The Medical Centre

Screening involves the detection of the first signs of illness before it has a chance to damage your health. There are a variety of ways in which this is offered at our practice. All of our adult patients are invited to make an appointment with a member of the nursing team for health screening. Checks will be made of your height, weight and blood pressure. The nurse can advise you on diet, exercise, smoking and other aspects of your lifestyle that may affect your health. If necessary they can carry out various blood tests or refer you to the doctor for specific problems.

We especially recommend this to patients who would not normally be attending the surgery, as these are the people who are least likely to have a problem noticed otherwise. If you have not seen a doctor for a long time, or would like a health screen, please make an appointment in the usual way.

Well Woman Check

These are carried out by our nursing team by appointment only. Please bring a urine specimen and feel free to discuss general health and ask for advice. Mammography (routine x-ray examination of the breasts for women between 50 and 65 years of age) is available in this area. Appointments for the screening centre will be sent to you by post. However, it is a good idea for women of all ages to examine their breasts regularly for lumps. If you are not sure how to do this, a member of our nursing team will be happy to show you and give advice on how to reduce your risk of developing disease. Our Nurses can also offer you help to lose weight and give up smoking.

Cervical Smear Tests

Smears are taken either by the doctors or the practice nurse. Smears for women involve a simple quick test to check for changes which occur before cancer develops. These changes can be easily treated in an outpatient clinic and cancer prevented.

We recommend that all women up to the age of 65 should have regular smears unless advised otherwise by the doctor. All patients who are eligible for this test are sent a letter by the Health Authority. If you think you are due for a test and have not received your letter, please let us know. Smears are very important, so if you are worried about the test, would like to know more or even if you do not wish to have a smear, please come and discuss it with the doctor and don’t just ignore the letter.

Your test result will automatically be sent to you by the Health Authority. (If you do not wish to have any correspondence sent, please make this fact known to the doctor/nurse.)

Well Man Check

These are to be carried out by our nursing team by appointment only. Our Nurses will be pleased to advise you on any aspect of your general health and provide you with information on testicular examination. The Clinic is intended for any male between 16 to 74 years of age. Please bring a urine specimen. The Nurse will also check your height, weight and blood pressure. If you are at particular risk of having heart problems, she will give you advice on how to reduce your risk of developing disease.

Contraceptive Services And Family Planning Clinic

The practice offers a full range of family planning care and advice including the fitting of diaphragms (caps), coils (IUCDs), implants and the morning after pill (within 72 hours of intercourse). We prefer you to receive your family planning care at the surgery rather than from a family planning clinic as much of this care is preventative medicine and it makes good sense to receive it from the same doctor who is giving you your general medical care.

If you simply need the contraceptive pill, you can see your doctor or Ruth Morgan, practice nurse, at a normal surgery appointment or attend our family planning clinic which is held once a month on a Thursday from 3.50 to 6.40pm (by appointment only). Dr Cameron and a practice nurse will be in attendance. This, like all services provided by the practice, is completely confidential.

Antenatal Clinic

You should confirm your pregnancy with your doctor. In nearly all cases most of your antenatal care will be provided by the practice in conjunction with the hospital, midwife and health visitor. Following confirmation of your pregnancy you will be asked to make an appointment in the antenatal clinic held at the surgery and you should arrange to see the health visitor as soon as possible for health advice.

Maternity clinics are held separately from ordinary surgeries and are by appointment on Wednesday mornings from 9.00am. A midwife from Queen Mary’s Hospital will be in attendance.

The doctors, midwife and health visitors are also available for postnatal care.

Child Health Clinic:

Telephone 01322 558611

The aim of this Clinic is to ensure the wellbeing of children up to the age of five by assessing them to see that they are growing and developing normally. A planned programme of Health checks is provided by the Doctors in conjunction with the Health Visitors. All babies and young children will be offered an appointment in advance to attend for routine immunisation and developmental checks. We hope all patients will take advantage of these services. It is important that all children and babies are immunised. Illnesses such as Diphtheria, Tetanus and Polio are, thankfully, rare now because of recent immunisation policies, but if contracted can be crippling or even fatal.

Whooping Cough (Pertussis) causes a very distressing illness with severe prolonged coughing and can lead to permanent lung damage. The risk of vaccination, if indeed there is any, is minute and has certainly been overstated in the past.

Unfortunately, this has resulted in many parents deciding against the vaccination of their children and Whooping Cough epidemics have resulted from this.

We strongly recommend that all babies have this vaccination along with their other injections. We also strongly advise that the MMR and HIB vaccinations are given as per the schedule which follows. If you have any worries or queries about this or any other aspect of your child's immunisations, please feel free to discuss them with your Doctor or Health Visitor.

