Paediatric First Aid Course

A Paediatric First Aid Course is to be held at Steeple Aston Pre School on Saturday May 26th and Monday June 11th (a total of 12 hours). The sessions will be from 9.30am to 4.00pm at a very competitive price of £48 per person.

On completion everyone will recieve a 48-page booklet, an A4 laminated certificate and a wallet sized laminated certificate.

Anyone interested in attending the course should contact Ann on 01869 340863.

News from the village Hall

The Steeple Aston Village Hall AGM was held on the 9th May 2012. There were no members of the public in attendance. The full committee is listed below showing which group they represent.

. Barbara Brewer Tuesday Badminton Chair
. Margaret Bulleyment Choral Secretary
. Julia Whybrew Horticultural Society Treasurer
. Margaret Mason Parish Council
. John White Sports & Rec Trust
. Anna Thatcher Thursday Badminton
. Deborah Morris W I
. Torquil McLusky Scouts / Cubs / Beavers
. Mike McKinley Players
. Chris Clarke PCC
. Martin Lipson Archive
. Richard Preston Valentine Club
. Cathy Fleet Village Rep
. Diana Relton Garden Club

In the next few months the committee will be deciding on a programme of events for the forthcoming year. If there is a specific event or you have any new ideas you would like to see in the programme please contact me on 01869 340423 or any committee member.

We are again hoping to provide the "What's on" booklet of events taking place in the Village hall. If any other organisation or club has any forthcoming events to be held in the hall and would like to be included please contact Richard Preston on 01869 340512 before the end of June with details.

Chair Barbara Brewer

Anyone for tennis?

Steeple Aston Tennis Club is open to everyone in the village and uses the two courts on the grounds of Dr Radcliffe's School.

All you have to do is join the club, then go along and play. No booking is necessary.

Memberships costs just £10 each or £20 for a family. This is a minimal charge to cover the cost of maintenance. You can play for the whole year:
. any time at weekends/school holidays
. after 6.00pm on school days (4.00pm on Fridays)

For more information and to apply for membership contact David and Heather Brooks on 01869 340032.

Deddington Health Centre Newsletter - May 2012

Deddington Surgery Dispensary

The village of Deddington, is a village in rural Oxfordshire - as you all know. One aspect of it being rural is that there is no Pharmacy or Chemist shop anywhere nearby. In fact the nearest ones are in Bloxham village or at Sainsbury's on the edge of Banbury. Both of these are quite a distance away from Deddington, and, from where most of our patients live. For this reason, at the surgery we run a Dispensary, so that when someone comes to see the doctor and they are prescribed some medicine they do not then have to travel a long distance in order to get their medication.

A Dispensary and a Pharmacy (or Chemist shop) are two quite different things. At a Pharmacy, the medicines a patient is given are managed by a Pharmacist. This is someone who has spent at least four years at university. At a Dispensing Doctors there is no Pharmacist in the Dispensary, the medication is managed by the doctors at the surgery. Most of the people who work in the Dispensary are Dispensers, and they have done an NVQ in the handling of medicines but they do not have an in depth knowledge about drugs. Also at our Dispensary, we have three registered 'Pharmacy Technicians' who have done extended training. They are more senior and can give more advice.

At this Surgery, we do have a Pharmacist, Mrs Wendy Humphris who many of you will already have met. She works in the Surgery, not in the Dispensary, and she is available to answer in depth questions on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Also please be aware that Dispensers and Pharmacy Technicians are only allowed to dispense and issue medication when there is a doctor on the premises.

"Think Twice" before going to the Accident & Emergency Department

We are still being advised by local hospitals of a large number of inappropriate attendances at the local A&E for matters that could, and should be, dealt with in the practice. (A large number of these continue to be within practice opening hours).

Such attendances may delay treatment for more urgent A&E cases. Please do not go directly to A&E unless it is an emergency. Please contact the surgery - or, when closed, the Out Of Hours Doctor - first.

We would urge all patients to read the information in leaflets / posters in the practice relating to the "Choose Well" Campaign or speak to a member of staff for more information.

Bank Holidays and Baby News

As you probably know, we are having three rather than two Bank Holidays spread through May and June to celebrate the Queen's Jubilee. The good news is that in June there is another four-day weekend between 2nd and 4th June 2012, let's hope the sun shines! From the surgery's perspective, this does not mean that patients need to start ordering extra medication 'to see you over the holiday period'. This happened at Easter time and it caused a lot of problems for our Dispensary staff who were completely swamped with requests for additional medication. Please be sensible when it comes to ordering medication, and only order what you really need.

While we are not short staffed in our Dispensary, one of more senior staff, Mrs Katie O'Rourke has left us for a while on maternity leave. We are pleased to announce that she had a baby boy on 23/4/12, weight 6lbs 7ozs, named Luca. We have replaced Katie while she is away, but our new staff are learning the job and so this puts additional pressure on the rest of the staff, so please be aware of this when ordering medication at busy times. Thank you!

