THE BRITISH SURGICAL CLINIC OFFERS OPEN DAY FOR HERNIA PATIENTS

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Costa del Sol are welcomed to make a free appointment with Consultant specialist, Mr David Deardon, to have their hernia checked and advice given on suitable treatment. This will be taking place on the 25^th July in the Clinica Ochoa, Marbella from 2pm and is by prior appointment only.

If you have a hernia, unfortunately, it can only be repaired surgically. But the good news is that most hernia repairs are done in a day, meaning no overnight stay in hospital.

The British Surgical Clinic uses modern advances in hernia repair and offer both keyhole and open repairs to your hernia.

So don’t suffer in silence on a long waiting list with a painful hernia, call Jane Naughton of The British Surgical Clinic on 951 703 243 or email info@thebritishsurgicalclinic.com to make your free appointment.

For more information on Hernias, visit our dedicated hernia website - www.marbellahernia.com
 

Commencement of the 2013 Positively Pink Breast Screening campaign

We are very proud to be supporting the Positively Pink Breast Screening campaign for the 3rd year:

Positively Pink is a Mijas based charity and Its sole purpose is to raise the necessary funds to provide education, support and a FREE breast screening programme to British Women & Men who live on the Costa del Sol.

The screening programme is a comprehensive screening process (Gold Standard) that includes a consultation, physical examination, health education, a mammogram or ultrasound or in some cases both and an English translation of the result(s). This is carried out in conjunction with Clinica Medicare, a Nurse led British health centre based in La Cala de Mijas and Dr David Deardon a UK trained Specialist and the head of The British Surgical Clinic. Medicare and its medical team provide their time, clinic space and expertise free of charge for the charity.

During the 2012 screening programme over 420 men and women accessed the FREE programme with 10 ladies receiving a positive diagnosis but all are being treated and doing well. During the 2012 programme Positively Pink spent in excess of €35,700.00 to ensure that screening is available to all UK expatriates living on the Coast regardless of age or circumstances.

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women. The lifetime risk of developing breast cancer is one in nine. Each year there are approximately 41,000 new diagnoses. The incidence of breast cancer for men is on the increase too with approximately 300 new cases diagnosed yearly in the UK. It has been shown that early detection of breast cancer can improve the outcome.  Survival rates from breast cancer have improved partly in recent years due to early presentation and from individuals being breast aware. The risk of breast cancer increases with age. 80% of breast cancers occur in women over the age of 50 though Positively Pink believes that screening should be available to all women from 18 years of age.

Lorraine Palmer the founder of Positively Pink believes that “early detection is your best protection” and this certainly proved to be the case during the 2012 campaign. The majority of the Ladies who received a positive diagnosis would not have ordinarily been screened via the State screening programme as they are over the upper age limit.  Positively Pink has an amazing calendar of events planned for 2013 and remains committed to raising the necessary funds to continue with the FREE screening programme.  All funds raised by Positively Pink are used solely to cover the costs of the ultrasounds and mammograms, all of the volunteers who run and support the charity do so without any cost to the charity. All administration costs are absorbed by the El Oceano Hotel & Spa.

To book an appointment, please contact Medicare on 952835776.

EASTER PUBLIC HOLIDAYS

The Easter Public Holidays are as follows:

Our Spanish clinic will be closed on Thursday 28th and Friday 29th March. 

The Gibraltar clinic will be closed on Friday 29th March and Monday 1st April. 

We will reopen completely as normal on Monday in Spain and Tuesday in Gibraltar.  

Happy Easter. 

The BSC team. 

INTERNATIONAL COLON CANCER AWARENESS MONTH

Bowel Cancer – the silent killer. 

Did you know that Bowel Cancer is the UK’s second biggest cancer killer with over 41,000 people diagnosed each year? It claims a life every half an hour. 

Both men and women are affected equally. And most bowel cancer cases are in the over 50’s although the number of cases in younger people is increasing at a rapid rate. Particularly affected are the under 30’s who have seen an increase of 120% in the last decade. 

But on a much more positive note – 90% of bowel cancers that are diagnosed early can be treated successfully. 

The 5 most common symptoms of bowel cancer are:

• A change in bowel habit, especially going more often or looser stools
• Bleeding from the bottom without any obvious reason
• Abdominal pain, especially if severe
• A lump in your stomach
• Unexplained weight loss or tiredness

Many of these symptoms do not immediately mean cancer but anybody experiencing these symptoms for 3 weeks or more should seek medical advice. 

At The British Surgical Clinic, as part of our on-going commitment to preventative medicine, we are offering a range of screening tests for Bowel/Colorectal Cancer during March, April and May. 

Which screening package you decide upon will depend on your medical and family history, risk and your own personal choice of screening. We will advise each patient on an individual basis. 

Screening Package 1 - €89/£81

This simple screening is the most common and involves a short consultation with Mr Deardon and a simple test to see if there is blood in the stools. 

Screening Package 2 - €175/£126

A more in depth screening consists of a short consultation with Mr Deardon, the test to check for blood in the stools and a few blood tests which show up different markers in relation to Bowel Cancer. 

Screening Package 3 - €950/£865

A comprehensive peace of mind option. A short consultation with Mr Deardon and a “colonoscopy” (a telescope test ) which enables us to look inside the bowel and colon to check for tumours or polyps / pre-malignant growths. 

