Whaddon Healthcare

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I make a request to my Practice?

To make a request to your Practice select the service that you require.

You will be prompted for information about your request. When you complete a request this will be sent to your practice. The system acknowledges that your request has been sent and will let you know what happens next.

The Practice handles the requests during their normal working day, i.e. if you send a request on Friday pm the Practice won’t normally see it until Monday morning.

How do I receive the responses from the Practice?

On some services, such as Ask the Practice a question and Ask the Doctor a question once the Practice has processed your request they will send you a response. This response will be sent to the email address that you have given in the form.

For security purposes the email will ask that you verify your identification. Once you have completed this the message from the surgery will be shown for you to read.

Security of your information

This service always uses fully encrypted connections, the same security as used in internet banking. If you look at the right of the address bar, you will see a small padlock icon. This indicates that you are using a secure link and that your data is encrypted.

As an additional measure your information is held encrypted until the practice need to view it. It is then sent to the practice still encrypted and only converted to readable text at the practice.

Tracking users

We track how you use our Digital Practice but we don’t collect or store your personal information (e.g. your name or address) while you’re browsing. This means that you can’t be personally identified. We use Google Analytics software to track:

The pages you visit

How long you use the site

How you got to the site and what links you clicked on.

We haven’t given Google permission to share this data with anyone else.

How is the Digital Practice updated?

We are continuously working on this site to make sure that the information is accurate and up to date. The digital practice is also continuously updated based on the results of user testing, feedback from members of the public and from your practice and other practices who are using this system.

Suggestions for improvement of the Digital Practice

We are always looking for ways to improve this service and would welcome your suggestions. Please send your comments to suggestions@siliconpractice.co.uk

Links to external sites

Digital Practice links to external organisations when that service is essential for helping a patient complete a task or when helping patients find a service.

Most headaches will go away on their own and are not a sign of something more serious.

How you can ease headaches yourself

Headaches can last between 30 minutes and several hours.

Do

drink plenty of water
get plenty of rest if you have a cold or the flu
try to relax – stress can make headaches worse
exercise when you can
take paracetamol or ibuprofen

Don't

do not drink alcohol
do not skip meals (even if you might not feel like eating anything)
do not sleep more than you usually would – it can make the headache worse
do not strain your eyes for a long time – for example, by looking at a screen

See a GP if:

your headache keeps coming back
painkillers do not help and your headache gets worse
you have a bad throbbing pain at the front or side of your head – this could be a migraine or, more rarely, a cluster headache
you feel sick, vomit and find light or noise painful
you get other symptoms – for example, your arms or legs feel numb or weak

Call 999 or go to A&E if:

you injured your head badly – for example, from a fall or accident
the headache came on suddenly and is extremely painful

You have an extremely painful headache and:

sudden problems speaking or remembering things
loss of vision
you're feeling drowsy or confused
you have a very high temperature, feel hot and shivery, and have a stiff neck or a rash
the white part of your eye is red

What can cause headaches

The most common reasons are:

having a cold or the flu
stress
drinking too much alcohol
bad posture
eyesight problems
not eating regular meals
not drinking enough fluids (dehydration)
taking too many painkillers
women having their period or menopause

[Last reviewed 2017-12-21]

Whaddon Healthcare