Our Clinics & Services 

In addition to general medical consultations we are pleased to be able to provide a range of clinics and services, including:

• Rapid Access/Minor illness Clinic

• Blood Testing

• Well Woman Clinic
  - including cervical smears and family planning.

• Smoking Cessation Clinic

• Travel Clinic- we are a Yellow Fever vaccination clinic.

• Carers Health & Wellbeing Checks

• Child Immunisations 

• Weight Management

Chronic Disease Clinics

We also provide the following clinics to support our patients with chronic long term diseases:

• Diabetic Clinic
• Chronic Heart Disease Clinic
• Respiratory: Asthma & COPD Clinics
• Hypertension Clinic

Non-NHS Services/Private Fees

Some services provided for registered patients fall outside the scope of the NHS and therefore attract charges.  Examples include:

• Insurance Claim forms

• Vaccination certificates

• Medicals for pre-employment, sports & driving requirements (HGV, PSV etc)

• Prescriptions for taking medication abroad

  Our reception staff will be happy to advise you about appointment availability and applicable charges.

Our Minor Illness Clinic runs daily from 9.30am-10.30am and is run by a GP, Nurse prescriber or pharmacist, with the Duty Doctor providing backup and is designed to provide a quicker response for patients for the following:

The Minor Illness clinic is not designed for ongoing problems that you have already discussed with a GP, but for minor complaints to be dealt with by the most appropriate person.

Rapid Access Clinic

Our Rapid Access Clinic runs daily for medical problems that have come on suddenly and require immediate medical attention.

Please note that if the problem is of a chronic or ongoing nature it may be better to make a routine appointment to see your GP.

Please see the table below to see if your medical problem is suitable for the Rapid Access Clinic. The clinic is run by the duty doctor and a practise nurse.

Telephone 01271 329004 to make an appointment.

Opening Times

What can be treated at the Rapid Access Clinic?

If you are unsure whether you should be seen in this clinic, please ask a receptionist who can help and advise you.

Blood Testing

Blood test clinics are run every morning by our Healthcare Assistants, who also help with minor operations and ECGs (heart recordings). When a doctor, practice Sister or the North Devon District Hospital requests a blood test, a form is produced to tell the Health Care Assistant which samples are required.

We have blood clinics from 07.30-17.00 most days and also offer anti-coagulant appointments throughout the day. Appointments for these need to be booked through Sister’s receptionist on 01271 314236, the main surgery line on 01271 329004 or you can book online for your blood tests using the Appointments Online system.

If you take warfarin you will need to have regular blood tests to ensure that you are receiving the correct dose.  We offer regular clinics where we can calculate the new dose of warfarin immediately after your blood test.

Please remember to check in for your blood test on arrival at the surgery, as you would for any other appointment.

What are blood tests for?

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 child's hand will be anaesthetised (numbed) with a special cream before the sample is taken.

Well Woman Clinic

We have four nurses who are trained in the taking of cervical smears and three trained in family planning.

Desri Dyer and Sandy Norman hold the Marie Curie breast and cervical cytology certificate, ENB 321 fertility and fertility control, ENB232 family planning in practice. All four nurses attend cytology update courses every three years.

The clinic is supported by Dr Suzanne Smit, Dr Louise Bond and Dr Jacqueline Tolhurst who have a specialist interest in Woman's Health.

The clinic nurses are able to give confidential advice on a range of Woman's health issues such as methods of family planning, hormone replacement therapy, breast examination and cervical cytology.

Patients may book for cervical screening, repeat prescriptions for the oral contraceptive pill or HRT (alternating with the patient's GP) intra - uterine contraceptive device checking, changing of ring pessaries, emergency contraception, testing for infections (STI's) or general advice.

A service for fitting inter uterine contraceptive devices, hormonal implants and fitting of ring pessaries is provided.

Opening Times

The Well Woman Clinic opening times are as follows:

Smoking Cessation Clinic

Our Health Care Assistants run the Smoking Cessation Clinic.  Please note this service is by appointment only.

You'll have regular reviews and support to help you reach your quit date goal.

Book your appointment now on 01271 314236.

Useful Resources

http://www.takeabreathandquit.co.uk/

Smokefree
The NHS have produced "Smokefree", a dedicated service to inform everyone of the dangers of smoking, the benefits to giving up and how they can help you kick the habit http://www.smokefreesouthwest.org.uk/

QUIT
QUIT is the independent charity whose aim is to save lives by helping smokers to stop. Smokers wanting to QUIT should call 0800 00 22 00 or email stopsmoking@quit.org.uk for free, individual, same-day advice from trained counsellors.

Stop Smoking Widget
This tool gives you daily messages, and keeps track of how much you're saving and how many days it's been since your last cigarette. Great motivators for staying smokefree.

Stoptober

Stoptober is an annual public health campaign which runs through the month of October. Stop smoking for 28 days and you're 5 times more likely to stop for good. Join the thousands quitting with Stoptober.

If you require any vaccinations before travelling overseas, you need to make an appointment with the practice nurse to discuss your travel arrangements. This will include which countries and areas within countries that you are visiting to determine what vaccinations are required.

