1. A TALK FROM A LOCAL DOCTOR (GP)
Introduce yourself-………….
I have come along today to share with you a little about the job I do as a local doctor or General Practitioner, otherwise known as a GP, and what help or advice you might expect to get from your local GP and the Practice Team if you come along to see us at the Practice.
Before I start I just want to ask you 3 questions and get you to raise your hand(cards) showing whether you think the yes or no. yes is green and no is red. I’ll be asking the same 3 questions at the end.
Many of you will have been to your GP when you were younger with your parents or grandparents when they took you along for your immunisations and baby checks and if they were worried about whether you had an infection such as a tonsillitis or ear or chest infection.
But now you are at the point where you may want to seek advice about your health or worries yourself – and there are many services you can go to for help – your school nurse, school counsellors, teachers, etc…, and some of you may also see a doctor at the hospital, and of course in an emergency you would go to A&E,
but today I’d like to focus on why and how you might want to come and see your GP, who deal with over 90% of health care and also what your school nurse can offer for you.

2. Why do you need to go to your doctor?
Health concerns
Peer pressure
Fitting in/bullying
Body changes
Young Carer’s advice
Teenage issues
Mood swings
Self image
Advice
Independence
Sexual Health
Eating and Weight Concern
So why might you want to come along to see your GP?
You may have concerns about your health; often we can worry about symptoms we have and might worry that we might have something really wrong with us and are not sure who to ask about it.
Becoming a teenager and going through puberty can raise all sorts of issues-from problems with spots to issues about self image, body changes and these changes can be a bit confusing and this can be a time for finding your mood and emotions are up and down and you can come to talk to your GP about any of these types of issues. Physical health is important, but it is not just physical health that GPs deal with, neither does it have to be that you need to be having full blown depression or anxiety to come and see us.
For example Exam time can be a really hard time for YP and sometimes it can start to affect how we are feeling, sleeping, eating, perhaps not wanting to go to school-these are absolutely the types of things that you could see your school nurse about, or your teachers, but equally as GPs we are keen to have you come and see us about this type of issue and support you through challenging times.
IF YOU ARE WONDERING WHETHER TO GO TO THE WALK IN CENTRE OR A&E-THINK ABOUT GOING TO SEE YOUR GP INSTEAD. YOU CAN MAKE AN APPOINTMERNT AHEAD, BUT GPS ALSO HAVE SOME APPOINTMENTS EACH DAY FOR URGENT ISSUES THAT HAPPEN ON THE DAY. THE ADVANTAGE OF SEEING YOUR GP IS THAT THEY HAVE ALL YOUR MEDICAL HISTORY AND YOU CAN SEE THEM REGULARLY IF YOU NEED TO-SO THEY GET TO KNOW YOU AND SO CAN HELP YOU WITH ISSUES THAT ARE ONGOING.
OBVIOUSLY IF YOU BREAK YOUR LEG-GO TO A&E!!
or anything, just come along and meet us, don’t be embarrassed, we’re here to help!

3. (and we won’t tell anyone)
YOU DON’T HAVE TO ASK FOR PERMISSION FROM YOUR PARENTS OR GUARDIANS. ANY YOUNG PERSON AGED 13 YEARS+ CAN MAKE AN APPOINTMENT AND YOU DON’T HAVE TO SAY WHAT IT’S FOR!
(and we won’t tell anyone)
All that you need to do is make an appointment and visit your doctor’s surgery to ask for information or maybe explain what you would like to talk about.
Many of you will have been along to see your GP, with your parents or a family member, but once you are 13 or over you can make your own appointment with your doctor and come along by yourself (or with a friend).
It may feel a bit scary to contact the surgery to make an appointment, let alone see the doctor on your own - but we are really very used to seeing young people and once you have done it once, it will seem a lot easier. That’s why bringing along a friend can help you too.
Sometimes you might worry that you will have to tell the receptionist when you make an appointment why you want to see your doctor - no you don’t and we won’t tell anyone that you are coming to see us. All you need to do is to ask for an appointment. You can ask to see a male or a female GP if you prefer and then come along. Then when you see your doctor, you can ask the doctor for information and explain what you want to talk about – and really this can be about virtually anything. As GPs we deal with lots of issues from serious physical problems to emotional worries such as coping at school, bullying, feeling low or worries you may have about members of your family.
How you make an appointment can vary from Practice to Practice, but usually this can be done by telephone, by going in to the Practice ahead of when you want an appointment or often on-line (but you need to usually fill in a form to register to be able to do this). If you go into a doctor’s surgery, you can ask for a Practice leaflet which will have info on how to make an appointment and lots of other useful information about the doctors and staff who work there. Most GPs also have a website with information about appointments and what they offer. We hope that over the next few years that all GP Practices will have information on their website and in the Practice specifically for Young people.
If there is something that you believe is an emergency and needs to be dealt with that day, for example you had dreadful abdominal pain, or you were having trouble with your breathing or asthma or you felt really very depressed and needed to speak to someone about that, then there are appointments where the doctor on call for that day will see people who really need to be seen that day. The emergency appointments are not for ongoing problems that you may have had for some time – these need a routine booked appointment.
GPs have appointments from about 8.30 in the morning till the evening, so shouldn’t need to miss school, unless it was an emergency.
If you are wondering whether to go to the WIC or A&E-think about whether going to see the GP might be better for you-they have some same day appointments and have an ‘on-call’ GP who you can speak to on the phone and decide if they need to see you. The advantage is that they have your medical records and you can see them again and get to know them which can really be helpful if your worries/problem goes on.
Obviously if you think you’ve broken your leg-head to A&E!

