If you think you need your blood pressure checking, please give us a call and we can book you an appointment with our Health Care Assistant.
You can also request blood pressure checks in local Pharmacies.
All Services
Nursing Clinics
Nurse Appointments
Appointments are available at reception or online for members of the nursing team. A wide range of services are offered as you will see from the list below. As different services may require differing amounts of time, it helps if you are prepared to advise reception of the purpose of your appointment. There is, however, no compulsion to do this, and your confidentiality will be respected at all times.
Nurse Clinics
Chronic Disease Reviews
- Diabetes
- Heart Disease/Stroke
- Hypertension
- Asthma/COPD
- Spirometry
- Dementia/ mental health
- Chronic kidney disease
- Learning Disabilities
- PAD
- Rheumatoid Arthritis
All of the above are dealt with in our CDM clinics.
If you have diabetes plus any other chronic disease these will be managed in your 6 monthly reviews in the diabetic clinics.
Other Services
- Cervical cytology
- Family planning
- Blood Pressure Checks
- Injections
- Childhood immunisations
- Skin problems such as eczema and psoriasis, rashes, bites and stings
- Travel and health advice & vaccinations
Healthcare Assistant Services
- Emergency Blood tests
- Blood pressure checks
- ECG
- New patient medical checks
- Weight and diet advice
- Flu vaccinations
- Urine testing
Community Nursing
District Nurses
The community nursing team delivers skilled nursing care in people’s homes. They are in contact with the GPs and come into surgery on a regular basis. Their direct telephone is 01772 644669. There is an answer phone to leave messages if they are not available when you ring.
Health Visitors
The health visitors are part of the community health services and are all qualified nurses with special training and experience in child health. They are in contact with the GP’s and come into surgery regularly. Their direct telephone number is 01772 644114.
Midwives
The surgery has a skilled team of community midwives. Clinics are held each week offering antenatal care. Post natal care is also available in surgery.
Phlebotomy Service
We offer a phlebotomy service (blood clinic) on Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning by appointment only.
Fit (Sick) Note Certificates
If you are off work sick for seven days or less, your employer should not ask you for a doctor’s certificate, you will need a medical certificate if you are off work sick for than seven days.
The seven days include days that you don’t normally work; so when you work out how long you’ve been off sick, you should include weekends and bank holidays.
Self Certification Forms
Your employer can ask you to confirm that you’ve been ill, you can do this by filling in a form yourself when you return to work; this is called self-certification.
Self-certification forms usually include details such as:
- information about your sickness or illness
- the date your sickness started
- the date your sickness ended
These dates may be days that you don’t normally work. For example, your sickness could start or end on a Saturday, Sunday or bank holiday.
Many employers have their own self-certification forms. If your employer doesn’t have their own form, instead they may use an SC2 form from HM Revenue & Customs Employee’s Statement of Sickness.
Sickness of more than seven days
If you are sick and off work for more than seven days, your employer will normally ask you to provide a medical certificate from your GP.
When you need a certificate will also depend on your employer’s company policy on sick leave (or sickness absence). This policy should tell you how many days you can be off sick before you need a note.
To find out about your employer’s policy:
- ask your team leader or supervisor, or
- speak to someone from your human resources (HR) or personnel department
Fit notes and how to get one
A medical certificate note must be signed by a doctor. The Fit Notes mean your GP can give you advice to help you return to work. This is because work can play an important part in helping people to recover from illness on injury. The GP can either say you are not fit for work, or can say you may be fit for work. The GP will choose the option for may be fit to work if they think that returning to work – with support from your employer – will help you.
There is also space for the GP to give advice to your employer about the impact of your illness or injury and can suggest common ways in which your employer can help you return to work such as allowing you to work part time or temporarily or by changing your duties, for example, if you have back pain, avoiding heavy lifting.
Fit notes are also sometimes called doctor’s notes, sick notes, medical certificates or doctor’s statements.
If you have seen a doctor at the practice regarding the problem you need a medical certificate for (or we have received a letter from the hospital about your sickness) you many not need to see the doctor again. You can complete a fit note request form at reception, which will be passed to the doctor to review. The doctor may also be able to speak to you on the telephone depending on how well they know you and why you are off work sick.
If you have not seen a doctor at the practice and we have had no information from a medical professional about your illness, you will not be able to get a certificate without an appointment. Please book a routine appointment; urgent appointments are only provided for genuine medical emergencies and not for the purpose of certificates.
In either case there are rules governing the issue of sick certificates and the GP may not be able to supply one, depending on the information you provide.
If you are under the care of a hospital, your certificate may be issued by the hospital, rather than by the practice.
Charges for fit notes
There is usually no charge for providing a fit note if you are off sick for more than seven days.
Some employers may request a fit note (e.g. from employees who repeatedly take time off sick) even if you are off work for seven days or less. This is a private non-NHS medical certificate.
For sickness of seven days or less, a charge of £20 is payable in order for us to provide a certificate.
When your fit note runs out
If your certificate runs out, but you are still sick, you will need to consult the doctor again before you can get a further certificate.
Fit certificates can be back-dated so it is not necessary to make an emergency appointment to renew your certificate. If you attend an emergency appointment for the purpose of getting a medical certificate you will be asked to rebook.
