Category: General

GP surgeries are working under increasing pressure and must prioritise the services they can provide. We no longer offer a full travel service. The NHS has a very comprehensive website, giving the information you need to identify any vaccines advised for trips abroad, and ensure that you stay as healthy as possible.

There is further information about countries and vaccinations required on the Fit For Travel website.

** Not commonly required.

Other vaccinations may be necessary for more exotic or unusual destinations, complex travel itineraries, or long stay vacations. These need to be given at a high street travel clinic. There will be a charge for these. If you would rather have all of your vaccinations done at these clinics, they can also give the vaccines above but they will charge for these.

We strongly advise you to check your requirements at least three months before travel, as sometimes a course of up to three vaccinations needs to be given over the course of several weeks.

It is your responsibility to ascertain which vaccinations (and, if relevant, anti-malaria tablets) you need, and also to inform yourself fully of recommended travel safe precautions. To do this, you should visit Travel Health Pro or the Fit For Travel website and read the information relevant to the country you are visiting.

The ‘vaccinations for some travellers’ section usually relates to back-packers, people travelling for more than 4 weeks, or special situations, e.g. working in health care projects, or with animals. If you are planning such a trip you need to make arrangements to have these at a high street travel clinic.

If you think that you need any of the vaccinations provided by the NHS, please attend a travel clinic and then hand your form in at reception clearly marking what country you are visiting. Our practice nurse will check our stock and your travel form then you will be contacted with an appointment. Please do not make appointment without visiting a travel clinic and having your printout as this will be a wasted appointment.

There have been changes to the shingles vaccine programme.

Please click the below link for more information:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/shingles-vaccination-programme-changes-from-september-2023-letter/introduction-of-shingrix-vaccine-for-the-whole-programme-and-expansion-of-eligible-cohorts-letter

Dr Graham retired as a GP at Queens Road Surgery on the 31^st August 2023, after being with the Practice for 17 years.

We would like to wish him all the best for the future and thank him for all his hard work and dedication over the years.

Please be aware following the government announcement yesterday that Covid vaccines will be offered from 11 September to certain patients, that we cannot make appointments for this yet as we don’t know when we will get supplies.

Once we know when our vaccines will be delivered we will arrange a clinic and invite eligible patients in.

Thanks for your patience

We will be holding our first flu vaccine clinics on:

Saturday 23 September and Saturday 30 September.

These clinics will be by appointment only, and you will be given a time frame to attend. We will be sending  out invitations over the next few days to patients who are eligible. When calling to make your appointment please call any day after 2.00 pm when our lines are not so busy. We do expect the telephone lines to be exceptionally busy over the next couple of weeks with patients calling to book their appointments. We ask that you bear this in mind;  our receptionists will be working extremely hard to help everyone.

Please see below the groups who will be eligible for a flu vaccine from 1 September 2023:

• Aged 65 years and over.
• Aged 6 months to under 65 years in clinical risk groups (as defined by the Green Book, chapter 19 (Influenza).
• Pregnant women.
• All children who will be aged 2 or 3 years on 31 August 2023.
• Primary school aged children (from Reception to Year 6).
• Patients who are  in long-stay residential care homes.
• Carers in receipt of carer’s allowance, or those who are the main carer of an elderly or disabled person.
• Patients who are close contacts of immunocompromised individuals
• Frontline workers in a social care setting without an employer led occupational health scheme, including those working for a registered residential care or nursing home, registered domiciliary care providers, voluntary managed hospice providers, and those that are employed by individuals who receive direct payments (personal budgets) or Personal Health budgets, such as Personal Assistants.

Please note the clinics will be running from our main site Queens Road Surgery

Autumn Covid Booster

We do not have confirmation of any delivery dates yet but have been informed the campaign will start in October and finish on the 15^{th of} December 2023. As soon as we have confirmed dates, we will be in touch with patients who are eligible.

We have set up a new designated telephone number to help our elderly patients contact the surgery to request a home visit if they are unable to attend the surgery.

We ask that all visits are requested by 10am. The visit request will then be triaged by one of clinicians.

The designated number to call is 01207 585897. Please note this number can only deal with visit requests. If you call for anything other than a visit you will be asked to call our main line.

Get advice and treatment for Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs) at your local Pharmacist.

A new service has been launched in the North East and Cumbria to offer patients easy access to advice and treatment for UTIs.

The six-month pilot scheme, aimed at women aged 16-64, will enable local pharmacists to treat patients with UTIs without the need for a GP appointment or prescription, providing a more convenient option and faster access to treatment.

About UTIs

UTIs are one of the most common bacterial infections seen in female patients, with over 40 per cent of women likely to suffer from one in their lifetime.

Symptoms of a UTI include:

• Burning or stinging sensation on passing urine
• Needing to pass urine frequently or urgently
• Cloudy urine
• Passing excessive or large quantities of urine

Visiting a Pharmacy

There is a growing list of participating pharmacies across the North East and Cumbria.

No appointment is needed, and you can check which Pharmacists near you are taking part on the Pharmacy Services North East website.