Clinics & Services

Adolescent/Teenage Health Checks

These are carried out by the Practice Nurses. They offer advice on a variety of areas including eating problems, sexual health and education, emotional difficulties, drugs and alcohol etc. All consultations are treated confidentially. Click here for more information.

Antenatal Care

All doctors provide antenatal care in association with the midwife. Patients who believe they are pregnant should make an appointment with their doctor at the earliest opportunity.

Asthma/COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) Care

Regular Asthma/COPD checks are recommended. Appointment invitation letters are issued regularly to patients who have these conditions. However, patients are encouraged to arrange appointments at their own convenience should they have a problem before their review date.

Baby Clinic

Clinics are run by a Health Visitor and a Practice Nurse on a Wednesday afternoons  – see timetable below – for weighing, immunisation and advice on child care. A doctor is also in attendance for part of this period. Please make an appointment within the clinic if your child requires an 8 week check or immunisations. These clinics are not intended for sick babies

Health Visitor and weighing – 13:00 – 14.30pm

Doctor – 13.00 – 14.30pm

Immunisations – 13.40 – 15:30

Blood Pressure Checks

These are recommended at least every six months if you are taking medication for this condition. Many patients will be advised to see the practice nurse for monitoring and further blood pressure management.

Cervical Cytology (Smear)

Regular smear tests are advised between the age of 25 and 65 years. These are important because they detect early signs of disease when it can be easily treated. We, along with the Health Authority, operate a recall system. You will be reminded by letter of when your smear is due asking you to make an appointment at this surgery. Please inform the surgery if there are specific reasons for not including you in the recall and we will inform the Health Authority on your behalf.

Contraception

We offer all types of contraceptions including implants and coils. 

If you would like to start a new form of contraception please book an appointment with a GP

If you are already taking a contraceptive pill and are due a new prescription, please complete this form and send it to us at the email address on the form. It can take up to 3 days for your prescription to be ready from the chemist so please phone reception if you need your pill more urgently.

If you have any questions or concerns about your pill please book a GP appointment instead.

If you think you may need emergency contraception (such as the 'morning after pill') please phone reception and ask for a same day GP appointment.

Oral contraception form

Diabetic Care

The diabetic clinic is run by the practice nurse who will advise and refer to the doctor, dietician, chiropodist and the eye screening centre as appropriate. Checks and educational advice will be offered. We run a recall system for follow up and patients with diabetes will be sent a letter giving details of their appointment time. Please contact the practice nurse to reschedule this if ithe appointment given is inconvenient.

Ear Care

We run special ear care clinics for those patients who may have problems with wax in the ear. Please make an appointment see the doctor first to be assessed.

Hearing Difficulties

We have a loop device for use during consultations to help with those using a hearing aid. Please ask at reception when you attend.

Interpreter Services

This service is available on request provided this request is made several days in advance. We will also try to provide a signing service for those with hearing difficulties, but again notice would have to be given.

Ischaemic Heart Disease (IHD) Checks

If you have angina or have previously had a heart attack, you will be recalled for regular checks. This may be done either by the practice nurse or a doctor.

Minor Surgery

Certain minor surgical procedures are carried out by the doctors on the practice premises. These include the removal of some small skin lesions. Injections of tennis elbow and certain joints are also carried out.  If you think you require either of these services please make an appointment to see the doctor first.

Phlebotomist

Clinics are held most days to take blood samples as indicated by a doctor. Please note that phlebotomists are not trained nurses and take blood samples only.See our How to get a blood test section for more information

Smoking Cessation

Please make an appointment with the practice nurse if you would like help and advice on stopping smoking. Prescriptions for a variety of aids such as patches and tablets are available on the NHS. 

Warfarin Clinic

A weekly clinic is run on a Thursday morning by the hospital. If having your checks here is preferable then please ask your doctor to arrange this for you.

Please click the link for vaccination schedules, the link shows from baby to over 65 vaccinations

Vaccination Schedules

Travel Vaccinations

If you require any vaccinations relating to foreign travel you need to make an appointment with the practice nurse to discuss your travel arrangements. This will include which countries and areas within countries that you are visiting to determine what vaccinations are required.

There is further information about countries and vaccinations required on the links below: 

Europe & Russia	North America
Central America	South America
Caribbean	Africa
Middle East	Central Asia
East Asia	Australasia and Pacific

It is important to make this initial appointment as early as possible - at least 6 weeks before you travel - as a second appointment will be required with the practice nurse to actually receive the vaccinations. These vaccines have to be ordered as they are not a stock vaccine. Your second appointment needs to be at least 2 weeks before you travel to allow the vaccines to work.

Some travel vaccines are ordered on a private prescription and these incur a charge over and above the normal prescription charge. This is because not all travel vaccinations are included in the services provided by the NHS.

