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

• Child Immunisations 

• Flu Clinic

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.

Please call Reception on 01271 329004 to book an appointment for this clinic.

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 Monday 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

Flu Clinic 2019/2020

We are now taking bookings for flu vaccinations.

People who should have a flu vaccine

The injected flu vaccine is offered free of charge on the NHS to people who are at risk. This is to help protect them against catching flu and developing serious complications.

You should have the flu vaccine if you: 

• are 65 years of age or over   
• are pregnant 
• have certain medical conditions 
• are living in a long-stay residential care home or other long-stay care facility 
• receive a carer's allowance, or you are the main carer for an elderly or disabled person whose welfare may be at risk if you fall ill

For more information on the free NHS vaccination please visit www.nhs.uk

To vaccinate or not to vaccinate? This question raises a great deal of discussion. To find out what a group of international scientists and experts of the immune system have to say about it, take a look at this short and informative animated video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRyDSqlnaBY

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