We have set up this website as a gateway to trusted health and care information for patients, their families and those they care for who are registered at Haughton Vale and Thornley House Medical Centres. See the "Patient Control Panel" on the left which helps you to drive the care for you and your loved ones!

Within the site there are sections with specific content for Haughton Vale and Thornley House. If you believe there is information that we have not included and that you would like to see included, please let us know by visiting the Patient Zone for each Practice and send us yourcomments. We value all the feedback that we receive and regularly include information supplied by our patients.

Healthcare Websites
Do you want to get a better understanding of your health? We provide here trusted websites where the information will help you to understand your record better. NHS Choices, Clinical Knowledge Summaries, Patient.co.uk and Jumohealth provide information about certain conditions. Medications A-Z is a great resource to tell you more about your medicines, side effects, whether it is safe to use in pregnancy or if you are breast-feeding and also other drugs that you may take for certain conditions too. Lab Tests Online provides specific information about blood tests, what they mean, what they are for and common questions you may have about them. EasyHealth has been designed specifically for people with disabilities eg visual impairment, deafness or learning difficulties so that you can learn too or inform others.  

Self Care for family and friends
Helps you to get a better understanding of your own and those you care for's health. Learn about Self Care & the top 50 things that patients go to their GP with when they could things for themselves instead. There are useful leaflets on mental health problems, musculoskeletal problems as well as common minor ailments. Perhaps the best way of understanding what all these resources do is to try them out to see how they may be helpful for you, members of your family or those you care for. Try the symptom checker or have a go at making your own Information Prescription. If you want to monitor your own health by checking your own blood pressure, monitoring your weight, checking your peak flows, glucose levels, mental health or even problems with your prostate. It's all here to help you do more for yourself and your family too. 

Specific Health Concerns
Do you need to know something specifically about a certain type of health concern rather than a condition? Need advice on types of contraception, what works, how effective it is and what suits your lifestyle and preferences? It is worth considering long-acting reversible contraception if you have not considered it before.

There is advice about getting pregnant, the pregnancy itself, labour and birth, your newborn and babies and toddlers. (See also Pregnancy Care which provides specific advice on what the practice offers too and local services). Now that you have got your baby (or are a proud grandparent and want the best for your grandchildren!) and want advice on food and health tips, recipes or just free vouchers to spend on milk, plain fresh and frozen fruit and vegetables and infant formula milk. We recommend Breastfeeding to support a Healthy Start. 

Is your dad, partner or loved one's health fading. Men are often less keen to go and visit their doctor or nurse until it's too late. Would you know the signs and what to look out for if their health was fading? Find out and don't be a statistic. Of course there is a lot that we can do to help support our physical and mental health. Learn how young men in Hyde are doing and what they think health is about.

Many patients suffer with pain in silence. But did you know there are many tools to help you manage pain that are proven to work via the Pain Toolkit.

Perhaps you are planning on going holiday abroad and just want to know whether you are fit to fly, what immunisations are needed or what information you need about specific conditions and how to stay safe abroad. Worried about your sexual health and need to contact the GUM clinic? Or maybe you just want to know what to do about some embarrassing problems - you know the kinds you sometimes find difficult to talk about. Can you sort them out yourself or do you need to come and see the doctor or nurse?

Many people reach a point in their lives when something is troubling them about their relationships from young people to older people and Relate can help as can MIND based in Tameside. But sometimes things can really seem impossible and you feeling taking your life is the only option. But it isn't! There is help if you are suicidal because U can Cope. And if a loved one does pass away and you are struggling with bereavement, here is somewhere to turn to besides your surgery.

Would you know what to do if you find somebody collapsed and unconscious and needs CPR. Hands-only CPR as seen on TV by Vinnie Jones but now you can see how our local resuscitation officer showed us and you how to do it too! It's all in the beat.

Unfortunately there does come a time when the doctors feel you or your loved on is reading the end of life and plans need to be put in place for what to do in that eventuality. Planning for your future care, finding out what your options are, what help there is, whether a hospice is right for you, hearing other people's experiences, learning about how to care for somebody who may be terminal, finding out what are the best treatments for common problems in terminally ill patients, who ought to be informed so that you are not ket waiting if you need help is all here.

Care does not stop when you or your loved one dies. There is so much more that needs to be done, forms that need to be processed, authorities that need to be notified, post-mortem, cremations and burials and letters that need to be sent to loved ones who may not be aware. What about organ donation? Now is the time to ensure your loved ones wishes are fulfilled and somebody else gets the chance of an improved quality of life if that is what they wanted.

Abuse
Domestic abuse, bullying and co-ercion against your will are heinous crimes that can cause devastation to you and your family. But would you know where to turn if it happens to you or if you know somebody who is at risk? You may not be able to tell anybody in the surgery for fear of being found out but you can try seeing here or for Asian domestic abuse.

Money Worries
Help with Benefits is a treasure trove of information to help you get the benefits you are entitled to for residents of Tameside. Learn more about Universal Credit but if you are not sure and want to find out what you are entitled to then look at this Self-Help Benefits Advisor. Best of all for you and your family's health is to get a job. Try here to see if there is a job for you!

Other Advice
Want to know how to get the best from the Out of Hours service. Be prepared and make sure you have your passwords so that you can share your records with the doctor if they need to see specific information. If you do need to be referred to another hospital then we will use Choose and Book which offers us an opportunity to inform you about the different hospitals that you can be referred to also sometimes what appointments there are so that you can leave the surgery with a fixed appointment date and time with the hospital or provider of your choosing!

There are a variety of ways that we communicate with patients but we also recognise things are changing and social media is increasingly being used as a way of informing others too. How can you keep in touch with developments and stay one step ahead? Of course the practice website has lots and lots of gems but do you know how best to use the tools on here? Click here to see videos showing what is available and how you can get the most from this website.

We want you to stay safe on line - so there are two great links - Know The Net and Get Safe Online

Shared Decision Making
Healthcare is a team sport. It is very rare when the clinician (doctor or nurse) can know what is best for you. Usually we need to work with you to identify the "best" course of action. This is done best through shared decision making. It is hard to know exactly what this means particularly as this is an intensely personal experience but we have gathered together a number of resources that we think could aid you and your clinicians in this. What is Shared Decision Making, Patient Reported Outcome Measures, Decision Aids, Patient experience via HealthTalkOnline (adults and youth) and Patient Opinion. The Picker Institute did a case study looking at how Haughton Thornley Medical Centres is improving patient's health literacy by investing in engagement. Private health screening looks at the rise of private companies that are willing to screen you for various conditions and make a variety of claims for their benefit but at what cost. 

For Beginners
There are computer courses available at the local library in Hyde for those patients and carers who either do not know how to use a computer or would like some help.