Clinics & Services

The practice offers a full range of NHS services to its patients as follows:

Routine Medical Services including emergencies

Please be prepared to give the receptionist details of your requirements in order that you may be given an appointment with the appropriate person.

Additional Services include

Antenatal and postnatal care, well women clinics, a full range of confidential contraceptive services, vaccination and immunisation programmes, child development checks, cervical smear screening, a phlebotomy service and minor surgery. 

We also offer a travel clinic for patients who may be travelling abroad on holiday or with work, an annual flu programme, regular monitoring for patients on certain drug therapies, annual review for patients with heart disease, diabetes, epilepsy, respiratory disease and other on-going conditions.

Our midwife runs antenatal clinics on Monday & Tuesday afternoons and a Wednesday morning.

Private Non-NHS Services

Not everyone is entitled to free NHS services. In such cases you will be treated as a private patient and will be charged appropriately. For further information please speak to one of our receptionists who will be happy to help you.

In addition, some medical services are also not included within the NHS and a fee is therefore payable. Such services include private medical examinations, insurance claim forms, BUPA/PPP or similar claim form verification, certificates and other letters to outside organisations.

Medication required for travel abroad, including some vaccinations, is not available under the NHS but can be provided privately by the nurses at the practice, chargeable at the current rates. The practice may also charge patients for the administration of a private vaccine.

A full list of non-NHS services and costs is displayed at reception. Full payment is required before any services are provided.

Disabled Access

Patients who have difficulty with stairs or who are disabled may obtain access at the rear of the surgery using the ramp to the back door. We have a disabled parking space in the rear car park. If you would like to use this parking space or to arrange for assistance when attending please let the receptionist know when you book your appointment.

Chaperones

If you would prefer to have another person present during your appointment please let your doctor or receptionist know and they will be happy to make arrangements. You may feel you wish to take someone known to you along to your appointment when a chaperone may be necessary.

Language Line

If you require the services of an interpreter please let us know when booking your appointment so that we can link up with the translation service language line, a confidential service allowing easier communication.

Baby Changing Facilities

There are baby-changing facilities in the first floor toilet.

Breast Feeding

You can use the Health Education room if this is available - please ask the health visitor or at reception.

Ante-Natal Appointments

The government is now encouraging your midwife to be the first point of contact for all pregnant women.  This means that women should book their first ante-natal appointment with Joyce Hunter, our midwife, as soon as they have a confirmed pregnancy test (home test kits are sufficient). 

Ante-natal clinics are run by Joyce on Monday and Tuesday afternoons and Wednesday mornings. 

During the first appointment Joyce will discuss medical history and plan ante-natal care accordingly.  Patients can expect to have their first scan between 12 to 14 weeks.

Ante-Natal information packs will continue to be handed out from reception when the first appointment is made.  If the appointment is made over the phone please remember to come to the surgery to collect your ante-natal pack prior to attending your appointment with Joyce.  .

Joyce can be contacted at the Community Midwife Office on 01224 550616.

Childcare

Our Health Visitors provide childcare services to children under 5 years of age.  They are based at the surgery premises and run baby immunisation and well baby clinics:

Immunisation Clinics: Thursday 2.00 - 4.00 p.m. (immunisation by appointment only)

Baby Clinic: Tuesday 2.00 - 3.30 p.m. and Wednesday 10.00 - 11.30 a.m.

The Health Visitors can be contacted on 01224 596755.

TRAVEL ADVICE/IMMUNISATION SERVICE

Travel advice appointments are available to our registered patients.  In order for us to offer you a good service it is important that out practice nursing team have as much information as possible available to them before your appointment is booked.

1.  TRAVEL QUESTIONNAIRE: Please call into the practice and complete a Travel questionnaire for each person travelling and return to us with the appropriate initial travel consultation fee (see below). 

2.  BOOKING THE APPOINTMENT – When we receive the completed questionnaire(s) and correct payment an appointment will be offered to you.

3.  CHARGES – Travel advice is not covered by the free NHS service and therefore  the following charges apply:

Initial Travel Consultation 

£15 per patient for one destination

£30 per patient for more than one destination

£30 per family for one destination

£50 per family for more than one destination

PLEASE NOTE THAT IF YOU DO NOT ATTEND YOUR TRAVEL APPOINTMENT WE ARE UNABLE TO REFUND YOUR PAYMENT.

Additional costs

We charge additional administration costs for the following vaccination schedules.  These require private prescription and you will also have to pay for these vaccines at the chemist.  There is also an administration charge for issue of private prescription for Malaria (£15).  Course of Rabies £20; Hepatitis B for travel £20; Menigitis £10.

4.  Vaccinations NOT available at the practice – We are unable to offer the following vaccinations but these are available at some local pharmacies and travel advice centres:

Yellow fever; Japanese B encephalitis; Tick borne encephalitis

5.  Help us to help you - It would help us greatly if you had some awareness before you come to your appointment of the travel health problems that you may be at risk from on your trip.  Before you attend for your appointment please visit the following website(s), print off and read the information for the country you are visiting and bring it to the appointment with you:

www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk or http://www.malariahotspots.co.uk/