4. Confidentiality
You have a right to confidentiality; anything you tell your doctor won’t be passed on:
Unless your doctor considers that you or someone else is at risk of being harmed and need protection!
From the moment you contact the surgery and anything that you tell your doctor - all of this is confidential. This means that anything you tell your doctor will not be passed on to your family, guardian, school or friends. If, when you see your doctor, your doctor decides that it would be good to see another professional - such as a sexual health worker at New croft or a counsellor at Streetwise or a doctor at the hospital about your asthma or acne – then this is done with your full knowledge.
The only time that a doctor would not keep information discussed between you and would need to pass on information would be if the doctor believed that you were at significant risk of harm or someone else was at serious risk of harm and that you or they needed protection. For example if you were being targeted by an older person and exploited, then your doctor would have a duty to discuss this with the protection agencies.

5. Making an appointment
There are several ways you can make an appointment:
By going into the GP Practice and asking the person on the front desk.
By calling the GP Practice on the phone.
By booking an appointment on-line – ask your GP Practice for a form to complete which will allow you to book appointments on-line
You can ask a family member/carer to help you.
So-can ask their parent or carer who they are registered with as their doctor, but importantly-school nurses have access to who they are registered with-ie who their GP is-so can always ask the school nurse.
So I will ask you the 3 questions again- and then your school nurse “ name of nurse’ is going to tell you a little about her role. School nurses offer a great range of skills and can work together with GPs on some of the possible issues you may have.

6. What will happen? When you go to the doctors you
must tell them you are there by
using the ‘arrival screen’….
…..or by telling the person on the front desk you have arrived.
You will be asked to sit in the waiting area and wait for them to call you in, then you go to the doctor’s room where they will ask you what’s up.
So, down to the practicalities of going to see your doctor. Surgery waiting rooms have a receptionist at the front desk and usually an electronic self check in. You need to check in that you have arrived-either by telling the receptionist your name or you can enter your details into the electronic check in rather than have to say your name to the receptionist. If you just sit down and don’t check in, the doctor won’t know that you are waiting.
You then take a seat and wait for the doctor to call you in; this might be the doctor calling your name or look out for an electronic sign which will pop up with your name and which room to go to, where the doctor will be waiting for you.
There really isn’t anything to worry about when you visit the doctors, but we realise that people can feel a bit nervous about telling doctors private things or worries you may have. Remember that the doctor is not there to judge you or make you feel silly.
Also remember the doctor might not have dealt with your exact set of circumstances before-so they might have to think about what to do for you too sometimes. So sometimes the GP will ask you to come back when they have been able to think about what is the best way to help you. The important thing to know is that GPs want to work with you in helping you feel well both physically and mentally.

