Tag Archives: Health

Penharget 6.5 miles


Penharget Circular 6 ½ miles, 2 hours. Mostly dry under foot even in December. On quiet roads, tracks and footpaths.

From Golberdon crossroads, walk through the recreation field, past the hall and the play park, out through the pedestrian gate, be careful crossing the road, into “The Square” and walk down “back lane” footpath. Keep right, passing the houses at Moorland View, and along the foot path to Trewoodloe lane. Turn left and follow the lane through Trewoodloe, down the hill to Egypt (see the old pump on the left) and join the main Pensilva road.
Turn Right. Take care, keep in to the side and watch out for vehicles on this road.
At Kerney Bridge take the sign posted footpath alongside the water works, through the wood and following The Lynher river, take advantage of the bench installed by the Parish council, at “the beach” and continue over the stile out to the road.
Turn right and this will bring you to Bicton Bridge, with the remains of the water wheel and leat (water was rushing through here today).

Continue up around the corner and turn right into the wood, through the gate.

Pay attention to any posted signs, as they do have shooting here. There’s a number to phone for more info.
The ground under foot is much improved and dryish, as there’s been logging and planting here recently. Keep going, the stream is on your right, turn right when you spot the turn and a footbridge that crosses the water.

Scramble up the track/gully till you come out at Burnt Wood at the top of Scrawsdon Hill.

Turn left and in 50 paces turn right to Mill Lawn .
Follow the road.
(At Cobwebs you’ll see a footpath signposted, this will bring you back to Scrawsdon Farm just above Kerney Bridge.)
Continue past the stables and farm buildings and onto Mill Lawn cottage and then through Penharget Wood. (deer can often be seen here). Finally you’ll arrive at the junction with Penharget Cottage. Turn right.
Pass Penharget farm, keep going down and up the hill to the Junction (close to the telephone exchange).

Say Hi to the pony, Keep Right and follow this road (to Golberdon), down hill all the way past Longridge and arriving back at Kerney Bridge.
(For an extra 2 ½ miles longer road walk, turn left to Mornick, at South Hill turn right and right again, back to Golberdon).
Or Continue up the hill, retracing your steps by turning left, pass the pump and up the steep hill to Trewoodloe and back on the lane to the footpath on the right to Moorland view houses, then left, up back lane into The Square and over the road into the recreation field, play park and the parish hall.
Or continue without turning off and continue into Golberdon and back to the crossroads.

tvhPPG Feb update


The Future of the Health & Social Care in Cornwall by Fred Shotter, tvhPPG Secretary

You are probably aware there are serious difficulties with the provision of Health & Social Care throughout England. That is not a new problem.
When the Health Service was set up some 60+ years ago the situation was substantially different. Our life span was not many years after our retirement, we had limited knowledge about ailments which are now major problems. We did not have the technology and equipment to deal with/cure people of these ailments.

Now
We live into our 80’s. We succumb to ailments which can be dealt with, with increasingly positive outcomes, and our families have moved away. This obviously puts a great burden on the health and social services. In many parts of England these are still separate organisations. With devolved powers allocated to Cornwall they have the opportunity of co-ordinating these services so they work together and hopefully more efficiently. Cornwall Council are in the process of developing a Sustainability and Transformation Plan for the next five years.

By the time you read this they would have published various documents and held public
(www.cornwall.gov.uk/shaping-the-future) meetings to present their draft proposals. Currently they show that if they continue the operation as it currently exists there will be a deficit of £277m by 2020/21.

They have a plan that will eliminate this deficit and this plan has some major changes to the way services are provided.
1) Do we want to pay more for the services?
2) Do we want services on our ‘door step’?
I guess the answer to 1 is NO and to 2 is YES.
There has to be give and take on both sides.
They can’t afford to provide every specialist system in every hospital – which would not be fully utilised. A bit inconvenient but do we want treatment NOW but 100 miles away or in 6 months’ time but 10 miles away??
It’s now up to the specialists in the health and social care to come up with a solution.
YOUR INPUT COUNTS – But don’t forget, unless you have a deep pocket they cannot provide a utopian solution.

