Support General Practice

Diazepam for Fear of Flying

At The Old School Surgery, we will not prescribe Diazepam for patients who wish to use this for a fear of flying. This is for many reasons:

• Diazepam is a sedative. This means, the medication makes you sleepy and more relaxed. If there would be an emergency during the flight, this could impair your ability to concentrate, follow instructions, or react to the situation. This could seriously affect the safety of you and the people around you.
• Sedative drugs can make you fall asleep, however, when you sleep it is an unnatural non-REM sleep. This means, your movements during sleep are reduced and this can place you at an increased risk of developing blood clots (DVT). These blood clots are very dangerous and can even prove fatal. This risk further increases if your flight is over 4 hours long.
• Although most people respond to benzodiazepines like Diazepam with sedation, a small proportion experience the opposite effect and can become aggressive. They can also lead to disinhibition and make you behave in ways you normally wouldn’t. This could also impact on your safety and the safety of your fellow passengers or could lead you to get in trouble with the law.
• National prescribing guidelines followed by doctors also don’t allow the use of benzodiazepines in cases or phobia. Any doctor prescribing diazepam for a fear of flying would be taking a significant legal risk as this goes against these guidelines. Benzodiazepines are only licensed for short-term use in a crisis in generalised anxiety. If this is the problem you suffer with, you should seek proper care and support for your mental health, and it would not be advisable to go on a flight.
• In several countries, diazepam and similar drugs are illegal. They would be confiscated, and you might find yourself in trouble with the police for being in control of an illegal substance.
• Diazepam has a long half-life. This means it stays in your system for a significant time and you may fail random drug testing if you are subjected to such testing as is required in some jobs.

We appreciate a fear of flying is very real and very frightening and can be debilitating. However, there are much better and effective ways of tackling the problem. We recommend you tackle your problem with a Fear of Flying Course, which is run by several airlines. These courses are far more effective than diazepam, they have none of the undesirable effects and the positive effects of the courses continue after the courses have been completed.

Fear of Flying Courses

Easy Jet www.fearlessflyer.easyjet.com Tel: 0203 8131644

British Airways https://www.flyingwithconfidence.com/ Tel: 01252 793 250

Virgin Atlantic https://flyingwithoutfear.co.uk/collections Tel: 01423 714900 1252250

Self Care Guidance for Minor Ailments

West Leicestershire Clinical Commissioning Group

After talking to patients about over the counter medicines for minor conditions and understanding their experiences, the local Clinical Commissioning Group is asking GPs to no longer prescribe medicines on prescription for the short term treatment of minor ailments, low dose vitamin D supplements for prevention of deficiency and some specialised infant formulas.  Patients will be asked to purchase them over the counter instead at the local pharmacy.

Community Pharmacists are best placed to help and advise people about suitable treatment for minor conditions.  They are a great source of information, advice and guidance and you can buy your medicines cheaply and easily for minor conditions.  The pharmacist will check the medicine is appropriate for you and your health problem.  They will ask questions to ensure there is no reason why you should not use the medicine.

However if you are worried or your symptoms get worse or persist you can still make an appointment to see your GP.

By visiting your pharmacy you will help to free up valuable GP and nurse time, which can be used to deal with more complex or serious health needs.

Or visit:  http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Medicinesinfo/Pages/Introduction.aspx 

Your NHS needs you!
Reduce Prescribing Waste!

DID YOU KNOW?

That unused drugs cost about £300 Million a year in the UK on unused or partially used medication?

Even if you never open them, once you leave a pharmacy your medicines cannot be recycled or used by anyone else.

THIS WOULD PAY FOR;

11,778 MORE community nurses or
80,906 MORE Hip Replacements or
19,779 MORE Drug Treatment Courses for Breast Cancer
300,000 MORE Drug Treatment Courses for Alzheimer's or
312,175 MORE Cataract Operations

THINK ABOUT IT!

Before heading to the pharmacy, take a look in your medicine cabinet to see what you actually need.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

There are a number of ways that you can help to reduce the issue of wasted medicines and save money for your local NHS.

ONLY ORDER THE MEDICATION THAT YOU NEED

• Please let your GP or Pharmacist know if you've stopped taking any of your medicines
• Check what medicines you still have at home before re-ordering
• Discuss your medication with your GP or Pharmacist on a regular basis.
• Think carefully before ticking all the boxes on your repeat prescription form and only tick those you really need.
• If you don't need the medicine please don't order it! If you need the medicine in the future you can still request it.
• If you need to go into hospital, please remember to take all your medicines with you in a clearly marked bag.

Please also remember that your medicines are prescribed only for you: it's not safe to share them with anyone else.

REMEMBER THAT UNUSED MEDICINES CANNOT BE RECYCLED

• Even if you never open them, once medicines have left the Pharmacy, they cannot be recycled or used by anyone else.
• Please take your unused medicines to the Pharmacy for safe disposal.

UNUSED MEDICINES ARE A SAFETY RISK

• Return out of date medicines to your pharmacy or dispensary for safe disposal.
• If your medicines change - return your old medicines to the pharmacy for safe disposal to avoid mixing them up with your new medicines.
• Don't stockpile medication - it is a safety risk for children and others who might take them.
• Store medicines in an appropriate place out of reach of children - away from heat and not above boiling kettle!

NEVER dispose of your unused or unwanted
medicines down the toilet.

ELECTRONIC PRESCRIBING

The Electronic prescription service is available in our practice. It gives you the chance to change how your GP sends your prescription to the place you choose to get your medicines or appliances from.

If you collect your prescriptions from your GP you will not have to visit the practice to pick up paper prescriptions. Instead the GP will send them electronically to a pharmacist you choose saving time.

You will have more choice about where to get your medications from because they can be collected from a pharmacy near to where you live, work or shop.

If you would like to use this service you need to choose a pharmacy for the practice to send your prescription to. This is called a nomination, you can do this at your chosen pharmacy. You DO NOT need a computer to have this service.

If you would like more information ask your pharmacy or the practice.