treatment room nurses immunisation influenza vaccination new patient health check six week checks emergency contraception health visitors

preventative care nurse tetanus vaccination travel clinic maternity care family planning minor surgery counsellor

All nurses working in the treatment room are Registered General Nurses (RGN) and have extensive experience in hospitals and general practice and work under the clinical direction of the General Practitioners.

They are able to carry out wound dressings and the treatment of leg ulcers, regular injections prescribed by a GP, all immunisations, including holiday immunisations, and procedures such as ear syringing or removal of small splinters.

The aim of the preventative care nurses is to promote better health. This is achieved by disease prevention, through giving lifestyle advice in different situations and by chronic disease management, ensuring the best possible care in illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes and asthma.

You can see the nurse directly by asking at reception. If you have diabetes or coronary heart disease, you will receive an appointment to come to the relevant clinic on a regular basis. If you have asthma, we advise that you come to see Elizabeth McKenzie (the asthma nurse) at least once yearly for a review of your condition.

Certain illnesses can be prevented by immunisation. All children should be immunised, according to the recommended schedules, against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio, measles, mumps and rubella, haemophilus influenzae type B. (Hib) and meningococcus group C.

The small risks associated with some of these vaccines are less important, in every case, than the risks of the disease they prevent.

For further information on immunisations please visit NHS Immunisation Information

If you have received a primary course of tetanus immunisation and two boosters (five injections in all), you do not need routine boosters every 10 years, except in case of certain injury or possible travel.

Influenza can be a life-threatening illness in some people. Those over 65, diabetics, people with heart disease or chest disease (including asthmatics on regular medication) should have a flu vaccine every year from September onwards. If you believe that you are eligible for a flu vaccination, please contact reception from mid-September.

If you require travel advice and/or vaccination prior to going abroad, please try to plan ahead. We are only willing to provide this service if it is six weeks or more before your date of travel.

If you have less time than this, please contact Travel Health UK in Shenfield on 01277 200169.

If your trip is for longer than one month, or to very rural or remote areas, three months in advance would be more suitable.  You will need to book an appointment with the practice nurse; we do not offer travel advice over the telephone. You will also need to fill out a travel advice form (available from reception) and bring it to your appointment.

This practice is a yellow fever centre and this immunisation can be provided for travellers to those tropical countries where it is required. There is a fee for this. If you would like to make an appointment for yellow fever, please print off and return the attached consent form.

• Download Consent Form here

All other immunisations are currently free of charge. The nurse can advise on and administer the vaccinations you will need for your holiday. She will advise on anti-malaria treatment, making use of current national guidelines. Prescriptions for anti-malarial tablets for use on holiday are not available on the NHS. Most can be bought direct over the counter. A few, mefloquine and malarone for instance, will need a private prescription from the doctor.

	For further travel advice please visit the websites below.
	Travel Advice (Foreign and Commonwealth Office)
	TravelHealth

Everyone joining this practice should undergo a new patient health check. This is usually done by the practice nurse. It enables us to obtain some basic information about your current state of health, whether or not you are allergic to any medicines etc. It also gives us the opportunity to carry out some basic checks such as blood pressure.

There is a midwife attached to the practice. She provides an essential link between the expectant mother, Gp, hospital and health visitor. All midwives carry the statutory responsibility to care for women throughout pregnancy and labour and to summon medical aid when necessary.

In this practice, the midwife works alongside the General Practitioners, holding a regular clinic on Thursday afternoons from 2.00 to 3.30pm.  Throughout pregnancy and delivery, continuity of care is important and the midwife maintains links with the family and the GP after the birth. She also works closely with the health visitor in the month following delivery. Mothers are visited, with agreement, up to the 28th day
following birth.

All of the doctors also offer antenatal appointments; these are currently booked as a double (20 minute) appointment within normal surgery times.

At the practice we share all antenatal and postnatal care with our hospital specialist colleagues, but leave the delivery itself to the in-patient maternity unit at Basildon Hospital or St John's Hospital, Chelmsford. The standards of these units are so high that we feel the risks of anything going wrong with a home delivery, however slight, are not worth taking. We do not therefore attend them.

The six week check is an appointment with the doctor for both mother and baby which gives an opportunity to review how things are going and to identify any problems. The baby will be examined by the doctor. This examination forms part of the local programme of child health surveillance. The total appointment length is 30 minutes.

We provide a comprehensive, confidential service to all our patients, including young people. We are able to provide a full range of services including coil-fitting, although not every doctor provides every service. We encourage you to see the doctor if you are planning to get pregnant, to ensure that you are at your fittest before you conceive.

For more information please visit the Family Planning Association website.

The morning after pill is effective up to 72 hours after unprotected sex, or a coil may be fitted as an emergency up to five days afterwards.
However, the sooner action is taken, the less likely is the chance of an unwanted pregnancy. If you are requesting emergency contraception, please let the receptionist know that this is the reason for your appointment and you will be seen on a same-day basis.

Surgery that is only skin deep, ie the removal of small moles, lumps, skin tags or cysts, in-growing toenails and injection of arthritic joints with steroid can be carried out, under local anaesthetic, by GPs using our treatment room. Please ask the doctor about this service during any routine consultation.

The health visitor is a highly trained and experienced Registered General Nurse with further qualifications, usually in midwifery or mental health nursing. Their aim is to work within the community to promote better health and to prevent serious or chronic illnesses by detecting them at an early stage before they develop. To achieve this aim, they work in liaison with other professionals and become involved at an early
stage. (A health visitor will visit every child, in their home, 10 days or so after birth.)

A health visitor may prescribe some medicines and may, on occasion, arrange referral to other specialists but he or she is there primarily to offer advice, direction and support on any health-related problem, whether physical, emotional or social, either in the GP surgery or at your own home. Other specific services provided by the health
visitor at this practice are health and development checks for children under five, antenatal parentcraft and relaxation classes, and counselling for those who have recently suffered a loss in the family.

The health visitors may be contacted via the Health Centre switchboard 01277 658071. You do not have to go through your GP.

The counsellor enables the process of change by helping people to express their feelings, clarify their thoughts, reframe their problems and consider potential solutions so that they can understand themselves better and be able to manage their lives more effectively. Counselling is most likely to benefit individuals with difficulties adjusting to a traumatic life event, or experiencing acute social or sexual difficulty. It is not suitable in the context of severe mental illness, significant suicidal wish, dementia, eating disorders or substance abuse. Your doctor will be able to arrange a referral to the practice counsellor.

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