Surgery clinics

This service is offered to women between 25 and 64 years of age and helps to identify abnormalities at an early stage. In conjunction with the Health Authority we undertake to send reminders, inform patients of their results in writing, follow-up abnormal results and follow-up patients who do not attend.

Patients may opt for exclusion from this scheme by completing a written statement.

Contraception is free for most people in the UK. With 15 methods to choose from, you’ll find one that suits you.

Contraceptive methods allow you to choose if and when you want to have a baby, but they don’t protect you from sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Condoms help to protect against STIs and pregnancy, so whatever other method of contraception you’re using to prevent pregnancy, use condoms as well to protect your and your partner’s health.

Where to get it

Contraceptive services are free and confidential, including to people under 16 as long as they are mature enough to understand the information and decisions involved. There are strict guidelines to for care professionals who work with people under 16.

You can get contraception free from:

• Most GP surgeries (talk to your GP or practice nurse).
• Community contraceptive clinics.
• Some genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinics.
• Sexual health clinics (these offer contraceptive and STI testing services).
• Some young people’s services (call 0800 567123).

Many of these places also offer information, testing and treatment for STIs. If you’ve been exposed to the risk of pregnancy, you’re also at risk of catching an STI.

Before you make an appointment, make sure you’re as informed as possible about the contraceptive options available. People’s choice of contraception may vary over time, depending on their lifestyle and circumstances.

Contraception and menopause

Women who have sex with men and don’t want to get pregnant need to keep using contraception until they haven’t had a period for more than 12 months (menopause).

This is because periods can become irregular before they stop entirely, and pregnancy can still occur during this time. Find out more about menopause.

Contraception methods

There are lots of methods to choose from, so don’t be put off if the first thing you use isn’t quite right for you; you can try another. You can read about each of the different methods of contraception by visiting these pages:

• Caps
• Combined Pill
• Condoms (Female)
• Condoms (Male)
• Contraceptive Implant
• Contraceptive Injection
• Contraceptive Patch
• Diaphragms
• Intrauterine Device (IUD)
• Intrauterine System (IUS)
• Natural Family Planning
• Progestogen-only Pill
• Vaginal Ring

There are two permanent methods of contraception:

• Female sterilisation.
• Male sterilisation (vasectomy).

In addition to your chosen method of contraception, you need to use condoms to prevent STIs. Always buy condoms that have the CE mark on the packet. This means that they’ve been tested to the high European safety standards. Condoms that don’t have the CE mark won’t meet these standards, so don’t use them.

Emergency contraception

The morning after pill is available at any surgery and can be obtained after hours by contacting the on call doctor.

Antenatal clinic

When you find out you’re pregnant, you will need to book your first appointment with one of our midwives. This is called your booking appointment.

To book your appointment, please visit the your first midwife appointment page on the NHS Gloucestershire Hospitals website.

Pregnancy and baby guide

Your NHS guide to parenting in the early years.

Whether your child is a newborn, a toddler or a pre-schooler, this guide is for you. It has 150 pages of NHS-accredited information, videos and interactive tools to help you through the parenting process.

They answer all your questions, from how to soothe a crying baby to how to prepare your child for school. Learn how to spot the signs of serious illness, how to cope if an accident happens, and how to check your child’s development.

And they haven’t forgotten about you: as a parent or carer, your well being is crucial too. The guide covers all you need to know about your health after having a baby, as well as your rights, benefits and NHS services.

One of the most important things that a parent can do for their child is to make sure that they have all their routine childhood vaccinations. It’s the most effective way of keeping them protected against infectious diseases.

Ideally, kids should have their jabs at the right age to protect them as early as possible and minimise the risk of infection.

Vaccination checklist

Here’s a checklist of the vaccines that are routinely offered to everyone in the UK for free on the NHS, and the age at which you should ideally have them.

2 months

• Diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), polio and Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib, a bacterial infection that can cause severe pneumonia or meningitis in young children) given as a 5-in-1 single jab known as DTaP/IPV/Hib
• Pneumococcal
• Rotavirus
• Men B

3 months

• 5-in-1, second dose (DTaP/IPV/Hib)
• Meningitis C
• Rotavirus

4 months

• 5-in-1, third dose (DTaP/IPV/Hib)
• Pneumococcal, second dose
• Men B

Between 12 and 13 months

• Meningitis C, second dose and
• Hib, fourth dose (Hib/MenC given as a single jab)
• MMR (measles, mumps and rubella), given as a single jab
• Pneumococcal, third dose
• Men B

2, 3 and 4 years old

• Influenza

3 years and 4 months, or soon after

• MMR second jab
• Diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis and polio (DtaP/IPV), given as a 4-in-1 pre-school booster

Girls aged 12-13 years

• Cervical cancer (HPV) vaccine, which protects against cervical cancer (girls only): three jabs given within six months. This course of immunisations is usually given at school.

Around 14 years

• Diphtheria, tetanus and polio booster (Td/IPV), given as a single jab usually given at school.
• Men ACWY

65 and over

• Flu (every year)
• Pneumococcal

70 and 79 years old

• Shingles

The surgery offers seasonal flu vaccinations to patients in clinically at risk groups.

These are people who are more at risk of complications as a result of influenza because of a pre-existing medical condition or because of age.