Non-NHS Services
The doctors are happy to carry out medical examinations for insurance and other purposes; they will also fill out certain forms, the doctors are unable to complete passport applications.
The NHS does not cover these services so a charge will be made; see list below.
Please be aware that a full medical may be required as assessment before some forms can be completed.
The need for a medical will be at the doctors discretion and the cost altered to reflect the change in requirements; you will be notified if this is necessary.
Please note – we require up to 5 working days for completion of forms. Payment for all forms/medicals must be made in advance.
| Service | Charge |
|---|---|
| Private Certificates/Sick Note | £20 |
| Letters for School /College | £20 |
| Gym Letters | £20 – £40 (Clinican discrection) |
| Housing Letters | £40 |
| To whom it may concern letter | £20 |
| NOW Cards | £15 |
| Certificates | £15 |
| Private Prescriptions | £15 |
| Private Prescription for Malaria tablets per patient aged 16 and over | £5 |
| Telewest / Broadband fault | £15 |
| Occupational Health | £60 |
| Fitness To Travel | £20 |
| Holiday cancellation | £40 |
| Medical cost Insurance Form (Bupa etc) | £45 |
| Private insurance forms, accident and sickness claims | £45 |
| Sporting forms (parachute jumps etc) | £40 – £100 (medical) |
| Medical – HGV – Taxi – Other | £100 |
| Full Medical | £120 |
| Private Medical Report requested by employer | £85 |
| Lasting Power of Attorney COP3 Form | £150 at the surgery £100 on a home visit |
| Capacity Assessment medical | £100 – £120 |
Travel Health
Do you need vaccinations?
Our Practice Nurses can provide comprehensive travel health advice and arrange for appropriate immunisations. Please arrange an appointment for a travel consultation at least 6-8 weeks before departure if possible. Vaccines need time to take effect and some may require a course over several weeks.
Select the region you are travelling to find out more:
Travel Assessment Form
We offer a full travel advice and immunisation service. If you are travelling abroad please ring reception to complete the travel form in plenty of time (we recommend 6-8 weeks) before your journey.
Travel Vaccination Prices
Travel advice is covered by the NHS; however some vaccinations and prescriptions are only available privately.
Payment for non-NHS services must be made at the first travel appointment.
Further Travel Information
The following websites will give you additional travel advice.
- Travel Health – for information of vaccinations available on NHS
- MASTA – for private vaccination clinics
- Gov.uk – for specific country travel advice
- EHIC – to apply for your free European Health Insurance Card
Test Results
Patient Access
If you already have a Patient Access account, you can access your test results Online once they’re released by using the link above to log in; if you don’t have an account and would like to learn more please click the link below.
Results of Tests and Investigations
Our receptionists are extremely busy first thing in a morning making appointments so if you are ringing for a test result please telephone between 11:00 and 15:30 by contacting the main surgery number.
If you are registered for online services you may see your blood results in your medical record.
If your test is abnormal the GP will send a message and instruct the receptionist to call or text you.
For reasons of confidentiality please ring in person for test results. Receptionists are not medically trained so they may only tell you if a result is normal or that you need to make an appointment to see a doctor.
Some results can take five or more days to come back and you will be advised when to call when your test is taken.
If you have been asked to record your blood pressure download this form to record your results Patient Home BP Record.
Blood Tests
A blood test is when a sample of blood is taken for testing in a laboratory. Blood tests have a wide range of uses and are one of the most common types of medical test. For example, a blood test can be used to:
- assess your general state of health
- confirm the presence of a bacterial or viral infection
- see how well certain organs, such as the liver and kidneys, are functioning
A blood test usually involves the phlebotomist taking a blood sample from a blood vessel in your arm and the usual place for a sample is the inside of the elbow or wrist, where the veins are relatively close to the surface. Blood samples from children are most commonly taken from the back of the hand. The childs hand will be anaesthetised (numbed) with a special cream before the sample is taken.
You can find out more about blood tests, their purpose and the way they are performed on the NHS Choices website.
Patient Support Liaison Team
What is the Patient Support Liaison Team / Cancer Champions?
In May 2018 we introduced a non-clinical team to help support patients and their families who are facing a recent chronic diagnosis. This could be cancer, dementia, or any other serious incapacitating disease.
If you have had a recent life changing diagnosis we will send you a letter to introduce ourselves, including photographs, so that you know who we are. We will follow up the letter with a telephone call shortly after to see if there is anything you need or anything we can help you, your carers or family with.
You can ring us direct to order your medication, make appointments, listen to any problems/concerns you may have. We can provide you with information about services that may help and sort out things quickly on your behalf.
If we do not know the answer to your questions we will find someone who does. Our clinical Lead is Jenny Williams, ANP, who is always here to advise us.
If you do not feel like talking you can always simply email us with any queries or problems.
We promise to always listen and take the time to help you in any way we can.
For more information on this scheme read here Cancer Champions
Home Visits
Home visits are meant for people who are house bound or too ill to travel to the surgery. Whenever possible try and come to the surgery where facilities allow for a more thorough and professional assessment of your illness.
To allow the doctors to plan their day If possible please try to telephone reception before 11am.
Please provide as much information to the receptionist as possible to enable the Doctor to telephone you to assess the urgency of your request and deal with it appropriately.
Please remember that several patients can be seen in the practice in the time that it takes to make one home visit.