is again a wider issue with telephony providers.

💡 In the meantime, if your GP practice offers alternative ways to request appointments (such as online services or apps), we recommend using these options, wherever possible, while the phone lines are experiencing technical difficulties.

📱 you can check your local GP practice's social media or website for updates specific to your area.

Practices apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your patience and understanding. 🙏 We hope this is resolved soon.

Please help spread the word to friends and family—especially those who may not be online or using social media to make them aware.
Thank you 💚💙

28/10/2025

Our telephone system is currently down - this has been reported and is being worked on by engineers, we hope to be back up and running as soon as possible. Please call 111 for anything urgent or 999 in an emergency.