Are You a Carer?

If you are please let us know – we may be able to help you

Carer Support Worker, Michele Glanfield, is based at Babbacombe surgery on Monday and Thursday, to help carers obtain the help, support and information they need.

If you are a carer of any age, and are looking after a relative or friend, and need advice and support, please contact Michele.

You can contact Michele by emailing brunel.communications@nhs.net or calling 01803 312233 via appointments. If you call when Michele is not available, reception staff will take your details and she will call you back.

 Carers Health & Wellbeing Check

A Carer’s Assessment, known as a Health & Wellbeing Check, is a conversation about your caring situation and how it effects you. The assessment looks at all aspects of caring including your practical and emotional needs which might include having a short break, leisure activities, arranging sitting services or attending a support group. If needed, a further assessment can be arranged for your cared for.

Health & Wellbeing Checks (Carer’s Assessment) explained

Health & Wellbeing Booklet and Self-assessment Form

Once you have completed the Health & Wellbeing Check booklet, please return it either to Michele at Babbacombe surgery, or to Carers Aid Torbay.

Information for Carers

Signpost for Carers Information Line – Telephone: (01803) 666620

Email: signposts@nhs.net

Torbay Carers on Facebook

Funding for care – Further information regarding how your care is funded is available from NHS Choices.
Money, work, benefits and social care – Social care and support guide – NHS (www.nhs.uk)

Benefits Advice for Carers

For help with completing benefit forms please contact the following;

• Bay Benefits @ Carers Aid Torbay on 07530 790354.
• John Dudley at The Windmill Centre 01803 314876
• Citizens Advice Bureau – 29, Palace Avenue, Paignton TQ3 3EQ – Phone 0300 3309026 – Website: www.citizensadvicetorbay.org.uk/

Some of the services the practice provides are not available under the NHS and may attract a private fee, these include;

• Accident and sickness reports for insurance companies and solicitors  
• Holiday cancellation certificates
• Public Service Vehicle (PSV) medicals
• Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) medicals
• Taxi medicals
• Elderly drivers’ medicals. 
• High risk DVLA medicals

 A full list of the services and fees payable is available on request.

 For a list of private and non-NHS fees please click on the link below

Cervical screening is routinely offered to all women aged between 25 and 64. 

You will receive an invitation to attend for a screening appointment (previously called a ‘smear test’). Please contact the practice to arrange for a twenty minute appointment with a Practice Nurse.

Protecting yourself from Meningitis & Septicaemia

If you’re planning to go to university, please make an appointment as soon as possible for a MenACWY vaccine before you start.

You are more at risk of meningitis and septicaemia in the first weeks at university when you mix with lots of new people, some of whom may unknowingly carry the meningococcal bacteria, which is usually spread through prolonged close contact.

Registering as a patient at university

If you are going to university, you will be registered with your local (campus) medical centre when you arrive. 

If you return home for a holiday, and need to see a Doctor, please contact the surgery. We will register you as a Temporary Resident and arrange a consultation for you. 

How we process test results

All results (blood tests, X-rays etc.) are reviewed by a GP within 24 hours of receipt at the surgery.

Should a doctor have any concerns about your results, the surgery will contact you.

Please note that we will only contact you where there is concern about your test results. We will not contact you where the results are normal or acceptable, and where the Doctor has no concerns. 

Many patients telephone for their results. We appreciate that this is for peace of mind, but it creates a large amount of unnecessary work for staff who are already working at full steam.

If you feel that you must telephone for a result then please leave 7 working days before contacting us and in the case of an X-ray 3 weeks after you have had the X-ray taken.

Please call between 10am and 4pm and select option 4 to speak to our team of Medical Secretaries to enquire about your test results. 

Blood tests

A blood test is when a sample of blood is taken for testing in a laboratory. Blood tests have a wide range of uses and are one of the most common types of medical test. For example, a blood test can be used to:

• assess your general state of health
• confirm the presence of a bacterial or viral infection
• see how well certain organs, such as the liver and kidneys, are functioning

A blood test usually involves the phlebotomist taking a blood sample from a blood vessel in your arm and the usual place for a sample is the inside of the elbow or wrist, where the veins are relatively close to the surface. 

