HAPS Newsletter October 2021
Welcome to your October Newsletter
Meet the Team
This month we are introducing you to our Prescribing Stoma Nurse Specialist Tammy. Tammy joined Connect Prescription Services in January 2020. She has a wealth of NHS experience, starting her career in the hospital setting then moving to primary care. Before joining us Tammy had worked as a Nurse Manager and Long Term Condition Lead Nurse in General Practice. When not working here at Connect Tammy will be usually be found travelling to exotic and unusual destinations or rocking her socks off at live gigs.
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)
Becoming a Buddy
For anybody wanting to become an IA One2One support buddy then you can access training and guidance from the IA. To be eligible you would need to be a full member of your local IA group, be 18 months post-op and recommended by a nurse or team member for the service. If you are interested you can become a member of IA using the link below;
Membership – 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;
Ways to Order & Reminder Calls
With the aim of improving and running a more efficient service, HAPS 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 connectservices.hccg.haps@nhs.net
Top Tip
Did you know at HAPS we are open until 8pm on Mondays and Wednesdays. We also open Saturday mornings 9am -1pm. It may be worth remembering this when calling our service so you can avoid the busier periods of Mondays or Wednesday afternoons.
Bank holiday closed dates 2021/2022
Saturday 25th December 2021
Monday 27th December 2021
Tuesday 28th December 2021
Monday 3rd January 2022