At the time of writing, it is compulsory to wear a face covering on public transport or when visiting a hospital either as a patient or as a visitor in England, but from 24th July, this rule will include shops and supermarkets. In Scotland, it has been mandatory to wear a face covering in shops since July 10th and failure …
Coronavirus – should we be wearing masks?
There seems to be a lot of confusion around whether or not the general public should be using face masks and given that different countries have different advice, it is easy to see why. Current guidance here in the UK is that it is not recommended that the general public wear masks. That advice is based on the fact that …
Woman’s Own April 14th
I am under the care of a migraine specialist with chronic migraine. My sister has the same problem and her neurologist has started her on a new monthly injection, which has revolutionised her life. My doctor says this isn’t available on the NHS in England (my sister lives in Glasgow). Surely that can’t be right. I am literally considering taking …
The Truth About Coronavirus Testing in the UK
I have received a lot of questions this week regarding testing for coronavirus, so thought it might be a good subject to tackle here. At the time of writing (Monday April 6th), the UK has done 208,837 tests for coronavirus. Of those 51,608 were positive. All of these were Antigen tests. There are two types of test for coronavirus The …
An Update from Blue Cross on Coronavirus and Pets
Understandably during this worrying time, a lot of pet owners have queries about coronavirus in pets and need advice about caring for their pets in the current situation. Blue Cross experts have been working with other animal organisations to provide answers to questions people have around coronavirus (Covid-19) and pets. I hope you find the following links helpful and answer …
Platinum Magazine April 2020
Website of the Month Over 11 million people in the UK have difficulty with hearing. It’s a problem I see frequently in surgery and one that can have a huge impact on a person’s quality of life, often leaving them feeling isolated and alone, so I was interested to discover www.audacious.co.uk. This website launched recently and aims to help people …
Coronavirus – Fake News
There are several email and Facebook posts doing the rounds, usually claiming to be from a doctor relative of a friend of a friend, which of course gives credence to the content, but most of what I have seen contains fake news, which could mean people believing they are safe and protected when they are not, so I thought, it …
Platinum Magazine March 2020
Website of the Month I hosted the NHS Health Check conference last year and really loved hearing about what they are doing with the heart age test. Check out www.nhs.uk and search for heart age test. It will take just seconds to complete. You will be asked some very quick questions about yourself. It is most accurate if you know …
Pregnancy and coronavirus
Pregnancy is often a time of heightened anxiety. Every expectant Mum just wants to do the best for her unborn child. Today, pregnant women face an added anxiety in the form of coronavirus, so I thought I would to explain what we know so far about the virus and its effect on pregnancy. Pregnancy is a time when the immune …
Coronavirus FAQs
Having spent the best part of 4 hours speaking to a number of different radio stations today, I am getting a real feel for the degree of confusion and anxiety that exists around coronavirus. I’m sorry I can’t answer everyone’s questions, there are simply too many, but I thought it might be useful to try to answer some of the …