Hay Fever

If you suffer from hayfever, then - unfortunately - we are coming up to the time of year when your symptoms might start to get worse. You may well have medication that helps you deal with the symptoms of hayfever. This is a reminder that if you have had hayfever medication prescribed for you last year at this surgery, then you don't need a doctor's appointment to get some more of this medication. Put in a request for what you had in the past to our Dispensary, and the staff will be able to get the GP to approve the repeat prescription. This only applies to hayfever medication that has already been prescribed before.

Dosset Box Service

Our Dispensary offers a Dossett Box Service, which we wanted to bring to your attention.

What is it?
It is a system which helps people to remember to take their medication efficiently. All their tablets that are taken on a regular basis are put into a 'Dossett' box which is divided up into small compartments. Each compartment relates to the time of a specific day of each week. At that time and day, the person knows that they have to take all the tablets that are in that particular compartment. One Dossett Box covers one week of medication

Who is this service useful for?
This service is useful for 2 groups of people: -
. anyone on multiple medications who may have difficulty remembering when to take their medication
. anyone who has a carer looking after them, because it informs the carer when to give medication to the person they are looking after

How does it work?
Anyone signing up to use this service, has the Dossett box dispensed automatically on a weekly basis, and the box includes most of the tablets that person takes on a regular basis. (It can't be used for liquids). The boxes can be collected from the Dispensary, or, if your village has a delivery they can usually be sent, provided there are no controlled drugs in the box.

If you think that you, or someone you are caring for, would benefit from this service, please let our Dispensary know.

Hospital at Home - H@H

This is a new service that has begun in North Oxfordshire whose main purpose is to keep people out of hospital. The service is provided by trained nurses, some of whom were District Nurses, some of whom have been working in hospital. The service is available from 8am to 10pm on 7 days a week. It is designed to give nursing care to patients for a maximum period of time of 14 days (ie it is not a long term service).

People who are eligible to use this service must be over 18 years old, and must be able to call for medical help during the night (if it was needed) either themselves or by their family or carer.

The sort of patients that might benefit from this sort of treatment could be a fragile person with gastroenteritis for monitoring of dehydration, or someone who has a flare up of Asthma or COPD who is suitable for a trial of steroids or antibiotics. Your GP would assess you first to decide if you were suitable for this type of care, then they would contact H@H to refer you.

Also, a patient who's been in hospital, but who could go home if there was additional nursing support may be referred to H@H by the hospital. In this case your GP would be phoned by the hospital to let the surgery know that this was happening.

Volunteers needed at the Befriending Network

The Oxfordshire Befriending Network is looking for volunteers for the next block of training sessions due to start in February 2012.

The Oxfordshire Befriending Network, which is part of Age UK, Oxfordshire, aims to improve quality of life for people suffering from terminal or life-threatening illnesses by providing trained volunteers to offer practical and emotional support in the home, hospital or hospice.

They offer free training over five sessions, where volunteers learn how to cope effectively with issues around end of life. They also offer on-going support after training has been completed.

Sue Westwood, Interim Specialist Services Manager at Age UK Oxfordshire said: "We urgently need to recruit more people to train to become volunteers, we currently have individuals waiting for the service who could be receiving the valuable support that our volunteers can provide, but we need to increase the number of trained people that we have available."

When the snow comes........

This time last year we had already been snowed in, this year it has been so warm it is hard to imagine it but if or when the snow comes, the village should be prepared.

Oxfordshire County Council has announced that they will no longer top up our 13 grit bins after the initial fill, which was done a couple of weeks ago. They have promised to replace the P.O. /Paine's Hill bin and the new yellow bins they dropped round the village last year with green ones, dug in. Despite reminders we are still waiting for this to be done.

This year OCC has provided, and the Parish Council delivered, bags of salt to volunteers who have agreed to monitor their nearby grit bin and re-fill when necessary. If this salt supply runs out the PC will have to order in, and pay for, some more to deliver to the volunteers at around £100 per ton. OCC are unhappy that so much salt is taken away for people's drives etc. It is there for the public roads and pavements. Salt can be bought easily at the moment from builder's merchants and DIY stores for home use.

It is important to use the salt sparingly, only a light sprinkling is needed to keep tarmac clear but this will not deal with deep snow which needs clearing first. The Parish Council has given a snow shovel, to each of the grit bin volunteers, for local use, please make sure you return it to the volunteer if you borrow one.

OCC have now promised to include Paines's Hill in their snow clearing schedule, previously it had been omitted, but Fenway still is not included. We will be relying on 'in village' clearance again if we have much snow as OCC admit they may well not get to the villages for a couple of days. If we do get snowed in, PLEASE try to keep your cars off the roads, or at least park sensibly only on one side if you can. This makes the snow clearing much more possible and avoids vehicles slaloming through the village.