Also Tamar Valley Health Patients Group, with the assistance of Tamar Valley Health Centres, participated in the successful Calstock Christmas Tree Festival, held in December 2016 in Harrowbarrow Church.  It’s estimated that around 450 visitors came during the five days the 26 trees were on display, with many very appreciative comments being made. Hot drinks and cakes were also available, giving visitors the opportunity to sit to peruse the trees whilst listening to organ music. The aim of the festival is to add to the pre-Christmas atmosphere in the parish and encourage visitors to the three churches in the Calstock Parish. Visitors were very generous with donations of approximately £660, which will go towards making improvements to church facilities. The organisers wish to make it known how grateful they are to both the entrants and visitors for their contribution to making this a very special event.

The tvhPPG tree was decorated with all medical items.

Breathlessness and keeping your lungs healthy


Hi, my name is Rachel Williams, I am a clinical specialist respiratory physiotherapist and the team lead of the Integrated Community Respiratory Team based in Liskeard Hospital. My team help manage patients with chronic respiratory conditions and provide pulmonary rehabilitation. I live in the Parish; I’m out in all weather walking my 2 dogs!

Everyone feels out of breath at some time. You might get out of breath after heavy physical activity or exertion such as walking briskly up a steep hill or cycling fast. This is the sort of breathlessness you might expect and you can control. Whether it comes out of the blue or is there every day, breathlessness can be very frightening. Sometimes people don’t tell their doctor or nurse about feeling out of breath as they feel responsible and don’t realise there is help available.

If you are breathless doing everyday activities, taking longer to do things or even avoiding doing things because you get out of breath, it’s time to see your doctor. Continue reading →

The Silverline Charity


The Silver Line Helpline for older people.

Dame Esther Rantzen described her feelings as a widow living alone for the first time at the age of 71. As a result Ellen wrote to her to describe her own feelings of loneliness.

“I can’t get out on my own due to health problems, so it can be as much as 3 days I go without talking to anyone… I dread the winter nights when everything seems to close in around me and I feel so isolated. I am an optimist by nature and sometimes I need that to get through another pointless day where I feel as if I am a waste of space.”

The reality is that older people should be valued as a tremendous asset to society. If, like Ellen, they become isolated and vulnerable, it is the nation’s responsibility to make older people feel valued, to include them, empower them, and connect them back to their communities. And that is what we hope The Silver Line Helpline will achieve.

Some vulnerable older people are so isolated they are extremely hard to reach. And there is a huge unmet demand for advice and friendship.

In the first year of operation, The Silver Line Helpline received 275,000 calls, 53% of callers saying they had literally no-one else to speak to.  We now receive almost 1500 calls every day from lonely and isolated older people.  Continue reading →

Tamar Valley Health


Do you have an hour or two to spare? If yes, then great because we need you!I recently started volunteering with the Tamar Valley Health Patients’ Group and I’d like to share my experiences with you. I had never heard of this group before and I’m sure many of you haven’t either but this is a group where everyone who visits their local GPs surgery should be a part of. Why I hear you ask? Because it gives you a voice and you can become part of positive improvements within our GP surgeries!

I have attended meetings where problems are highlighted such as waiting times, parking issues, computer systems etc and as a group we look to find solutions to improve our experience when we do have to visit a GP, Nurse, Pharmacist etc.

I have been taking part in exit poll surveys outside Callington and Gunnislake Health Centres, which has resulted in some great feedback and interesting information, which will then be presented to the surgery with possible solutions.

I have met the staff, learnt new information and gained an insight into how our local surgeries work but most of all I now feel confident that I have a voice that will be heard and can contribute to continuous improvement for our local health services.

If you are interested in becoming part of this forward thinking group, please email tvhppg@outlook.com and you’ll receive the latest newsletter and a very warm welcome. Plus Join the tvhPPG Facebook Group

Tamar Valley Health NHS England, in their wisdom, decided in 2014 to write to hundreds of patients in every practice, asking them to confirm that they were still registered with their practices. Large numbers ignored these letters, possibly never opening them, and these patients have now been deregistered automatically. > It has been rumoured this to be at the practice’s request. It is incredibly rare for a patient to be removed from the practice list, and would have involved phone calls, letters, meetings and probably police involvement, unless they live outside the practice area. > If you know someone who has been removed without all of this, please encourage them to come and re-register. We’d like our lost patients back!  Kathie Applebee Strategic Management Partner www.TamarValleyHealth.co.uk

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