Developmental Checks And Vaccinations

A further booster injection is also required before leaving senior school and every 10 years thereafter for protection against Tetanus and Polio.

The childhood vaccination clinic is run by the practice nurse and the childhood development clinic is run by a doctor and health visitor. Both are held on most Fridays from 1.30 to 3.30pm and are by appointment only. To make an appointment please contact the surgery. The health visitors will also be available to give advice if needed.

The health visitors also run a ‘drop in’ child health clinic which is held on most Tuesdays from 1.00 to 2.30pm. The health visitors will be available at this time to discuss any problems and to weigh your baby. An appointment is not necessary.

Adult Vaccination And Immunisation

We are committed to preventative medicine and therefore encourage all patients to make sure that their vaccinations are up to date.

All adult vaccination requirements including vaccination for travel abroad (with the exception of Yellow Fever) are carried out by the nursing team.

It is especially important that all gardeners are covered against Tetanus. We also recommend that all adults should have a Tetanus booster at least every 10 years. If you have never had a Tetanus injection, it is important for you to have a course of three injections to give you full immunity.

It is also important that patients under the age of 40 (or older, if travelling abroad) make sure that their Polio immunisation is up to date. We recommend a booster dose be administered every 10 years.

Any woman who may be thinking of having children should consider having a blood test to check that she is immune to German Measles (Rubella) before she becomes pregnant, as the result may indicate that a Rubella vaccination is advisable.

Anyone planning holidays abroad should check with us well before they are due to travel (a minimum of two months) in order that we can make sure any necessary vaccinations are completed in time.

An Influenza vaccination is offered completely free of charge to all our patients over 65 years of age and those patients who fall within the ‘at risk’ categories in September/October every year.

If you have any questions about vaccinations it is better to ask rather than just hope you are protected.

Chronic Disease Management

All patients with chronic illnesses are required to attend the surgery for an annual check. This includes patients with heart disease, asthma, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, blood pressure, diabetes and epilepsy. Even if you are also seen at the hospital for an annual check up, we may still request that you attend for a review at the surgery in order to complete any outstanding investigations or checks. Our Practice Nurses are trained to assess, review and alter treatments for most ongoing conditions and will be able to complete your review in one visit. They will of course be able to refer you to either your GP or for more specialist care, if they feel this is necessary.

Even if you fee that your condition is well controlled, we kindly request that you do book your review appointment when you are requested to do so, as treatments and care recommendations change over time.

Smoking Cessation

All patients who currently smoke and want help to stop smoking are offered an appointment with a member of the practice nursing team, who are trained advisers in this field. They will give you advice and support to help you stop smoking and arrange prescriptions for therapy where appropriate.

Other Services

In addition to those already listed, our nursing team offers various other services. These include cervical smear tests, blood pressure checks, prevention of heart disease and advice regarding losing weight. Our nurses will also advise you on reducing your alcohol intake and assist you in giving up smoking.

Patients Over 75 Years Of Age

If you are over 75, you receive special attention and are offered the opportunity to book an appointment with your doctor or our healthcare assistant for an annual check-up. Please book an appointment via the reception staff, stating that it is for an “over 75 check-up”.

Minor Surgery

Certain minor operations will be done at the surgery in order to ease waiting lists at the hospital. These are undertaken by the doctors after an initial consultation in the surgery. Please note that cryo-therapy (treatment of warts and verrucae) is only carried out on Tuesdays and Fridays. For legal reasons anybody under 16 must be accompanied by an adult.

Non-NHS Medical Services

We provide a number of services to our patients that fall outside of the NHS, such as completion of holiday cancellation forms, private insurance claim forms, fitness to attend gym forms, countersigning documents such as passports and driving licence applications, examinations for HGV and PSV licences, completion of private medical certificates, provision of ‘To whom it may concern’ letters etc.

These services are provided at the discretion of the GPs on a private basis and are done outside normal consulting hours. A fee will be payable and a list of current private fees is displayed in the waiting room. Our fees are in line with those suggested by the British Medical Association.

All applications for non-NHS medical services require an authorisation form to be completed and signed, which also confirms that you are happy to pay the appropriate fee. Failure to complete and sign an authorisation form will delay provision of the service required.

Whilst the GP’s endeavour to complete requests within 10 working days, clinical work must take priority and therefore during busy periods and annual leave periods this timeframe will be extended.
If you are making an appointment for a medical examination, please tell the receptionist as special arrangements must be made.

If you have any queries about fees, please refer them to the practice manager.
Requests for medical certificates, to whom it may concern letters etc can be requested by email. Please send your request to lyndhurst.surgery@nhs.net.