7. You can choose a male or a female doctor
Ask if you don’t understand what the doctor’s saying
You can write down what you want to ask, and what the doctor says to you
You can be honest – the doctor won’t judge you
You can take a friend if you like
Even though I’ve said-not to be nervous or worried about having an appointment with your doctor-, that is easier said than done and everyone tends to feel a bit nervous at seeing their doctor.
I know if I go and see my doctor-I worry in case I forget to tell them everything and also what if they don’t understand what I am really wanting them to understand!
here are some things to remember about your appointment-you can choose to see a male or female doctor. If you see a male doctor, but he needs to examine you-they will offer you a chaperone-usually a female nurse to be with you or you can decide to ask to be examined possibly at another appointment by a female doctor.
You can take a friend along for support-this doesn’t mean your entire class!
Sometimes writing down what you want to ask can be really helpful-so that you don’t forget what you wanted to tell the doctor and it can be helpful to write down what the doctor says to you. Sometimes we get told lots of things and it can then be hard to remember all that has been said, so jotting it down in a notebook can really help.
If you feel that you can’t tell the doctor everything or it is hard to say out loud -then asking the doctor to read what you have written down can be really helpful to help the doctor start to understand why you have come to see them.
You can be honest with your doctor-we are not there to judge you. If you are honest and tell us all you can-then that means the doctor can really help you because they are basing their advice on the true situation.
Also know that if a doctor says something you don’t understand or words that you don’t know-then simply say you don’t understand what they have been explaining and -can you explain that again in a different way or use different words that you do understand.
Your doctor can be someone that you get to know well over time, who you can trust and is not there to judge you, but to help and support you.
The outcome of an appointment-may be that all is sorted in that one appointment, or the doctor may suggest that they see you again, or it may be that they will ask you to see someone else such as their nurse to take blood test or they may arrange for you to see another professional-such as another doctor at the hospital or point you in the direction of other services-such as Streetwise, Weyes, Props……….

8. Who is my doctor?
If you want to know who your local doctor (GP) is then you could ask your parents/carers or ask the school nurse.
If your doctor’s surgery is closed you can get urgent medical advice by calling 111 for free (even on a mobile)
So-can ask their parent or carer who they are registered with as their doctor, but importantly-school nurses have access to who they are registered with-ie who their GP is-so can always ask the school nurse.
So I will ask you the 3 questions again- and then your school nurse “ name of nurse’ is going to tell you a little about her role. School nurses offer a great range of skills and can work together with GPs on some of the possible issues you may have.

9. KOOTH- Free, Confidential & Safe Counselling & Support
So I’d just like to mention to you a service that you might hear about from your GP, or perhaps your teachers.
Our team of doctors in Newcastle & Gateshead have arranged for KOOTH counselling and support to be available for any young person living/going to school in Newcastle or Gateshead.
This is the front page of the website.
My 14, almost 15 yr old son has registerd on the site and we’ve been having a look at it. He doesn’t have any particular worries about life, but he was interested especially in the bullying sections and discussions – as one of his school friends has been recently bullied by a group of boys at his school and he wanted to see whether any info that could help him help his friend.

10. KOOTH.com Free, Confidential & Safe
On-line counselling & support service ( Mobiles, tablet or computer)
All 11-18y young people in Newcastle & Gateshead
‘Live’ on-line counselling 12 pm-10pm weekdays & 6pm-10pm Sat & Sun.
Articles by professionals & young people
Live forum chats Mon, Weds & Fri 7.30 pm-9pm
Access it from mobile, tablet or PC. Register with a username and password. Need to say age and gender and where based-eg Gateshead.
Large group of on line counsellors- many work face to face in schools and then also do KOOTH. Can also message counsellors, chat groups and forums. Articles with advice about many topics- everything from going through puberty, friendships, anxiety, bullying, self-esteem, family problems, sexuality, Before anything can be posted- goes via a moderator and also is a moderator overseeing the live forum chats.

11. YouTube video about KOOTH
On the front page of the KOOTH website- is a link to the You Tube video- or can just search on line for Kooth You Tube video- young people who’ve used KOOTH chatting about how they’ve found it helpful.
So I will ask you the 3 questions again- and then your school nurse “ name of nurse’ is going to tell you a little about her role. School nurses offer a great range of skills and can work together with GPs on some of the possible issues you may have.

12. Single Point of Access
There is a local number you can ring to get help with mental health problems called;
The Single Point of Access (SPA)
You can call this service if you have tried Kooth.com but think you need more help or if you aren’t sure what help you need. The number for the SPA is;
It is open 9am-5pm Monday to Friday
The SPA is really for more serious problems but YP can self-refer by ringing the number

13. Your School Nurse Keeping Healthy Immunisations Weight Management
Physical & Emotional Health
Puberty and Body Changes
Sexual Health
Relationships
Keeping Safe
School nurse to talk about what they offer.
Drugs & Alcohol
Smoking
PHSE
Drop in

14. With thanks to the following students -
Rebecca
Amber
Edita
Liam
Sophie
Kelsie
Chloe
Klaudia
Year 9
Thank students from excelsior who helped with this presentation along with other groups of YP from WEYES and Streetwise.
Niomie
Teri By
Kelsey
for all their hard work in producing these presentations