The Sound Doctor

A key part of the local health and care agenda is to support people in our communities to improve their long-term health and wellbeing to enable them to live, work and thrive.

NHS Castle Point and Rochford, in partnership with Essex County Council, is offering local residents free access to ‘The Sound Doctor’  -  a library of patient education videos to support those with long term health conditions to live their lives to the full.

CONDITIONS COVERED BY SOUND DOCTOR  

DIABETES – HEART FAILURE – COPD – DEMENTIA – BACK PAIN – WEIGHT MANAGEMENT SURGERY

To access the videos, residents need to visit www.livewellcampaign.co.uk/sounddr.  The website is run by local authority partners and also contains wider advice/information to improve health and wellbeing.

The CCG is about to start promoting the videos on social media (with help from local GPs/nurse who have helped us in developing a promo video) 

Links to the ‘promo’ videos what will be shared on social media are below 

Dr Sami Ozturk and Dr Kashif Siddiqui (Canvey and Benfleet social media pages) - https://youtu.be/pOSyySMIQts

Dr Luke Whiting (Rayleigh social media pages)  – https://youtu.be/TtHcR0SexN4

Lynne McEwan (Rochford social media pages) – https://youtu.be/9pT9vGMf6Nk

The content of Sound Doctor videos has been co-produced with clinical experts in their field and disease specific charities, e.g. Alzheimer’s Society, British Lung Foundation, & British Heart Foundation. All the material adheres to NICE guidelines.  The Sound Doctor was developed by Dominic Arkwright and Rosie Runciman - both previously worked at BBC for over 20 years.

The films are free for the patients & their families to access and have been successfully used as part of individual patient care planning as well as being accessed through wider communications.

Dr Kashif Siddiqui, local GP and Chair for NHS Castle Point and Rochford Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) said: “Whether you have a long term condition or caring for someone that does, it’s important to feel in control and confident.” 

“The Sound Doctor is a tool that offers high quality information, giving you the confidence to manage your own health allowing you to continue to your day-to-day life as much as possible.  The Sound Doctor videos are full of information that people often forget to ask during a GP appointment, it is available 24/7 and you can also hear from other patients who are facing the same conditions.”

All films are short and to the point, ranging from three to five minutes. The Sound Doctor bridges the gap in terms of easily accessible condition specific patient information in one place.

Who: should watch the films?  Patients, relatives, carers and anyone interested in knowing more about any of these conditions. Available to all Castle Point and Rochford residents.   

How:  visit www.livewellcampaign.co.uk/sounddr

Examples of some of the chapters in the Sound Doctor library  - for full list of films, see attached.

COPD

• How can COPD affect my life? • Breathing techniques • Getting the best out of your GP

• What is COPD? • Smoking and COPD • Keeping active • What is Pulmonary Rehabilitation? • Why do I feel anxious?

Diabetes

• What is diabetes? • Blood glucose control • What are the symptoms of diabetes?

• Is diabetes serious? • What’s a good diet for diabetes? • Blood Glucose Monitoring

• How can diabetes affect my mood? • Moving on to insulin

Dementia

• What is dementia? • Can I reduce the risk? • Coping with memory loss

• Language and communication problems • Diagnosing dementia

• Where can I turn to for help? • Caring for someone with dementia

• Looking after yourself as a carer • Living well with dementia • Medicines that may help

Back Pain

• What is back pain? • How can back pain affect me? • Will I need surgery?

• Looking after your back • A guide to physiotherapy • A guide to osteopathy

• Emily’s story • Johnny’s story • Bridget’s story • Tony’s story • Knee raises

• Lower back stretch • Posture improvement

Weight Loss Surgery

• Am I suitable? • Potential risks of surgery • What’s my role? • Preparing for surgery

• Gastric band surgery • Sleeve gastrectomy • Recovering from surgery • What can I eat?

• Are you sure?

Heart Failure

• What is heart failure? • Being diagnosed with heart failure • Symptoms of heart failure

• Medicines and treatment • Cardiac rehabilitation • Looking after yourself

• Patient stories