Clinics & Services

The doctors and nurses provide care for patients who are ill or believe themselves to be ill, together with the relevant health promotion advice. We provide the following services:

• Management of chronic diseases 
• Cervical screening
• Contraceptive advice (and coils and implants) 
• Travel vaccinations and travel advice
• Childhood vaccines
• Child health surveillance
• Maternity care (excluding care during childbirth)
• Minor surgery
• Cryotherapy (liquid nitrogen clinic)
• Pre-conceptual advice
• Smoking cessation advice
• Weight loss and routine health checks

The receptionist can advise you of the correct clinic.

 

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.  This will include which countries and areas within countries that you are visiting to determine what vaccinations are required. 

Information about countries and vaccinations required can be found on the links below:

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

 

It is important to make the initial appointment as early as possible  - at least 6 weeks before you travel - as a second appointment will be required with the practice nurse to actually receive the vaccinations. These vaccines have to be ordered as they are not a stock vaccine. Your second appointment needs to be at least 2 weeks before you travelto allow the vaccines to work.

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Childhood Immunisations

Please check the following points before bringing your child to the surgery. There has been a lot of bad publicity in the newspapers about immunisation in children. However, remember your child is at greater risk from contracting the disease than he or she is from suffering reaction to immunisation.

• Is your child suffering from any feverish illness? Don't worry about a runny nose without a fever.
• Does either of the child's parents, or brothers and sisters suffer from epilepsy? Epilepsy in a more distant relative is not considered a problem.
• Is your child taking steroid treatment?
• Does your child suffer from any disease affecting his/her immune system?
• Does your child suffer from a severe reaction to eggs?
• Has your child suffered from a reaction to any previous immunisation injection?

If the answer to any of the questions above is yes, then tell your doctor and/or the nurse.

The doctor will see you for your first booking appointment (to check on your general health and to discuss arrangements for having your baby) and for the post-natal check which occurs 6 weeks after you have given birth.  The rest of your antenatal appointments should be done by your midwife. There is no reason to see the doctor unless you have specific medical conditions that can affect the pregnancy. 

The midwives will look after you at home after you have had your baby and the health visitor will visit you 10 to 12 days after your baby is born.  

At present, Dr Honnor and Dr Collins have specific antenatal clinics so please make an appointment to see them for your first booking or post natal appointment.

When do I need a sick note?

If you’re off work sick for seven days or less, your employer should not ask for medical evidence that you’ve been ill.

If you’re off work sick for more than seven days, your employer will usually ask you to provide evidence or proof that you’ve been ill. They will normally ask for a fit note from your GP. Fit note is the informal name for the Statement of Fitness for Work. Fit notes replaced sick notes from April 6 2010.

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.

Sickness of seven days or less

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 (PDF, 53kb).

Sickness of more than seven days

If you’re sick and off work for more than seven days, your employer will probably ask for proof of your illness. Most employers ask for a fit note from your GP.

However, this 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 to provide proof of illness or a fit note. 

Fit notes and how to get one

A fit note must be signed by a doctor, such as your GP. On the fit note, your GP can advise that:

• you are ‘not fit for work’
• you ‘may be fit for work’

For more information, including what ‘may be fit for work’ means, see What are fit notes?

If you need a fit note, you should contact your GP practice. They may advise you to make an appointment or book a telephone consultation.

If you’re under the care of a hospital, your fit note may be issued by the hospital, rather than by your GP.

There is never a charge from an NHS doctor for providing a fit note if you’re off work sick for more than seven days.

Charges for fit notes

Some employers may request a fit note, for example, from employees who repeatedly take time off sick, even if, each time they’re off work, it’s for seven days or less.

For sickness of seven days or less, your GP practice may charge you to provide a fit note. Your GP practice can tell you what their charges are.

 

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