Preventative Medicine

Annual Health Check

If you have one of the following conditions then you will normally be invited for an annual health check:

Diabetes
High blood pressure
Kidney disease
Heart disease
Asthma
Chronic bronchitis
Rheumatoid arthritis
Learning disabilities
Dementia
Severe mental health problems

Eligible patients invited for an Annual Health Check may also need a blood test before the appointment.

The appointment will be approximately 20 minutes long, however if you have more than one problem it will be longer. Please contact the Practice for further details.

Flu Vaccinations

Flu occurs every year, usually in the winter, which is why it is sometimes called seasonal flu. It is a very infectious disease that can come on very quickly. The most common symptoms of flu are fever, chills, cough, headache, pains in your joints and muscles and extreme tiredness. Healthy people usually recover within 3 to 4 weeks, but some people can develop serious life-threatening complications and need to be admitted to Hospital.

Colds are much less serious and usually start with a stuffy or a runny nose, sore throat and cough.

Flu is unpredictable and there can be different strains of the virus. However, over the last ten years, the flu vaccine has generally been very good at targeting the circulating strains, and it is available every year on the NHS to help protect adults and children who are most at risk of flu and its complications.

Any strain of flu can be dangerous for people who are vulnerable to it. That’s why the following people are urged to get the free flu vaccine as soon as it’s available every winter to help protect against flu:

People with a health condition
People aged 65 years or over
Pregnant women
People that work in healthcare
Unpaid carers and young carers

For information on the child flu vaccine, please visit the child flu page.

Flu Clinic

Every Autumn, around September, we start our Flu Clinics. We aim to vaccinate as many of those at risk as possible, as indicated above.

You can book an appointment either online if you are registered for online services, or by calling Reception.

Keep an eye out under the News section of this website for when the clinics start.

HPV Vaccinations

From September 2019, all 12- and 13-year-olds in school Year 8 will be offered on the NHS the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine.

The HPV vaccination consists of 3 injections. This is normally given at the schools.

Please contact the Practice for more information.

Pneumococcal Vaccination

The pneumococcal vaccine protects against serious and potentially fatal pneumococcal infections. It’s also known as the pneumonia vaccine.

Pneumococcal infections are caused by the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae and can lead to pneumonia, septicaemia (a kind of blood poisoning) and meningitis.

Please contact the Practice to arrange your Pneumococcal vaccination.

Screening Services

Before having any screening test, it’s worth finding out about the test itself and what would happen next if you found out you had a higher risk of a particular condition.

What types of screening are offered by the NHS ?