We offer a range of non – NHS services for which a fee is payable. Below is a list of the most common of these. Our reception team will be able to make arrangements for this work to be completed upon request.

The fee is payable before completion of the work. If the service you require is not listed below then please ask about this and the relevant fee.

Dr Mike O’Neil carries out joint injections at the surgery. Please ask for details

The district nursing team works alongside the doctors to provide skilled nursing care within your home. Help and advice on a variety of caring problems are offered, for example continence problems. There are good working relationships with other services such as hospitals, social services, Macmillan nurses and the local voluntary organisations.

The district nursing team can be contacted on 0300 0830100.

If you think you are pregnant, please make an appointment during normal surgery time to see the doctor.

Regular Antenatal clinics are held with our midwife. Patients can also be seen by a GP during normal surgery times by prior appointment.

Relaxation classes are held at the care centre; please ask your midwife for details. The doctors carry out postnatal examinations by prior appointment along with baby’s six-week check.

Cervical cytology screening tests are carried out in normal surgery hours by the practice nurses or a doctor, but please make a separate appointment for this to be done.

All women are recommended to have a smear test every three years from the age of 25 up to 49, and every five years between the ages of 50 and 64. If you have had a hysterectomy or have never been sexually active then you usually won’t need to have any further smear tests but please discuss this with the nurse or doctor if you are in any doubt.

You are reminded by letter when your smear test is due.

Contraceptive advice and services (including emergency contraception) are available from your doctor or nurse in normal surgery time.

Our nursing team, Liz Towlson, Laura Dudley, Beth Taylor and Anna Davis hold sessions every day. They are supported by our GP Assistants, Sharon Cross and Charlotte Oram.

Liz is a fully qualified Nurse Practitioner. This means that as well as looking after her own patients on a day –to- day basis, she is available as an alternative to the GP’s for most urgent same day appointments.

As well as general nursing and ongoing patient monitoring tasks, the nurses are available to give health advice, undertake health checks, take cervical smear tests and to arrange routine and travel injections.

They also complete regular monitoring checks for those patients with ongoing, long term conditions such as diabetes, heart and respiratory disease.

When booking an appointment to see our practice nurses, the receptionist will ask what the appointment is for. This to to ensure that you are allocated sufficient time for your appointment.

We are constantly reviewing the way in which our nurse’s work and we envisage that the range of services that they are able to offer will continue to develop. We would be interested to hear your views on how our nursing services should be shaped for the future.

In order to maintain social distancing, Flu jabs are strictly by appointment only this year. Please wear a face covering when attending the Surgery.

You should have a FREE NHS flu vaccine if you are:

• Age 65 or over
• Pregnant
• Living in a residential or Nursing Home
• the main carer of an older or disabled person
• a household contact of an immunocompromised person
• a frontline health or social care worker
• 50-64 years old without a chronic condition (these patients will be invited November/December depending on delivery of the vaccines) 

Or have a long term condition such as:

• a heart problem
• a chest complaint or breathing difficulties, including bronchitis, emphysema or asthma
• a kidney disease
• lowered immunity due to disease or treatment (such as steroid medication or cancer treatment)
• liver disease
• had a stroke or a transient attach (TIA)
• diabetes
• a neurological condition, eg multiple sclerosis (MS), cerebral palsy or learning disability
• a problem with your spleen, eg sickle cell disease or you have had your spleen removed
• are seriously overweight (BMI of 40 or above)

This list of conditions isn’t definitive. It is always an issue of clinical judgement. Your GP can assess you to take into account the risk of flu making any underlying illness you may have worse, as well as your risk of serious illness from flu itself.

Children

If you have a child over 6 months of age who has one of the conditions listed above they should have a flu vaccination. 

The children being offered the vaccine this year, are:

• all 2 and 3 years of age
• all children in reception class and school years 1 to 6
• All secondary school children years 7 to 11

Children aged two and three years will be given the vaccination at their general practice usually by the practice nurse. Nearly all eligible children in reception year and school years 1 to 11 throughout England will be offered the flu vaccine in school. For most children, the vaccine will be given as a spray in each nostril. This is a very quick and painless procedure.

Our nurses will be happy to discuss your vaccination requirements and arrange a schedule for your vaccinations. You should let us know at least 6 weeks prior to your departure so that we have sufficient time to arrange your schedule as in many cases multiple doses are required.There is a questionnaire that we will ask you to complete before any discussions can take place.

If you are travelling off the beaten track’ or to an area with complex vaccination requirements, we may recommend that you seek guidance from a specialist travel clinic. In these cases we will let you know when we receive the completed questionnaire.

You should be aware that not all travel vaccinations are available free on the NHS. Our nurses will discuss any costs with you when agreeing your schedule. A leaflet giving details of our current charges is available from reception.