Noticeboard

In August 2023, we had 128 appointments that were not attended. 93.1% of patients attended their booked appointments. Appointments are at a premium and missed appointments could have been used by another patient if we are given adequate notice that the appointment was no longer required. If you need to cancel your appointment, you can call us on 01204 523716, text CANCEL back to your reminder text or visit the practice in person. This help us to maximise appointment availability in the future.

Chronic Disease Management Clinics

Our Practice Nurses and our Assistant Practitioner clinic reviews for patients with chronic diseases.

Asthma Reviews

Patients with asthma will be invited to attend a review at least once a year to review their asthma. Sister Rachel Barrett runs these clinic reviews. It is important that patients with asthma attend these reviews so that we can help those patients manage their condition, review their medication and provides the patient with the knowledge and understanding on how to help prevent an attack. Sister Barrett will review a patient's inhaler technique, carry out checks to understand how controlled a patient's asthma is and work with the patient to complete an asthma action plan.

Sister Barrett adapts her reviews for children and has a lot of useful material which can be used to get children to gain an understanding on their condition and provides parent(s) or guardian(s) on information on how they can help manage their child's asthma.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Reviews

Patients with COPD will be invited to attend a review at least once a year to review their asthma. Sister Rachel Barrett runs these clinic reviews. It is important that patients with COPD attend these reviews so that we can help those patients manage their condition, review their medication and provides the patient with the knowledge and understanding on how to help prevent a "flare up" on their condition. Sister Barrett will review a patient's inhaler technique, carry out checks to understand how controlled a patient's COPD is and will provide the patient with a self-management plan and where necessary provide a prescription for some standby "rescue" medication to have at home in case of a "flare up" and what to do in this situation.

Diabetes Reviews

Patients with diabetes will be invited for a review at least evey 6 months. Sister Catherine Else runs these clinic reviews. During the reviews, the nurse will carry out necessary health checks to understand how controlled a patient's diabetes is and where necessary to review any medication to improve control.

Heart Failure Reviews

Patients with Heart Failure will be invited for a review at least once a year. Our Practice Nurses and our Assistant Practitioner can carry out these reviews. During the review, any necessary health checks will be carried out and a self-management plan will be given to each patient.

Chronic Heart Disease (CHD), Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), Stroke and Hypertension Reviews

Patients will the above conditions will be invited for a review at least once a tear. Our Practice Nurses will carry out these clinic reviews. During the review, all necessary health checks will be carried out and any medication will be reviewed.

Health Improvement Clinics

NHS Health Checks

The NHS Health Check programme aims to help prevent heart disease, stroke, diabetes, kidney disease and certain types of dementia. Everyone between the ages of 40 and 74, who has not already been diagnosed with one of these conditions or have certain risk factors, will be invited (once every five years) to have a check to assess their risk of heart disease, stroke, kidney disease and diabetes and will be given support and advice to help them reduce or manage that risk. NHS Health Checks can be carried out by our Health Improvement Practitioner, Janette, our Assistant Practitioner, Rebecca, or by one of our Practice Nurses. Please contact the surgery to arrange an appointment.

Please click on the below link for more information:

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/nhs-health-check/Pages/NHS-Health-Check.aspx

At Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

If a patient is identified as being at risk of heart disease or stroke, an appointment will be made for them to have a review of their lifestyle and to assess their risk and look at ways in which they can reduce or manage that risk. These reviews can be carried out by one of our Practice Nurses or our Health Improvement Practitioner.

At Risk of Diabetes

If a patient is identified as being at risk of developing diabetes, an appointment will be made for them to have a review of their lifestyle and to assess their risk and look at ways in which they can reduce or manage that risk. These reviews can be carried out by one of our Practice Nurses or our Health Improvement Practitioner.

Travel Vaccinations

If you require any vaccinations relating to foreign travel you need to make an appointment with the practice nurse to discuss your travel arrangements. Please note: this is a non-NHS service, this means that there maybe a charge for certain vaccinations and any certficate that is required after a vaccination. As this is an additional service, priority will not be made to "fit in" these appointments if our Practice Nurse Clinics are already booked up. Please make sure that you book an appointment in advance to ensure that you have your immunisations in a timely manner before travel.