You will be invited for a flu vaccination if you fall into one of these groups. We will also provide details on this website and by other methods.

If you have recently joined the practice and have previously had routine flu immunisations because you are in one of the at risk groups, contact us if you do not receive an invitation from us by early October.

Most of the flu immunisations are carried out between October and January.

There is no point spending hours choosing your swimwear, beach bag and flip-flops if you barely think about the bugs and other health risks that could ruin your holiday.

Almost one in four UK holidaymakers don’t get any vaccinations despite travelling to areas that have life-threatening infectious disease.

If you planning to travel abroad we suggest you make an appointment to discuss your requirements at least 8 weeks before you are due to travel. An early appointment is needed to ensure that the nurse can carry out a full assessment and provide advice on recommended immunisations.

In some parts of the world these can change if there are outbreaks of diseases which put travellers at more risk. Once you have decided on specific immunisations, we will then arrange for the vaccines to be ordered. Protection against some diseases may require more than a single vaccination carried out over a number of weeks. In some cases we will not be able to complete all recommended immunisations in the recommended timescale if you do not contact us early enough.

For more information please visit Travel Health Pro.

Whilst we encourage our patients to come to the surgery, where we have the proper equipment and facilities available, we do appreciate this is not always possible.

We will of course visit patients at home when it is medically necessary, but it is in everyone’s best interest that this service is reserved only for those who are too ill or infirm to be brought to the surgery.

In this respect, if you do need a home visit, you can help us by calling reception before 10am.

Your GP will only visit you at home if they think that your medical condition requires it and will also decide how urgently a visit is needed. Our highly trained receptionists will need to take a few details in confidence about what is wrong. This helps us to decide which visits are most urgent and also which person in the practice team would be most appropriate to make the visit.

NHS Health checks

Targeted at patients between the ages of 40 and 74, these checks are primarily aimed at patients who are not regularly seen in the surgery. They are intended to look at a range of health issues and identify any that require on-going monitoring and / or support. We have a 5 year programme to see all patients in the target group. If you are in the target group and wish to be seen sooner phone or visit the surgery to ask for an appointment.

New patient health check

You can register as a new patient here. New patients can then request an appointment for a general health check.

Patients over 65 years of age are eligible for an immunisation to protect against pneumococcal infection which can cause diseases such as pneumonia, septicaemia (blood poisoning) and meningitis. The recommendation is that one dose of the vaccine will give protection for most people. If you have not had this immunisation you can make an appointment to see one of our healthcare assistants to receive this. Patients will automatically be invited close to their 65 birthday.

Our doctors and nurses are delighted to help people who have decided to quit smoking. About 40% of smokers will die from a smoking-related condition, so you know that stopping is one change that will make a big difference to your life.

Patients will see health benefits within days, such as improved taste and smell, while important benefits, such as lower risks of heart attack, stroke, lung cancer and improvements in breathing will happen in the first year or two.

Your GP will probably have been chasing you to stop smoking if you have high blood pressure, diabetes, circulation problems or history of stroke, heart attack, angina, asthma or chronic lung disorders.

If you are serious about giving up smoking and want advice, help or support we normally refer patients to Drybrook Pharmacy where this service if offered.

For more information on smoking cessation visit NHS Smokefree.

The doctors and nurses are happy to discuss problems by telephone. We offer a phone appointment system, whereby the clinician’s will ring you back either in the morning or afternoon session. Unfortunately, we cannot give a specific time for this. The call can be to any convenient telephone number. You can often save yourself a lot of time and effort by using the telephone in place of a visit or appointment.

To book a telephone appointment please ring the surgery. Please be aware our lines are especially busy between 8:30am and 10am so there may be a short delay before your call is answered. Unless you get an engaged tone, please do not ring off; the receptionists will answer as soon as possible.

The type of test determines how long the results take to be received by the surgery. For many routine blood tests these are received within 24 to 48 hours of the test though some results may take much longer. The healthcare assistant will be able to advise you.

Please see our test results page for further details.

When you find out you’re pregnant, you will need to book your first appointment with one of our midwives. This is called your booking appointment.

To book your appointment, please visit the your first midwife appointment page on the NHS Gloucestershire Hospitals website.

The doctors will carry out minor surgery under local anaesthetic at the surgery where appropriate. This has to be fitted around surgery times and your doctor will advise you of a suitable appointment time. For more information on what surgeries are available at our practice you can use our ask reception a question form or contact reception directly.

Wart clinic

This runs on the first and third Tuesday afternoon each month. Please talk to reception if you want to access this service.

Our doctors and nurses are delighted to help people who have decided to quit smoking. About 40% of smokers will die from a smoking-related condition, so you know that stopping is one change that will make a big difference to your life.

Patients will see health benefits within days, such as improved taste and smell, while important benefits, such as lower risks of heart attack, stroke, lung cancer and improvements in breathing will happen in the first year or two.

Your GP will probably have been chasing you to stop smoking if you have high blood pressure, diabetes, circulation problems or history of stroke, heart attack, angina, asthma or chronic lung disorders.

If you are serious about giving up smoking and want advice, help or support we normally refer patients to Drybrook Pharmacy where this service if offered.

For more information on smoking cessation visit NHS – quit smoking.