Yellow Fever Vaccination

The yellow fever vaccination is recommended for people who are travelling to an area where yellow fever is found including parts of Sub – Saharan, Africa, South America, Central America and Trinidad in the Caribbean. Any country that requires you to have a certificate for Yellow Fever vaccination to prove you have been vaccinated.

This is known as International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis (ICVP), you should be vaccinated at least 10 days before you travel to allow enough time for the vaccine to work.

The Yellow Fever vaccination is NO longer available at this practice, please check the country information on the TravelHealthPro website or with a Yellow fever vaccination centre to see if you need a certificate for the area you are travelling to.

Travel Health Questionnaire

To help us offer the appropriate advice, please fill out the online form before coming to see the nurse.

Travel Questionnaire

Travelling in Europe

If you are travelling to Europe the EU has published useful information for travellers on the European website.

Young People

We are looking at helping you with your emotional health and improving self confidence.  Have a look at the information here which is a useful start in improving confidence and how you feel about yourself.

If you are worried about your emotional health, ie feeling down or really anxious, make a confidential appointment with a GP and we can see what we can do to help.

We provide a confidential contraception service. You can make an appointment to discuss what method would suit you. We now fit contraceptive implants, the most effective form of contraception which last up to 3 years. We also provide the contraceptive pill, condoms, coils and injections. If you are concerned about risk of pregnancy and think you need emergency contraception such as the ‘morning after pill’ please ask for a same day appointment. Emergency contraception can be used later than the day after unprotected sex but the sooner it is given the more effective it is. We also offer testing for sexually transmitted infections.

Making an Appointment

If you need an appointment at The Grove please ring 0191 2132778.  We can talk about anything you need to talk about such as self confidence, emotional worries, weight issues and acne.  We are not here just for sore throats and stomach ache!   If you are 14 or above you can make an appointment and come on your own or you can bring a friend/relative for support.

Reception staff will not need to know the reason for your appointment if you wish to see a doctor.  However, they will need to ask what kind of appointment you need if you wish to make an appointment with a Nures – this is purely because they need to ensure that your appointment is booked with the correct nurse as we have several nurses working here and they each do different things.

Reception staff may ask you if it is an urgent problem to decide when to give you an appointment.  If you feel it is urgent please just say you need to see the doctor or nurse that day.  Sometimes we are busy and it may be you are offered an appointment over the next couple of days.  If you feel it is more urgent than that please ask to speak to a doctor so that we can check the exact details with you. 

All appointments are confidential. The only reason we would need to involve anyone else would be if we thought you were in danger and we would discuss this with you first.

Some self help documents and websites for young people

Websites:

www.streetwisenorth.org.uk

www.weyes.org.uk

Click onto the following documents to open and read.

Improving Self Esteem

Ways to build your self esteem

Tests & Results

Get a Blood Test

You can make an appointment with either the clinical assistant or the practice nurse or phlebotomist for blood tests which have been authorised by the doctor. The clinical assistant is trained to take blood but is not a qualified nurse.

Handing in Specimens

You may be asked by your doctor or nurse to provide a urine or stool sample to be handed in to Reception at a later date/time.  Please be aware that these samples need to be brought in no later than 17.00 hours Monday to Friday.  This is to ensure that the samples are here in time to go with the last collection by the courier who transports them to the laboratory for testing.

Test Results

Here at The Grove Medical Group, we aim to make sure that any test results which are sent off on your behalf are returned and reported on as soon as possible.  Please be aware that it takes around 7 days for the majority of test results to be returned to the practice and to be reviewed by the requesting clinician.  To that end, we would ask that you do not call the practice to request your test results as the GP will call you if there is a need, or a letter will be sent to you asking you to make either an appointment or to call the surgery.  We hope that this will reduce the high level of unnecessary calls which we are currently experiencing at the practice and lead to a better service overall. Please be assured that, where necessary, our Clinical staff will always call you before the seven day period if there is any urgent requirement to review you based on the results received at that point.

Ambulance Bookings

The Practice has been advised that we should no longer be making requests for ambulance bookings on behalf of patients. 

Any patients who need to book an ambulance should contact the Ambulance Service direct on 0191 2648870.

The only exception to this would be if we were aware that the patient had special needs or difficulties which would make the booking of ambulance by them more difficult, in which case we may then book the ambulance on their behalf.

Videoing Consultations

As part of on-going training some doctors may on occasion video their consultations. Consent is always obtained from patients prior to there appointment being videod. You of course have the opportunity to decline.

Non-NHS Services

Some services provided are not covered under our contract with the NHS and therefore attract charges. Examples include the following:

• Medicals for pre-employment, sports and driving requirements (HGV, PSV etc.)
• Insurance claim forms
• Passport signing
• Prescriptions for taking medication abroad
• Private sick notes
• Vaccination certificates

The fees charged are based on the British Medical Association (BMA) suggested scales and our reception staff will be happy to advise you about them along with appointment availability.
 

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