How to make an appointment to see your doctor or nurse

Lawson Place
Bury St Edmunds
Suffolk
IP32 7EW
Tel: 01284 769643

News:

UK Telecoms watchdog OFCOM has given the go-ahead for 111 to become the new three digit number for accessing non-emergency healthcare 24-hours a day. More information at:

http://www.e-health-insider.co./news/5491/111_becomes_number_for_nhs_services

Breast Screening

Just to advise female patients reaching the age of 50 that the national breast screening program aims to call all patients for a mammogram before the age of 53. Patients therefore should not be alarmed or surprised if they do not hear from the screening service as soon as they reach 50 - they will be called before they reach 53 years.

Appointment Non-Attenders

In July patients failed to keep their booked appointments on 82 occasions without cancelling them in advance. We would be grateful if patients could always let us know in advance if they no longer need a booked appointments so that we can open the appointment up for other patients who need them. This is the equivalent of 3 GP days wasted. Help us to help you by co-operating with us in this regard. Thank you.

Announcements

01 Sep - 01 Oct
NHS Smokefree

Find out about all of the free NHS services available to support you as you go try to give up smoking.

01 Aug - 01 Oct
NHS Summer Health

Stay safe in the sun, including sunscreens, sunburn relief, heat exhaustion, eczema and moles. Summer holidays are great fun for children, but can bring risks. Find out more

01 Jul - 01 Oct
Change for Life

Would you like loads of tips and help to make changes for a healthier future? As part of Change4Life, you will receive tons of helpful information, recipes, tools, tips, and games for the kids.

BBC Health

Vitamin B 'puts off Alzheimer's'

High doses of B vitamins may slow the rate of brain shrinkage in older people experiencing warning signs of Alzheimer's disease, a study says.

NHS IT costs to be cut by £700m

The government has announced £700m of savings in the national IT programme for the NHS in England, cutting the overall cost to £11.4bn.

Vitamin 'may stop' spina bifida

Scientists begin a study to determine if an everyday vitamin supplement could help prevent a common birth defect.

Outbreak probe at industry sites

There are now 12 cases linked to a Legionnaires' outbreak, as health officials focus on south Wales industrial sites in the search for the cause.

More obesity ops 'will save cash'

Millions of pounds are lost in England by the failure of the NHS to provide more obesity operations, a study says.

Inquiry to hear from HIV victims

The injury into contaminated NHS blood products in the 1980s will hear from the victims who contracted HIV and Hepatitis.

Statins 'may cut arthritis risk'

Taking statins may reduce the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis, a study suggests.

Call for morning sickness action

More needs to be done to establish which are safe and effective ways to relieve morning sickness, experts say.

ME 'virus link' found in children

ME, or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, in children could be caused by a virus, scientists say.

UK radiotherapy 'lagging behind'

Too few UK cancer patients are receiving state-of-the-art radiotherapy care, experts from Cancer Research UK say.

Yahoo Health

Study: Flamboyant male dancing attracts women best (AP)

AP - John Travolta was onto something. Women are most attracted to male dancers who have big, flamboyant moves similar to the actor's trademark style, British scientists say in a new study.

Doctors see eye hazard in powerful laser pointers (AP)

AP - A 15-year-old boy damaged his eyes while playing with a laser pointer he'd bought over the Internet, say doctors who warn that dangerously high-powered versions are easily available online.

Group backs mandatory flu shots for health workers (AP)

AP - Flu vaccination should be required for all doctors, nurses and other health workers, the nation's largest pediatricians' group says, calling it a long overdue step to protect patients.

CVS Caremark to give away up to $5M in flu shots (AP)

AP - CVS Caremark Corp. said Wednesday it will give away up to $5 million in seasonal flu vaccinations to people without health insurance.

AP Exclusive: Back to work after salmonella case (AP)

** ADDS COMPLETION OF THE SECOND SENTENCE - FILE - In this March 12, 2009 file photo, Peanut Corporation of America's president Stewart Parnell, arrives a federal court in Lynchburg, Va. The peanut industry executive whose filthy processing plants were implicated in a salmonella outbreak that killed nine people and sickened hundreds more is back in the business, as the federal government's criminal investigation against him has languished for more than 18 months, The Associated Press has learned. (AP Photo/Don Petersen, File)

AP - The peanut industry executive whose filthy processing plants were blamed in a salmonella outbreak two years ago that killed nine people and sickened hundreds more is back in the business.

J&J giving $200 million for health of women, kids (AP)

AP - Health giant Johnson & Johnson is donating about $200 million in cash and medicine to a sweeping United Nations program created to improve the health and lives of people in poor countries.

Report says obesity surgery can save health costs (Reuters)

Reuters - Providing surgical treatment for people who are morbidly obese could save British taxpayer-funded health services and the wider economy hundreds of millions of pounds a year, leading surgeons said on Wednesday.

Doctors alarmed by HIV risk for European gays (AFP)

Homosexual men in Europe are increasingly failing to adhere to safe sex, according to two new studies. In France, transmission of the AIDS virus

AFP - Homosexual men in Europe are increasingly failing to adhere to safe sex, according to two new studies. In France, transmission of the AIDS virus "seems to be out of control" among men who have sex with men, said a paper published on Thursday in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

Clinical Trials Update: Sept. 8, 2010 (HealthDay)

HealthDay - (HealthDay News) -- Here are the latest clinical trials, courtesy of ClinicalConnection.com:

Smoking Could Harm Sperm, Study Finds (HealthDay)

HealthDay - THURSDAY, Sept. 9 (HealthDay News) -- Two new studies provide evidence that smoking can harm sperm - both in smoking men who may become fathers, and in sons born to women who smoked during pregnancy.

