Bell Surgery Patient Participation Group

“ACTIONS and consequences” was the title of the Bell Surgery patient participation group’s third talk of the year, which was held via Zoom on Tuesday, April 13.

Elizabeth Burton-Phillips and Sharon both spoke of their experiences of living with a loved one’s addiction, whether drugs, alcohol or gambling.

They both told of the journeys they and members of their families had endured and were still enduring.

Mrs Burton-Phillips wrote a book after the death of her son called Mum, Can You Lend Me Twenty Quid? What Drugs Did To My Family, which has sold many thousands of copies.

She also set up DrugFam, a charity which helps people whose loved ones are in addiction. It has a 24/7 helpline and help groups in many areas.

The talk covered many aspects of addiction, including county lines, drug dealers and all the different types of substances available.

The women finished with a very enlightening film on emojis and what certain ones mean in the drug world. With social media and most teenagers having a mobile phone, this showed that parents should know about these emojis in case they ever became aware of them on their children’s phones.

The talk ended with many questions and answers.

Mrs Burton-Phillips concluded by saying: “Addiction is an equal opportunities destroyer of family life — it takes the soul of the addict and breaks the hearts of everyone who loves them.

“It is the easiest thing in the world to have an opinion about but the hardest thing in the world for families to go through”.

For more information, visit https://www.drugfam.co.uk/
active-addiction/

The next Bell Surgery talk will be via Zoom on June 22 at 6pm.

Called “Early diagnosis of ovarian cancer: opportunities and hurdles”, it will cover early diagnosis, symptoms, common pitfalls and diagnostic delays and opportunities to improve ovarian cancer diagnosis in primary care.

To book a place please call Janet Waters on 07730 468561 or email jwaters
associates@btinternet.com

Janet Waters