It is important to contact Sister's Receptionist on 01271 314236 as soon as possible - or at least 6 weeks before you travel, this is to ensure that you receive the correct vaccines prior to travel. Some vaccines and Malaria prescriptions may incur a charge.  Our Travel Clinic is open every Thursday afternoon by appointment only, between 14:00 and 17:30.

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

Useful Resources

'fitfortravel' is a public access website provided by the NHS (Scotland). It gives travel health information for people travelling abroad from the UK. Remember that you should always discuss your particular needs with your own doctor or nurse.

NHS Fit for Travel

Are You a Carer?

If you are please let us know - we may be able to help you.

We can book you in for one of our free and confidential health and wellbeing checks exclusively for carers.  Please call reception on 01271 314236 to book in or discuss with your doctor.

Carers often put the health of the person they care for before their own.  To be able to care for others, you must care for yourself!  You do not need to be claiming or receiving Carer’s Allowance to be considered a “carer”.

Some of the many benefits of having the health check are:

• re-assurance for you, and person you care for
• an opportunity to pick up on any early signs of ill health
• time for you to think about yourself and your own health
• a chance to access any necessary advice or treatment at an early stage, possibly avoiding more serious problems in future
• Completely free of charge
• Money available to cover care while you have your check
• Confidential

Your check will cover your:

· Physical Health

· Stress and mental wellbeing

· Challenges of caring

· An opportunity to raise any worries or concerns about caring and how it affects you

We also work closely with Devon Carers Service to support carers who are registered with us. Devon Carers is the service in Devon for all carers and is funded by the NHS to provide information, support and short breaks to carers.  Anyone who looks after someone is entitled to access their services and carers do not have to undertake any assessments or eligibility checks in order to access their help. There are a wide range of free and confidential services available and it’s the carer’s choice to access whichever services they feel would be beneficial. 

Jo Morgan is the Devon Carers Support Worker and she offers monthly information appointments at Brannam Medical Centre. This is an ideal chance to find out about the free services and support offered by Devon Carers; get help in accessing the grants and sitting services available; ask advice on what further help is available to you in your area; think about future planning or talk over issues that may be troubling you. To book an appointment please call recpetion. 

Did you know?

- In Devon there are around 84,000 carers providing unpaid care for relatives and friends.

- Over a million carers, care for 50+ hours per week.

- 1 in 8 adults (around six million people) are carers.

- By 2037, it's anticipated that the number of carers will increase to 9 million.

- Every day another 6,000 people take on a caring responsibility - that equals over 2 million people each year.

- There are 175,000 young people over the age of 18 who provide care for people. 13,000 of these provide care for 50 hours or more per week.

- 58% of carers are women and 42% are men.

- 1 in 5 of carers providing substantial care are not in good health compared to 1 in 10 of those who are not carers.

- People providing high levels of care are twice as likely to be permanently sick or disabled.

- 625,000 people suffer mental and physical ill health as a direct consequence of the stress and physical demands of caring.

- 52% of carers providing substantial care had been treated for a stress-related disorder.

Click the link to view the Devon Carers Factsheet

AFTER CARING - ENABLING CARERS TO LOOK AHEAD

Offering support for carers aged 50+ who are facing the end of their caring role.

This is a free service providing information, bereavement support, signposting and mentoring.

Call 01237 420134 or email aftercaring@torridgecvs.org.uk

http://www.aftercaring.org.uk/

Useful Links

Devon Carers Link http://www.devoncarerslink.org/links

Devon Virtual Carers http://www.devoncarerscentre.org.uk/ 

Devon Young Carers http://www.devonyoungcarers.org.uk/

NHS Choices http://www.nhs.uk/carersdirect/Pages/CarersDirectHome.aspx

NHS Choices

There is a wealth of information on NHS Choices about carers and caring. Below are some links into the site that we hope you will find useful.

• Caring for a parent

  Watch this video on: caring for a parent at home

• Telling people

  Caring responsibilities can make it difficult to maintain friendships or develop new ones. Telling your friends you're a carer is important so they understand and can support you.

• Taking a break

  Caring for someone can be a full-time job, but it's essential that you take time out for yourself too. Read our guide to accessing breaks and respite.

• Housing and carers

  Do you know your tenancy rights as a carer? Are you aware of all your care at home options? Do you need tips on moving someone around the home?

Carers support groups Finance and Law

Help claiming benefits, looking after your bank balance and understanding the legal issues of caring.

• Benefits for carers

  Directing carers to the benefits that can help them in their caring role

• Benefits for the person you care for

  Advice and information on helping the person you look after get the benefits that they are entitled to

• Death and benefits

  How your benefits maybe affected after the death of the person you look after and what happens to their benefits

• Managing someone's legal affairs

  Advice for when carers find they have to take over the legal affairs of the person they are looking after

• Other benefits

  Advice for carers and the people they are looking after on claiming a whole host of other benefits unrelated to their disability or caring

• Personal and household finance

  Advice on keeping a tight rein on household and personal finance for carers

• Social fund

• Tax credits

  Information on claiming tax credits and whether you might be eligible

Find Local Services In Your Area

Enter all or part of your postcode in the box below and click one of the buttons to find those services that are local to you.