Latest News

Mixed Surgeries

We are now running a new type of surgery, called a mixed surgery, which has a variety of appointments in it so that you can choose the type of appointment that best suits you.

The appointments you can choose from are:

Telephone consultation : where the Doctor will call you at an agreed time on a either a landline or mobile number. These appointments are appropriate if you do not require an examination or need to see the Doctor face to face. If you need to come to the Surgery after speaking to the Doctor then the Doctor has appointments available for that day or later in the week.
5 minute express appointment: an express appointment is appropriate for the discussion of one easy straightforward problem that can be dealt with in 5 minutes. An express appointment is not appropriate for dealing with complicated or ongoing problems.
10 minute routine appointment : a routine appointment is appropriate for ongoing or more complicated matters.

We are still providing all other types of surgeries such as antenatal and gynae appointments, diabetic clinics, infant welfare, minor operations, extended out of hours, Saturday morning emergency surgeries and HGV medicals

We hope that the introduction of mixed surgeries provides you with more flexibility and convenience as well as offering you a choice of appointments.

TEXT REMINDERS

We are currently updating patient contact details, particularly mobile phone numbers. This helps us to keep in contact with patients and enables us to send a text reminder to patients about upcoming appointments. If you think this service would be useful and we don’t have your mobile number then please let us have it so we can update our records.

Implanon Statement

There has been some adverse publicity about contraceptive implants.
This concerns about 600 pregnancies that have occurred on the device
With over a million users this represents a failure rate of less than one in a thousand, which is at least ten times safer than the pill.

Some of those failures may be due to failure to implant properly and you should be able to feel the implant under the skin of your inner arm above the elbow. If you can feel it, your risk of pregnancy is less than 1 in a thousand, safer than any other contraceptive method except the Mirena intrauterine device which has about the same 1 in a thousand risk.

In the UNLIKELY event that you can’t feel the implant then it would be prudent to book an appointment with the doctor to discuss it and check. There is no urgency to do this but it would be wise in this rare event to use condoms for extra protection until it has been checked.

As part of the counselling for fitting, the small failure rate is always mentioned as part of the consent procedure. It is also in the patient leaflet.

There is no risk of the implant affecting pregnancy tests since these use a different hormone, so rumours about this are incorrect.

Dr Gravestock on behalf of the partners

Advice regarding aspirin

This has been in the news recently, CLICK HERE for further information.

REGISTER FOR TELEPHONE AND TEXT MESSAGE ALERTS/REMINDERS

We have now commenced using a texting service to remind patients of their forthcoming appointments, flu clinics, etc. Therefore we are asking patients for their consent for the Unit to leave messages for patients on their landline and mobile phone. Please download the form below and return to the Unit to register your consent. This form also has an option to allow us to leave messages about your medical treatment.

Download the registration/consent form

Measham Medical Unit Carer’s register

If you care for someone, there are services and resources available to you which you may not be aware of.

We are updating our carer’s register. If you are a carer please let us have your details and those of the person you care for.

If you would like more details please call into the Unit and ask at Reception.

Thank you

Click here to download our carer's leaflet.

Advice for patients asking about Aspirin after the recent news item

The advice on using Aspirin Tablets has changed from November 2009. You only need to continue Aspirin if you have had these five conditions:

Heart Attack
Angina
Stroke
Transient Ischaemic Attack (or mini stroke)
Atrial Fibrillation (AF) and NOT on warfarin

You do not need to continue Aspirin for Diabetes or any other condition unless you have one of the above four conditions as well. If you wish to continue taking Aspirin to your next normal review, then that is fine as there is no urgency to change, but if you wish to stop straight away, you can do this without needing an appointment with the doctor or nurse practitioner, and we will amend the medication repeat slip either a your review or if you write on it when you next send it in.
Dr Nick Gravestock on behalf of the doctors at Measham

HEALTH INFORMATION KIOSK

Measham Medical Unit patients’ can now access free health information from a kiosk in the waiting room which provides an easy to use, safe and controlled facility.

The kiosk is user friendly and has free access to a comprehensive directory of information, and contains over 3000 patient information leaflets including information on medications, support groups, tests and investigations, diseases, diagrams and body systems.

It also links to health improvement resources on the web – such as self diagnosis engines, promotional health literature including advice on diet, smoking cessation and exercise, and links to useful external websites such as NHS Direct, patient.co.uk. and the PCT website etc.

There is also the facility for patients to complete GP and nurse questionnaires.

A user Help Page is available on the Kiosk and patients can also ask at Reception if they need any assistance.

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Have you had trouble getting an appointment?

In September 2011 126 patients did not attend their appointments.

We understand that there can be many reasons for not attending an appointment, some of which may be unavoidable.

However, if you are unable to attend an appointment, please let us know as these appointments are very valuable and could be given to another of our patients.

Thank you for your help.

PAYMENT BY SWITCH OR CREDIT CARDS

We now accept switch and credit cards at the main reception desk and at the dispensary.

Telephone Triage Appointments (Doctor telephone call back)

From 9th June, we will be offering telephone call back appointments to all patients every day.

A telephone call back appointment is for when you feel your problem could be dealt with over the telephone, rather than making an appointment to see a Doctor at the surgery. ie: To discuss a recurrence of a previous problem, a prescription query or a new medication follow-up etc.

If you choose a call back appointment and after speaking to a doctor you need to be seen: then the doctor will offer you an appointment the same day if necessary.

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Chlamydia Screening

Chlamydia is a sexually transmitted infection and 1 in 10 of those under 25 have it.

If it is not treated the infection can spread to other parts of the body and cause pain in the tummy area and even prevent pregnancy. Symptoms can present up to 1 - 3 weeks after coming into contact with Chlamydia, or months later when the infection spreads to other parts of the body which can include:

unusual vaginal discharge,
pain when having sex or urinating,
bleeding after sex or between periods,
lower abdominal pain or painful balls (testicles).

The Medical Unit and Youth Club are providing special screening kits in the toilets. You can use the kits in the toilets or take one home. Please bring it back and leave it in the postbox in the medical Unit toilet, or hand it over at the Enquiries Desk. It will then be sent away to be tested and if infection is detected you will be contacted and free antibiotics will be provided.

This is a confidential service.

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