We now have a display cabinet in the waiting room of KMC showing a number of old medical artefacts including medical equipment, drugs and books. These were owned and used by former doctors associated with the practice including Dr. Aiden Meade, Dr. Betty Warde and Dr. Cyril Warde. We are indebted to Paul and Mary Warde the son and daughter of Cyril and Betty who donated some of these to the practice following the recent death of Dr. Cyril Warde.

Why not come and take a look the next time you have occasion to visit the practice?

Spring is in the air but so too is the pollen which for some people can bring weeks or months of misery this time of the year. Hay fever is caused by a hypersensitivity reaction to pollen. In March and April this is usually tree pollen but later in the year a whole variety of pollens are around including grass pollens to which many are allergic. The common symptoms include sneezing, runny nose, itchy red eyes and feeling generally unwell. Happily there are lots of effective treatments available now and we are happy to discuss and prescribe these for you.

Some general tips for those with only mild symptoms are as follows

• Stay indoors and shut the windows when pollen counts are high
• Avoid cutting the grass, camping and exposure to large areas of grass if you are sensitive to grass pollen
• Wrap around sun glasses can help keep pollen out of your eyes
• When driving, keep your car windows closed and consider buying a pollen filter for your air vents

With temperatures dropping over the past few weeks elderly people are particularly at risk of Hypothermia. Large number of young Irish people are emigrating for work and our elderly people are often left alone and unable to cope in bad weather conditions.

If you know an elderly person living alone, please call on them to see if they are OK. A prolonged spell of bad weather can leave an elderly person without food and at risk of hypothermia. Those with Alzheimer’s Disease, Cardiovascular Disease or poor mobility are particularly at risk. In Kilmacud and Stillorgan we have one of the highest concentration of people over 70 so most of us will have at least one person over 70 living alone near to us.

Free GP Care for under sixes is not likely to happen for the foreseeable future despite promises made by our Junior Minister of Health, Alex White. With all of the GP organisations against the terms of a new contract which the Department is attempting to bring in without any negotiations, it is hard to see how any progress can be made. While the majority of GPs are in favour of free GP care for children it can not be delivered without additional resources. At present GP practices are struggling to provide high quality services in the face or repeated cuts to practice payments for medical card patients. This practice has seen a drop of over 50% in income for the care of medical card patients since 2006.

f you are between 25 and 60 and have not had a cervical smear you can get one done for free under the HSE Cervical Check programme. The test is very simple and can help diagnose early cervical cancer. To register for a cervical smear, just login in to the cervical check website and provide your details including your PPS number. If you haven’t time to do this we will be happy to register for you once you provide us with your PPS number.

To get the smear done just make an appointment with us telling the receptionist it is for a cervical smear. Alternatively request an appointment using the link from this web site.

Results of smear tests are available within 4 weeks. You will contacted either by our practice or the cervical check programme.

To find out more about cervical check and cervical smears click the link to this video.

We would like to wish all our patients a Merry Christmas and a healthy new year. We will be open  on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve  up until 12:30pm. If you need a Doctor on Christmas Day, St. Stephen’s Day or New Year’s Day please phone EastDoc on 2094021. If EastDoc are unavailable or you feel you need a home visit call Doctor On Duty on 8300244.

Our building project is now complete and Kilmacud Medical Centre now has a fantastic new entrance as well as several upgrades and repairs to the building itself. We thank you for your patience and hope that you will find the upgrade will make it easier to get in and out of the centre.

If you are planning any trips abroad this summer, make sure you are protected against serious infectious diseases such as Hepatitis A, Typhoid and Malaria. Many common destinations for Irish travelers can pose significant health risks particularly for travelers over 65 and children. Safe and effective vaccines are available at Kilmacud Medical Centre for many of these infections. We can also prescribe pills to protect you against Malaria depending on your destination, health status and budget. When phoning for a travel vaccine appointment, mention this at the time of booking as these sessions take a little longer than the usual visits.

Whooping cough (Pertussis) infection appears to be making a comeback this winter with 444 cases notified to the NSPC as of last December 2012. This is probably an underestimate of the true prevalence of this infection as the swabs and blood tests GPs require to diagnose this infection are not being made available. The main group affected by this years outbreak are young babies and children with almost a third of cases occurring in babies under six months of age. This group are also most at risk of complications from the infection.

The characteristic symptom of whooping cough is a severe cough lasting more than two weeks and associated with a “whoop” or vomiting. Antibiotic treatment can be useful if given early. The HSE are also recommending that pregnant women receive a booster of their Pertussis vaccine between the 28th and 32nd week of pregnancy in order to protect their newborn babies. We are happy to provide this to any expectant Mums or see children with persistent cough for advise and diagnosis.