To assess whether you require vaccinations for foreign travel, you need to complete a travel vaccination form (1 per patient) and bring this to the surgery. One of the doctors will review the form to understand what vaccines are required for that country and will check your vaccination record to determine if vaccinations are required. Please call into the surgery for a form or you can print the form below, complete the information and hand to one of our receptionists.

If vaccinations are required, it is important to make this initial appointment as early as possible - at least 6 weeks before you travel. This is to ensure that this gives enough time for the vaccines to work and in some cases, we do have to be order the vaccine, as some are not a stock vaccine.

There is further information about countries and vaccinations required on the links below

Europe & Russia	North America
Central America	South America
Caribbean	Africa
Middle East	Central Asia
East Asia	Australasia and Pacific

Travelling in Europe

If you are travelling to Europe the EU has published useful information for travellers on the European website.

Blood Tests

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, we are not providing our walk in service for blood tests. If one of the doctors/nurses need you to have a blood test, you will be asked to book an appointment. This is so we can manage the number of patients in the building at one time safely.

You will be required to wear a face mask/covering when you come for a blood test. There is a short supply of face masks and we would be grateful if you could attend your appointment prepared with your own face mask.

Thank you for your co-operation.

New Phlebotomy (Blood Taking) Service

From 03 August 2020 we will providing a new clinic times for our blood taking clinics. The clinics will run on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday mornings and these will be by APPOINTMENT ONLY. Please contact our surgery to arrange an appointment.

We will no longer be providing a walk in service.

Thank you for your co-operation.

Non-NHS Services

The NHS provides most health care free of charge. However there are a number of other services for which fees can be charged. These are mainly for services not covered by the NHS, such as medical reports for insurance companies.

Doctors are involved in a whole range of non-medical work, largely on the basis that they occupy a position of trust within the community, and are in the position to verify the accuracy of information. If a GP signs a certificate or completes a report, it is a professional duty that s(he) checks the accuracy of such information. This may involve examining the patient's entire medical record.

Examples include the following:

Medicals for pre-employment, sports and driving requirements (HGV, PSV etc.)
Insurance claim forms
Prescriptions for taking medication abroad
Private sick notes
Vaccination certificates

The fees charged are based on the British Medical Association (BMA) suggested scales and our reception staff will be happy to advise you about them along with appointment availability.

For more information and for the latest up to date charge, please contact the surgery on 01204 523716 and one of our receptionist will be able to help you.

Booking Ambulance Transport

If you have a hospital appointment and require transport to get you to the hospital, i.e. you have a medical condition that prevents you from getting to the appointment and no other form of transport to get you to the appointment, telephone the Referral & Booking Management Service (RBMS) on 01204 462882.

The surgery are unable to book this on your behalf as RBMS need to go through an individual needs questionnaire with the patient or their representative.

Do you want to stop smoking?

Stopping smoking is the single best thing you can do for your health.

Are you aware that most pharmacies offer a stop smoking service? Please visit your local pharmacy and sign up for the service.

Make Smoking History in Greater Manchester Campaign:

Let's quit Smoking. Together. Greater Manchester.

You can contact Greater Manchester Stop Smoking Helpline: 0300 123 1044 for more information

You can also visit the following websites for more support and information:

https://www.gmhealthhub.org/smoking

https://www.nhs.uk/smokefree

https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/quit-smoking/

If you have symptoms that are concerning you and you can’t explain, contact
your GP for advice.
This includes symptoms that are unexplained and persistent, such as:
 Lumps
 Weight loss
 Blood in your poo or pee
 A change of bowel habit
 Extreme tiredness
 Unexplained pain
 Coughs that have lasted over 3 weeks, especially if you have ever smoked.
These can occasionally sometimes be symptoms of cancer and it is important
to discuss them with your GP if you are worried.
For more info, visit: https://www.nhs.uk/be-clear-on-cancer

Cancer Screening Services

NHS Cervical Cancer Screening Programme

The NHS Programme aims to reduce the number of women who develop invasive cervical cancer and the number of women who die from it. It does this by regularly screening all women at risk so that conditions which might otherwise develop into invasive cancer can be identified and treated. The screening is a method of preventing cancer by detecting and treating early abnormalities which, if left untreated, could lead to cancer in a woman's cervix (the neck of the womb).