MedPage Today

Drug May Improve Abstinence in Alcoholics (CME/CE)

(MedPage Today) -- Alcoholic patients can modestly improve their chances of staying abstinent after detox with acamprosate (Campral), according to a Cochrane review.

Bosentan Helps Prevent Hand Ulcers (CME/CE)

(MedPage Today) -- A multinational clinical trial found that treatment with the endothelin receptor antagonist bosentan (Tracleer) showed some benefit in preventing new digital ulcers in patients with systemic sclerosis.

Chest Compression Okay for Arrests in the Field (CME/CE)

(MedPage Today) -- Chest compressions prior to defibrillation are just as good as immediate treatment with an electrical defibrillator for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, researchers say.

Healthcare Reform Covers More and Costs More

WASHINGTON (MedPage Today) -- The healthcare reform law will not slow the growth of healthcare spending in the next decade -- in fact, it will accelerate healthcare spending slightly -- but it will also significantly expand healthcare coverage, a new government report found.

New HIV Cases High Among French MSM (CME/CE)

(MedPage Today) -- HIV appears to be out of control among French men who have sex with men (MSM), researchers reported.

Ovarian Cancer Subtype Linked to Gene Mutations (CME/CE)

(MedPage Today) -- Many cases of deadly clear-cell ovarian cancers and endometrioid carcinomas appear to arise from disruption of a previously-discovered tumor-suppressor gene, according to new RNA sequencing studies of cancer cells.

Sickle Cell Screening May Cause Harm (CME/CE)

(MedPage Today) -- A decision by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to require screening for sickle cell carrier status among Division I athletes ultimately may do more harm than good, researchers predict.

ER First Choice for Many Seeking Care

WASHINGTON (MedPage Today) -- Of the 354 million acute care visits patients made to healthcare providers over a three-year period, more than one-quarter took place in emergency rooms, representing a shift from the old days when general practitioners were the main providers of acute care.

Flu Vaccine a Must for All Healthcare Workers, AAP Says (CME/CE)

(MedPage Today) -- All healthcare personnel should be required to get vaccinated against influenza, according to a new policy statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Short Therapy for Ear Infections More Prone to Failure (CME/CE)

(MedPage Today) -- A short course of antibiotics for acute otitis media in children is slightly more likely to fail than a longer course, researchers reported.

Appointments

Home Visits

Test Results

Surgery consultations

We strive to offer appointments with a doctor within 48 working hours of the request although we cannot always offer an appointment within this timescale with a specific doctor.

Our standard for nurse appointments is to offer a nurse appointment within 24 working hours of the request.

docbaby Appointments can be made by telephoning 01284 769643. Patients can use our automated appointment system at any time to book or cancel appointments. You will be given the option to use the automated system when you call as well as the option to speak to a receptionist between the hours of 8:00am - 6:30pm Monday to Friday if you prefer. If you feel your problem is urgent please advise the receptionist and we will make every effort to see you the same day. If you are unable to keep an appointment please let us know - in March 76 appointments were wasted as patients failed to cancel them - these appointments could have been offered to other patients if they had been cancelled.

We run a non-personal list system which means patients can see any available doctor in the practice.

We now provide extended hours of opening after 6:30pm on Mondays and alternate Thursdays and Saturday mornings for those who are unable to make our usual opening hours. This is for booked appointments ONLY. There is no facility to book appointments or collect prescriptions after 6:30pm.

Booking Appointments on the Internet

Some appointments can now be made via the internet. Before using this facility you will need to register for this service and obtain a user ID and password.

Patients can access or register for this service by clicking the link below:

Click here to register/ book/cancel your appointment online

Speaking to the doctor or nurse by telephone

If you need to speak to a doctor or one of the practice nurses please call the surgery to book a call back when they are able to. Specific times are not possible due to the nature of the work.

Home Visits

homevisits If you can possibly get to the surgery then please do so. If a problem is urgent we will do our best to fit you in as soon as possible. Home visits are intended for those patients who are too ill to come to surgery.

The guidelines issued by the Local Medical Committee indicate that the two principal categories of patient requiring a home visit are those who are bed bound by the severity of their illness and those whose illness has progressed to a stage where it is unreasonable to expect them to attend surgery.

We cannot undertake home visits for reasons of convenience or lack of transport (Please ask a friend to bring you).

IF YOU REQUIRE A HOME VISIT PLEASE TELEPHONE BEFORE 11AM.

Please remember that several patients can be seen in the practice in the time that it takes to make one home visit. There are also better facilities for examining and treating patients at the Health Centre.

Test Results

Please call 01284 716111 between 2.00 and 5.00pm to enquire about your test results as our reception staff will have more time to deal with your request between these times.

Note that the practice has a strict policy regarding confidentiality and data protection and we will only release test results to the person to whom they relate unless that person has given prior permission for the release of this data or they are not capable of understanding the results.

When you take your test you will be told how long it will be before the results are returned to the practice.

It is your responsibility to check your results and to make an appointment to discuss them with your doctor if your are advised to do so.

Further Information

For quick medical advice online or on the telephone contact NHS Direct