Last year the village showed its team spirit as usual and people helped each other to get round or get supplies if needed. This was really appreciated and made things much easier for the less mobile. Particularly if you have a 4x4, keep an eye on your neighbours again and give them a hand.

Below is the list of volunteers and grit bin locations:
1. Fenway / opp. Bridleway Cathy Fleet
2. Shepherds Hill Kate Quist
3. Fenway /Bottom of Grange Park Roderick Nicholson
4. Grange Park The Whybrews
5. Church Corner David Kewley/Stuart Ferguson
6. opp. The School Bob Bickley
7. Paine's Hill John Coley
8. Post Office / Paine's Hill The Tosh's
9. Nizewell Head Marian Trinder
10. The Crescent Kevin Osbourne
11. Top of Jubilee Close Gordon Hallam
12. Foot of Jubilee Close / South Side The McKinleys
13. Red Lion Corner The Red Lion

Bicester Rural Neighbourhood Update - March 2012

Crimes

There was a burglary in Middle Aston where three vintage motor cycles were stolen. In Steeple Aston a parked van had its diesel stolen along with the catalytic convertor. There were no reported crimes in North Aston.

Good news stories.

All the people found in possession of drugs have been dealt with in varying ways. A male has been arrested and charged with a burglary in Caversfield and has appeared in court.

The Neighbourhood team also arrested a male from Piddington in the town for drink driving and he has been charged and will be appearing on court soon. The team have also been kept busy on an operation run each weekend in Bicester town centre to reduce crime and alcohol related offences late at night and we have seen positive results in that several people have either been arrested or banned from the town centre for periods of up to 48 hours.

Food Caddy Liners are here!

Until now, it's been necessary to go to a major supermarket or the Cherwell District Council offices to buy compostable liners for the small brown food caddies. But, at the request of the Parish Council, Cherwell has agreed to supply compostable caddy liners to Raj at the shop. This means they will be much more easily available to everyone in the village.

A roll of 40 liners at the shop costs just £3 (less than the supermarkets).

As requested by Cherwell, Raj will sell the liners at cost, and the small profit made on them will go to village charities to be decided by the Parish Council each year.

So no more messy caddies or soggy newspaper linings. Just visit the shop for your roll of liners, put a liner in your caddy, and any waste food in the liner. When the liner is full, put the liner and its contents into your brown garden bin for Cherwell to take away and recycle - quick, easy and simple.

Reassuring letter from Chiltern Rail Chief

Mr Adrian Shooter, the Chairman of Chiltern Railways, who lives in Steeple Aston, has written to the website and to Steeple Aston Life to reassure villagers the Chiltern Railways service will not be affected by the proposed High Speed Rail link (HS2) from London to the West Midlands and beyond.

Space available in Pilates and exercise classes

There are still vacancies in the Pilates and exercise classes held on Mondays in the Village Hall. The exercise class starts at 11.15 am, and Pilates at 2.30 pm.

You can just turn up and give it a try, there’s no special clothing or equipment required.
The cost is not more than £4 per session.

CAB Caseworker Help for disabled & vulnerable

• Are you living with a hard to manage mental or physical condition?
• Do you need some help to cope?
• Our Specialist Caseworker can visit you at home, offer a full welfare benefits eligibility check, and help you to access other relevant support services within your community.

Contact us if you:

• Are under 60 years old, and
• Live in Oxfordshire, and
• Have limited ability to get around on your own, and
• Need support to continue to live independently

To discuss your requirements in complete confidence, please leave a message with your name and contact number for Lynn on 01608 646990

Have YOU ever thought about FOSTERING?

There is a recognised shortage of 10,000 Foster Carers in the UK. PACT, founded in 1911, is also known as the Oxford Diocesan Council for Social Work inc. We are a registered charity working to improve life chances for children. The focus of our work is within Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire and aims to build and strengthen families.

We are an approved Adoption and Fostering Agency. We have a history of finding safe, loving families for children in care. Here are a few facts about Fostering:

1.Did you know you don’t have to be married to become a Foster Carer?
2.You don’t have to have children already although you do need to have experience of caring for children.
3.Did you know you get paid a Fostering Allowance of £335.70 a week to be a Foster Carer which is tax free and won’t affect any other benefits?
4.Most of the children who need fostering are known as ‘hard to place’ children, they will usually be 8+ years of age.

Steeple Aston Baby and Toddler Group

If you have pre-school age children and are looking for a new activity, why not come along to Steeple Aston Baby & Toddler Group?

We meet every Thursday (including most school holidays) from 9.30 to 11.30 in the village Sports & Recreation Hall.

Our friendly, parent-run group has plenty of toys and craft activities to occupy children while grown-ups catch up over tea and coffee. The cost is £1.50 (per family) per session.

For further information contact either
Emily Burt (01869 349198) or
Emily Robinson (01869 347194)