The screening intervals are:

Age group (years)	Frequency of screening
25	First invitation
25 - 49	3 yearly
50 - 64	5 yearly
65+	Only those women who have not been screened since age 50 or have had recent abnormal tests

Our Practice Nurses will carry out the cervical screening test (also known as a smear test) here at the surgery.

Please click on the below link to take you to the NHS Cervical Screening website for more information:

http://www.cancerscreening.nhs.uk/cervical/

Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust, a charity dedicated dedicated to women affected by cervical cancer and cervical abnormalities, has provided a number of new resources for healthcare professionals.

The charity’s short film, ‘Your Guide to Cervical Smearing,’ is now available in the following languages:

Arabic

Bengali (standard)

Bengali (sylheti)

Chinese (mandarin)

Hindi

Polish

Tamil

Urdu

The aim is to ensure that more women can access information to help them understand the role of cervical screening in preventing cervical cancer. All translated versions can be downloaded for free to be used with patients. To find out more about the film and download your chosen language, go to:

https://www.jostrust.org.uk/about-cervical-cancer/cervical-screening-smear-test-and-abnormal-cells/film-your-guide-cervical.

NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme

Bowel cancer screening aims to detect bowel cancer at an early stage (in people with no symptoms), when treatment is more likely to be effective.

The screening can also detect polyps, these are not cancers but may develop into cancers over time. They can easily be removed, reducing the risk of bowel cancer developing.

The NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme offers screening every two years to all men and women aged 60 to 69, and will be extended to age 74. The screening programme will send you out a screening kit, so you can do the test at home.

The screening kit provides a simple way for you to collect small samples of stools of your bowel motions in the privacy of your own home. You may think that doing the test sounds a bit embarrassing or unpleasant, but it will only take a few minutes and it is an effective way to detect bowel cancer.

Please click on the below link to take you to the NHS Cervical Screening website for more information:

http://www.cancerscreening.nhs.uk/bowel/index.html

NHS Breast Screening Programme

The NHS Breast Screening Programme provides free breast screening every three years for all women aged 50 and over. The programme is a rolling one which invites women from GP practices in turn, so not every woman wil receive an invitation as soon as she is 50 but she will receive her first invitation before her 53rd birthday.

The programme is now phasing in an extension of the age range of women eligible for breast screening to those aged 47 to 73. This started in 2010 and is expected to be complete by 2016.

Breast screening is a method of detecting breast cancer at a very early stage. The first step involves an x-ray of each breast - a mammogram - which is taken while carefully compressing the breast. Most women find it a bit uncomfortable and a few find it painful. The mammogram can detect small changes in breast tissue which may indicate cancers which are too small to be felt either by the woman herself or by a doctor.

Please click on the below link to take you to the NHS Cervical Screening website for more information:

http://www.cancerscreening.nhs.uk/breastscreen/index.html

NHS AAA (Abdominal Aortic Anuerysm) Screening Programme

Men aged 65 and over are eligible for AAA screening
The NHS invites men for AAA screening during the year they turn 65
Men over 65 who have not been screened previously can arrange a screening appointment by contacting their local programme directly (see information below)
Screening involves an ultrasound scan that takes around 10 minutes
The NHS AAA Screening Programme aims to reduce deaths from ruptured AAA amongst men aged 65 and over by up to 50%

Greater Manchester AAA Screening Programme

Address: AAA Screening Office, Vascular Studies Unit, University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust, Wythenshawe Hospital, Southmoor Road, Wythenshawe, Manchester M23 9LT

Telephone: 0161 291 5716

Website: http://www.gmpublichealthpracticeunit.nhs.uk/aaa-screening/

Please click on the below link to take you to the NHS Cervical Screening website for more information:

http://aaa.screening.nhs.uk/public