You can find out more about blood tests, their purpose and the way they are performed on the NHS Choices website.

Please note that the practice does not take blood tests for children under 12 years old. These will be carried out at the hospital. 

X-Rays

An X-ray is a widely used diagnostic test to examine the inside of the body. X-rays are a very effective way of detecting problems with bones, such as fractures. They can also often identify problems with soft tissue, such as pneumonia or breast cancer.

A Doctor may refer you for an X-Ray, which will be carried out at the hospital.

If you have an X-ray, you will be asked to lie on a table or stand against a surface so that the part of your body being X-rayed is between the X-ray tube and the photographic plate.

An X-ray is usually carried out by a radiographer, a healthcare professional who specialises in using imaging technology, such as X-rays and ultrasound scanners.

You can find out more about x-ray tests, how they are performed, their function and the risks by visiting the NHS Choices website.

Five-yearly NHS Health Checks are available for 40-74 year old patients.

Please note that these checks are not available for patients who have been previously diagnosed with diabetes, hypertension, stroke, atrial fibrillation and chronic kidney disease.

When you receive an invitation for an NHS Health Check, please contact the practice to arrange a twenty minute appointment with a Health Care Assistant. 

Your NHS Health Check will include a blood test, urine test and healthy lifestyle advice. When you arrive at the surgery for your appointment please use the Health pod in the waiting room to record your height, weight and blood pressure.

For more information about NHS Health Checks, please click here

 Self Certification – less than 7 days

If you are ill and absent from work for 7 days or less you don’t need to see a Doctor. You can complete a Self-Certification form yourself. 

Many employers have their own self-certification forms. If your employer doesn’t have its own form you can download a Self Certification Form by clicking on the picture here. Please print it, fill it in and hand it in to your employer. You do not need to see a Doctor simply to obtain a sick/fit note.

Some employers insist on a sick/fit note regardless of the length of absence from work. In this case a charge of £10 will apply to obtain a sick note.

Self-Certification Form (SC2)

Doctor’s Note – more than 7 days

If you have been ill and absent from work for more than 7 days you will need a doctor’s certificate to present to your employer. These certificates are called ‘Fitness to Work’ Certificates.

If you request a Fitness to Work Certificate, a Doctor may call you or arrange for you to come in for an appointment.

If the Doctor agrees to print and sign a Fitness to Work Certificate, you will be told when and where the completed certificate can be collected. 

Requests for an additional Doctor’s note

If you have already had a Fitness to Work Certificate for this illness your Doctor may not need to see you to issue an additional note.

If you require an extension to your certificate, please contact the practice to let us know how you are progressing, and the dates that you need your certificate to cover.

If the Doctor needs to see or speak to you before the certificate is issued, then we will contact you to arrange a consultation. We will then contact you to let you know when you can collect your certificate. 

The Practice Nursing team offer a travel advice and vaccination service. 

If you plan to travel abroad, and think you may need vaccinations prior to travel, click on the links below to see more information about travel vaccinations and then contact the practice as soon as possible.  

• NaTHNaC (travelhealthpro.org.uk)
• Advice – Fit for Travel

Please note Brunel Medical Practice is  only able to offer the following vaccines for travel Polio, Diphtheria, Tetanus, Typhoid and Hepatitis A. For all other vaccination requests you will be directed to your nearest Travel Centre.  When you contact the practice for travel advice, our reception team will ask you a number of questions to direct you to the right service. We will then request you complete our pre travel assessment questionnaire which will be required before booking an appointment. The information we require will include;

• Departure – when you will be travelling
• Destination – where you are going
• Duration – how long you will be travelling for

Please note an appointment for a Travel Review will not be booked without the questionnaire being completed and submitted to the practice.

