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

More obesity ops 'will save cash'

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

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.

UK radiotherapy 'lagging behind'

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

ME 'virus link' found in children

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

Gaps persist in cancer survival

Despite significant improvements in cancer survival rates across England, regional differences remain, national statistics show.

'Genetic link' to breast cancer

Researchers have identified a series of genetic variations which may play a role in a common breast cancer.

Bipolar 'not linked to violence'

People with a mental illness are no more likely to be violent unless they abuse drugs or alcohol, a study suggests.

NHS in Wales faces £380m cutbacks

The Welsh NHS faces making £380m worth of cutbacks by April, with managers saying it is the biggest challenge they have faced in 20 years.

Diabetes drug advice 'not heeded'

A type two diabetes drug is still being prescribed in the UK two months after it was recommended for withdrawal, BBC Panorama learns.

Yahoo Health

US smoking rate still stuck at 1 in 5 adults (AP)

AP - U.S. smoking rates continue to hold steady, at about one in five adults lighting up regularly, frustrated health officials reported Tuesday.

FDA cites claims on 2 green tea beverages (AP)

AP - Federal health regulators have issued warnings to the makers of Canada Dry ginger ale and Lipton tea for making unsubstantiated nutritional claims about their green tea-flavored beverages.

FDA relents from midodrine withdrawal plan (AP)

AP - Federal regulators have backed off a plan to remove a Shire PLC low blood-pressure treatment from the market after warning in August that the drug has not been proven effective.

Judge won't let stem cell money keep flowing (AP)

AP - A federal judge on Tuesday refused to lift his order blocking federal funding for some stem cell research, saying that a "parade of horribles" predicted by federal officials would not happen.

Japan confirms its first case of new superbug gene (AP)

AP - Japan has confirmed the nation's first case of a new gene in bacteria that allows the microorganisms to become drug-resistant superbugs, detected in a man who had medical treatment in India, a Health Ministry official said Tuesday.

Picking right blood pressure medicine challenging (AP)

AP - It's hard to predict which pills will best lower which patient's high blood pressure, but researchers are hunting ways to better personalize therapy — perhaps even using a blood test.

Lack of Sleep May Be Linked to Childhood Obesity (HealthDay)

HealthDay - MONDAY, Sept. 6 (HealthDay News) -- Infants and preschoolers who don't get enough sleep at night are at increased risk for later childhood obesity, a new study suggests.

For Bonobo Males, Mom Is the Best Wingman (LiveScience.com)

LiveScience.com - To most human males, the thought of your mother anywhere near your sex life is probably horrifying. Not so for the bonobo, one of our closest primate relatives. A new study confirms that hanging out with mom boosts male bonobos' chances of getting intimate with a fertile female.

Clinical Trials Update: Sept. 7, 2010 (HealthDay)

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

Autistic Toddlers Prefer to Gaze at Geometric Patterns: Study (HealthDay)

HealthDay - MONDAY, Sept. 6 (HealthDay News) -- When given the choice to gaze at geometric patterns or children dancing and playing, toddlers with autism spent more time looking at the patterns while typically developing toddlers preferred to look at other kids, a new study finds.

MedPage Today

Judge Won't Lift Block on Stem Cell Research Funding

(MedPage Today) -- Federal spending of embryonic stem cell (ESC) research will remain off-limits for now, a federal judge ruled, dealing yet another blow to the Obama administration's efforts to support such research.

Cigarette Smoke May Affect Fertility (CME/CE)

(MedPage Today) -- Smoking may provide an explanation for reduced fertility, results of two studies suggested.

Adult Smoking Hits Plateau

(MedPage Today) -- One in five U.S. adults continues to smoke tobacco -- a percentage that hasn't budged since 2005 -- suggesting that more aggressive efforts are needed to reduce smoking-related diseases and deaths, the CDC said.

Pandemic H1N1 Similar to Seasonal Strains (CME/CE, with video)

(MedPage Today) -- In general, the pandemic H1N1 influenza virus did not cause more serious disease than other recent influenza A strains, researchers found.

Nevirapine Reuse Possible in Exposed Children With HIV (CME/CE)

(MedPage Today) -- In most HIV-infected children being exposed at birth to nevirapine (Viramune) doesn't rule out using the drug again later, researchers reported.

PCV-7 Vaccine May Promote Serotype 19A Infection (CME/CE)

(MedPage Today) -- Infants receiving a three-dose regimen of heptavalent PCV-7 pneumococcal vaccine were more likely than unvaccinated controls to pick up a nonvaccine pneumococcal strain associated with invasive infection and antibiotic resistance, researchers said.

More Human Trials Needed for HIV Vaccine Hunt

(MedPage Today) -- HIV vaccine researchers are calling for more and better human trials as part of the quest for ways to block transmission of the virus.

Patients Expect More from PCI than It Delivers (CME/CE)

(MedPage Today) -- Cardiologists fully understand the limits of percutaneous coronary interventions -- but their patients are often overly optimistic about the benefits of PCI, a new survey revealed.

Splint Matches Cast for Kids' Wrist Fractures (CME/CE)

(MedPage Today) -- In children with wrist fractures, a splint works as well as a cast, researchers reported.

Behcet's Takes Higher Toll in Men (CME/CE)

(MedPage Today) -- Men with Behçet's disease are much more likely than women to die of this chronic multisystem vasculitis, a large French study found.

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