We seek to perform a major review of each asthmatic patient's needs at least annually, and sometimes 6-monthly. We have found that a regular clinic session does not meet everyone's needs, and so we perform these reviews during normal surgeries. However, to be done properly, we ask patients to let reception know the purpose of the consultation so that adequate time can be allocated. The usual pattern is a 20 minute appointment with the nurse followed by a 10 minute consultation with the doctor.
This clinic is run on Thursday mornings by our Health Visitor, sometimes with the input of the doctor. We monitor the progress your child is making from the age of 2 months through to pre-school.
We check on growth, sight, hearing, and the development of various skills such as language, co-ordination skills, and so on.
In this way, if there is a problem, we hope to identify it early so that the appropriate help can be brought in as soon as possible.
We call up our babies and toddlers at the appropriate time, so you do not have to try to work it out yourself. If you do have any questions about this, please contact reception.
We encourage all parents to full immunise their children, and these clinics are held on Thursday mornings by appointment, and are run by the Health Visitor.
The children are offered: Diphtheria, Tetanus, Whooping Cough, Polio, Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Meningitis C, Hib (for another sort of meningitis), and a new vaccine against pneumococcal infection.
These are offered at various stages in their development. The programme starts at 2 months of age. Some of these immunisations require boosters before starting school.
All of our patients when diagnosed as having diabetes automatically have appointments arranged for them to attend our in-house diabetic clinic once or twice a year. This is true of even the mildest diabetic.
These clinics are held on Thursday afternoons and involve spending 20 minutes with the nurse followed by a consultation with the doctor.
In preparation for the clinic, we will ask you to attend for some blood and urine tests so that we have the results when we see you, and we can use the consultation to explain findings and make any necessary changes.
All of our patients who are taking anti-convulsants for epilepsy are offered an annual review. This is a thorough and well-thought out review where we consider control of symptoms, side effects of the drugs, and explore any patient anxieties.
We have considered putting on a dedicated clinic for this, but that old-fashioned stigma about epilepsy is still there, and a number of patients indicated that they would be reluctant to come to such a clinic, and thereby be identified as being epileptics. So, we do these reviews during normal surgeries.
Although the name of this clinic is something of a mis-nomer, we find it more encouraging than calling it "The Dodgy Ticker Clinic", which in fact is what it is. We have identified all those who have evidence of heart disease, and see these people annually at this clinic for a thorough check over. This includes a physical examination, an ECG, a cholesterol check and so on. The information garnered is then used to identify what, if anything, more can be done to prevent any progression of their heart problems and any future heart attack. This clinic runs on a Thursday afternoon, by appointment.
In preparation for the clinic, we will ask you to attend for some blood and urine tests so that we have the results when we see you, and we can use the consultation to explain findings and make any necessary changes.
High blood pressure, or hypertension, needs to be properly monitored. We use the computer to let us know when your blood pressure needs to be looked at again. It is set to do this every 6 to 9 months for most of these patients. We perform this service as part of prescription review during normal surgeries.
Your post-natal examination is an important opportunity to ensure that no problems after the birth of your child are left unresolved. Some problems may be apparent to you, others may not.
This service is run by the practice, rather than by the midwives. You will be asked to see the Practice Nurse first and follow straight on with an appointment with the doctor. This is usually about 6 weeks after the birth.
It is an ideal opportunity to sort out future contraception.
Cervical smears are no longer part of post-natal care. If a smear is due, it must be delayed until at least 3 months after the birth.
As the number of births (and therefore post-natals) in the practice is small, we do not put on a special post-natal clinic, but incorporate these examinations into our routine surgeries.
From time to time it is important for us to review your regular prescriptions. They may no longer be working, or may no longer be needed. They may be causing problems, or there may be a new more effective drug or other better way of managing your condition.
Depending on your condition or the drugs you are prescribed, we seek to review your prescription at intervals of either 6, 9 or 12 months. We appreciate this may be inconvenient, but it is a worthwhile precaution.
These reviews take place during normal surgeries.
We used to run a Well Man Clinic, but found that it was generally not worth while the patients taking time off work for these examinations. Instead we started screening the men "opportunistically" - that is, we examine them when the opportunity arises. This works very well and we expect to screen 90% of our male patients during the three year cycle. We occasionally put on a clinic to try to screen the other 10%, and will willingly screen anyone whenever they wish.
Several aspects of health are attended to, including: weight and healthy eating, smoking and drinking, urine testing for diabetes, blood pressure, cholesterol levels and immunisation status.
These Clinics are usually run by our practice nurse and take place on Thursday afternoons by appointment. We have a computerised record of who needs what and when, and will send for you at the appropriate time. If a Thursday afternoon is inconvenient, then other times can be arranged.
Many aspects of health are attended to at these clinics, including: weight and healthy eating, smoking and drinking, urine testing for diabetes, blood pressure, cervical cytology (smears), cholesterol levels and immunisation status.