As the  Practice Nurse will research the vaccinations that you need using the information you have provided.  Once your questionnaire has been submitted a member of the reception team will contact you to book a 20 minute appointment. During your appointment, you will be offered advice and the vaccinations themselves. You may be asked to return to the surgery again for follow up vaccinations or for vaccinations, or because some vaccinations may need to be ordered as a result of your consultation. 

PLEASE REMEMBER TO CONTACT THE PRACTICE AS SOON AS YOU DECIDE TRAVEL, ideally 6-8 weeks prior to your departure. This is very important as some vaccines may need to be ordered, and some require time to take effect before travel.

Travel Vaccination Costs

Free Travel Vaccinations

The following travel vaccinations are free of charge;

• Tetenaus/Dpihtheria/Polio
• Hepatitis A
• Typhoid
• Oral Cholera (Dukoral)

Chargeable Travel Vaccinations

The following charges apply for selected travel vaccinations. 

(Correct at January 2020);

• Hepatitis B (3 doses) – £120
• Hepatitis B (single dose) – £40
• Hepatitis B status blood test – £45.50
• Meningitis A& C – £50.00
• Rabies (3 doses) – £150.00
• Rabies booster – £65.00
• Japanese Encephalitis (single dose) – £105.00
• Japanese Encephalitis (two doses) – £210.00
• Tick-borne Encephalitis (3 doses) – named patient order 

Malaria

A private prescription for Malaria tablets is charged £15.50. Please note however that this charge is separate to the pharmacy charge. Pharmacies may charge per tablet prescribed. 

Talkworks Counselling

Talkworks (previously called the Depression & Anxiety Service) can be contacted on 0300 555 3344.

Patients can self-refer for counselling by completing an online form on the Talkworks website – https://www.talkworks.dpt.nhs.uk/ 

You can access a useful resources page on the Talkworks website by clicking here.

Physiotherapy

Patients can now self-refer to Physiotherapy. 

For information on how to make an appointment please click here.

Alternatively you can call 0300 456 9987 (local rate). Lines are open Monday to Friday from 08.30 – 12.00.

For more information about the physiotherapy service click here. 

To see physiotherapy self-help videos please click here. 

Social Prescribing

Better health and improved wellbeing involves much more than medication. Social Prescribing is about supporting you to take care of your own health and wellbeing as best you can, in a way that suits. Social Prescribing is an additional – free – NHS service which aims to improve yours sense of wellbeing.

Your GP or healthcare professional can refer you to a Social Prescriber who will contact you, and find out what matters to you. 

Cervical Screening

For information on cervical screening, please click on the following link:

Cancer Screening NHS UK

Health Visitors & The School Nursing Service

Please click onto the link below to access The Torbay and Southern Devon Health and Care NHS Trust Health Visiting & School Nursing Service.

www.torbaycaretrust.nhs.uk

February 2020 – The Castle Circus Child Health Clinic is moving

The last clinic at Castle Circus Health Centre will be held on Wednesday 26th February 2020.

From 4th March Health Visitors will be running an integrated clinic with our partners – Action for Children . These clinics will be held….

On Wednesdays between 9.30am and 11.30am

At UPTON VALE BAPTIST CHURCH, ST Marychurch Road, Torquay TQ1 3HY (opposite the Library). 

For additional information about all Health Visitor clinics across Torbay please visit our website www.tsdft.uk/0-19 

Midwifery & Ante-natal Services

Midwives from the Riviera Midwifery Team are based at Torbay Hospital but offer clinics at all three surgeries. They see pregnant ladies from first booking right up to delivery. 

If you find out you are pregnant, please contact reception to book your first appointment with a midwife. Your first appointment will be one hour long to allow plenty of time for completion of various items of paperwork. 

You can also contact the Riviera team directly. Please ask at reception for the telephone number. 

Health & Social Care

If your clinician feels that you need to be seen at home by District Nurses, you will be referred to the Health & Social Care team. The team work closely with GPs to ensure that you are well looked after while you are unable to leave your home.