We understand that this is a delicate and embarrassing subject but don’t worry alone. 

For more information or to book an appointment for a screening package, please contact Jane in confidence on 951 703 243, by email info@thebritishsurgicalclinic.com or request a call back via Whatsapp 627 847 658 or BBM 2A5D9980.

Spanish fiesta

Our Spanish clinic will be closed on Thursday the 28th February for the Andalucia Day fiesta. 

We have very limited availability to see urgent patients on Friday 1st March. Please contact Jane on 951 703 243 or info@thebritishsurgicalclinic.com to book an appointment. 

Regards
The BSC team

A very non medical piece of news!

We are very proud of our PA Jane Naughton, who not only runs the admin side of the clinic and deals with all our patients, but is also a keen dressage rider in her spare time. She finished 2012 ranked 36th in Spain with this horse and is off next week to the Spanish Sunshine Tour in Cadiz. We wish her the very best of luck!

Ruben and Jane competing in 2012.

Merry Christmas!

The British Surgical Clinic would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and healthy New Year!

Bank holidays in Spain

As many of you may know, the 6th & 8th December are national bank holidays in Spain, so our Spanish clinic will be closed on Thursday 6th December. 

For any appointments, please contact the Gibraltar clinic on 00350 200 49999 which will remain open all week. 

Additional contact information for the clinic!

The British Surgical Clinic have gone all modern! You can now book appointments and make enquiries via Whatsapp or BBM. 

Add us - 2A5D9980 or whatsapp our mobile number - 627 847 658.

Make appointments more discreetly using your smart phone!

Why do I support the Positively Pink Charity ?

By Dr David Deardon, The British Surgical Clinic and Medical Lead for the Positively Pink Screening Programme

As a UK born surgeon who trained in the 1980’s when dedicated breast cancer services were being established in hospitals throughout the UK I have been involved in managing breast disease for many years. The need for screening was acutely emphasized for me when 3 members of my family were affected by the disease. After leaving my post as a consultant surgeon in the NHS and joining the Gibraltar Health Authority in 2005 as their only fully accredited surgeon, one of the first things I did was establish a one stop breast clinic. This clinic identified over 30 new cancers in the first year of existence (twice the number expected from historical data) and was instrumental in diagnosing cancers earlier. Consequently there was a need for less destructive surgery and long term outcomes improved. I

was the surgical lead on the GHA steering committee which has now successfully seen the Gibraltar Health Authority introduce its own breast screening service.

Breast Cancer Facts

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in women. The lifetime risk of developing breast cancer is one in nine and in the UK, 41,000 new cases are diagnosed each year (1% of cases occurring in men). The risk of breast cancer is increased in some patients if there is a family history (particularly on the maternal side). The risk of breast cancer increases with age and 80% of breast cancers occur in women over the age of 50. Current data indicate that survival rates from breast cancer are improving. The key factors for this improvement are increased breast awareness and early detection and presentation of breast cancer.

Positively Pink

I was very pleased last year to be invited to support the Positively Pink Campaign and help the charity develop a safe evidence based breast screening service for non entitled or interested British women on the Costa del Sol. Again this year, the programme offers free state of the art breast imaging (Ultrasound and / or Mammography) supported by a clinical examination with a suitably trained doctor or nurse. Self examination training is also available during your screening consultation. At Positively Pink, we believe that prevention and early detection is your best line of defense.

Positively Pink is very fortunate to have Dr David Deardon overseeing the Free breast screening programme in conjunction with Clinica Medicare in La Cala. Dr David Deardon is also now available at the clinic, for consultation and his expertise cover’s a wide remit. Tel 952 835 778. For more information on Positively Pink look at the website www.positively-pink.com or call Clinica Medicare to make an appointment for your FREE breast Screening.

Positively Pink Charity Karting Challenge - 27th May

As one of the sponsors of this wonderful charity, we fielded a team for the Karting Challenge held at Funny Beach, Marbella. It was a great day, very well run and loads of people turned up to cheer us all on! We are pleased to say that our team was represented in the Grand Final as well. Well done to Jane for getting there. Everyone was feeling very competitive in all the races!

We will keep you updated on how much was raised for the charity and keep an eye out ladies, the appointment days for Breast screening will be starting soon. 

The British Surgical Team (David, Jane and Juan) with the Fab 3 from Cambridge 800 (Sarah, Vicky and Jon)

 

The Costa Ladies Club in Mijas Village

Our PA, Jane Naughton, was invited to the May luncheon with the Costa Ladies Club, following which, the Mijas Semenal did a write up about the day in their 11th May edition.

 

COSTA LADIES CLUB VISIT MIJAS VILLAGE

Last Wednesday the Costa Ladies Club visited the Mijas Town Hall where they were met officially by Mr. Mario Bravo Councillor for the Foreigners Department of the Mijas Town Hall and shown a film about the history of Mijas. Present at the event was Ana Skou head of the department who gave a small talk about the services offered by the Foreigners Department. Mr. Bravo explained that it was the first of its kind to be set up in Spain and that they would keep on doing everything in their hand to welcome foreigners who choose Mijas to visit or choose Mijas as their home. The members of the club were given a guided tour of the village
finishing at the Folk Museum where they were shown more about the history and traditions of Mijas. The Costa Ladies Club collaborates with the department on a regular basis promoting the entire activities of the department on their web page. www.costaladiesclub.com