Winter is coming! Thankfully, there will be no White Walkers on their way, too, but there will be sniffles and sneezes aplenty.
Yes, nurses, doctors and a whole range of medical professionals are bracing themselves for the months ahead. Already the first coughs are being heard in GPs’ waiting rooms, marking the start of the flu season.
Admissions to hospitals climb during cold spells and the accident rate soars as icy roads and pavements lead to falls.
During the harsh winters of 2009 and 2010 a succession of rain showers that froze when they fell led to crisis in casualty departments across Scotland as streets turned to sheets of ice, pedestrians tumbled like skittles and cars skidded into lamp posts.
At one point during 2010 the number of people turning up with broken wrists led to 12-hour waits for treatment and severe shortages of plaster bandages.
Of course, if you’re an experienced medical professional looking for your next career move on s1jobs, you’ll know prevention is always better than cure. Your workload would be cut and the health of the nation improve, if only the public took sensible precautions.
Frequent hand-washing to combat germs, leaving more time for journeys when the weather’s bad and treating simple colds and coughs with hot drinks and over-the-counter medicines would reduce the pressure on GPs, their surgery staff and other front-line medical services.
And then there’s the flu jab. If more of those eligible for this free vaccination got down to their surgery, they could save themselves a possible winter illnesses – and avoid passing it to others.
So what can be done to make your patients aware of the easy ways to avoid the worst of winter’s ailments?
Well, there are lots of public health programmes aimed at getting the message across, but you can do your bit by reminding those you’re treating.
“I’m always giving my patients a gentle nudge,” says practice nurse Helen Simpson.
“It’s amazing how many people who are eligible don’t get the flu vaccine because they think it will make them unwell. In fact, it will do the opposite and could, in some cases, save lives.
“I chat about it while I’m taking blood samples or changing dressings because once you’ve seen someone floored by real flu, you want to help other people avoid it.”
By persuading more of your patients to look after themselves during the winter you could cut the queues in waiting rooms, making your life and theirs that little bit better.
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