NAMS Newsletter September 2021
Welcome to your September Newsletter
Meet the Team
A big hello to Emma this month. Emma joined Connect in May 2021 as a Prescription Coordinator. Emma has lots of experience in helping people, her previous jobs have included a hospital phlebotomist and GP receptionist. Emma has a fantastic sense of humour and I’m sure some of you will have experience of this when speaking to her. When not at work Emma will be found at the stables with her 28-year-old horse Rio and her 16 month old foal Lyra, her love of animals doesn’t stop there as Emma also has 2 dogs and a tortoise.
Unwanted stoma products
If you have unwanted unused stoma products, don’t throw them away. Instead donate them to the New Hope Charity and help improve a fellow ostomates quality of life.
New Hope is a charity dedicated to repurposing unwanted stoma supplies for use in the Philippines where a single stoma bag can cost around the equivalent of a day’s wages. Many people cannot afford them and so make do with home-made appliances. For instance they have used plastic milk cartons as a base plate and a plastic bag as a stoma bag.
The Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire IA have teamed up with New Hope and they will take your unwanted stoma products for redistribution in the Philippines. But please, only donate items that you can no longer use yourself and minimise the wastage to the NHS.
Please take your items to the NAMS offices where they will be stored until collection has been arranged. Alternatively you can take items to Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire IA representatives using the contact information below.
Peter Lord
Newthorpe (NG16 2BD)
Tel:07484 338180
email: pete.newhopecharity@outlook.com
Brigitte Siefken
Radcliffe-on-Trent (NG12 2HZ)
email: nadia_chair@iasupport.org
In extreme circumstances where you cannot drop off your unwanted items, a collection may be possible, if agreed in advance with one of the contacts above
So, if you have any unwanted stoma products, please consider donating them to this worthy cause.
The Ileostomy and Internal Pouch Association
This month are looking at support for people with Ileostomies or Internal Pouches. Whether you’ve been told that you need to have an ileostomy or an internal pouch, are already living with one or are a family member or carer of someone who is, the benefit of speaking to someone who has been through surgery shouldn’t be underestimated. The thought of surgery generates a range of emotions such as fear, anger or worry, and speaking with an IA One2One Support Volunteer can help to alleviate those concerns.
IA One2One Support Volunteers are people like you. They have been through surgery and have been living with an ileostomy or internal pouch for at least 18 months. IA’s One2One Support Volunteers go through training on how to listen, communicate and provide guidance to people before or after surgery.
An IA One2One Support Volunteer can meet you face-to-face in hospital, at home or at a mutually convenient place; or they can talk by telephone or by email. IA will endeavour to match you by age, gender, surgery type and lifestyle preferences so that you know you will be speaking to someone similar to yourself.
If you are interested in accessing this support please follow the link below to their referral form;
Request a Visitor – Ileostomy & Internal Pouch Association (iasupport.org)
Connect Prescription Services Website
We will be posting live information on the service phone-lines on the website. There’s information on how to order your prescriptions, frequently asked questions and some useful contacts. The link to access this is below;
https://connectprescriptions.com/
Ways to Order & Reminder Calls
With the aim of improving and running a more efficient service, NAMS are now in the process of moving towards providing an outbound call service. This would involve members of the prescription coordinator team calling you at an agreed time, before your order is due, effectively acting as a reminder service. We will be offering this service on your next call. We hope this will reduce the queue and wait time on the phone for any queries and also reduce the risk of you running out of products. Please be aware, if you are planning a holiday to order your supplies within plenty of time.
You can also email your prescription when it is due. Simply confirm your details (Name, DOB, address) and the items required. We will process the request and respond to your email with confirmation of receipt.
Please forward your request to nnccg.nams@nhs.net
Our busy periods on the phone lines tend to be Monday all day and the first and third Wednesday afternoon of each month. Tuesdays after a bank holiday are also very busy and wait times on the phone may be longer. We apologise for any delay during these times.
Bank holiday closed dates 2021/2022
Saturday 25th December 2021
Monday 27th December 2021
Tuesday 28th December 2021
Monday 3rd January 2022