PARSONS HEATH APPOINTMENT SYSTEM

  • Appointments

Each appointment with the GP is for 10 minutes and nurse Specialist Clinics i.e. Midwife, Hypertension, Diabetes, Asthma, COPD, Coronary Heart Disease and Anticoagulation are for 15 to 30 minutes.

Please arrive in good time for all your appointments and cancel if you are unable to attend.

There are 2 types of appointments:

  • On The Day Urgent Appointments

If requesting to be seen on the same day, the Receptionist will help you to decide who the most appropriate clinician is. This may be telephone advice, or offering a face to face appointment that day. The ‘On the Day Team’ will be run by different doctors and Nurse Practitioner every day; there will be no choice of doctors.Our aim is to provide an ‘On the Day’ service where patients, if required,can easily get an urgent appointment the same day.

  • Routine Appointments

Available with the doctor of your choice. These will be for non-urgent matters and long-term problems that your regular doctor has been managing on an on-going basis. These appointments are bookable up to 6 weeks in advance.

Appointment Text Reminder Service

We are offering a newText Message Service (which includes test results by text message as well as appointment reminders).You can opt in or out of this new service and your mobile number will be taken, which must be your own personal number and needs to be keptup to date.This is a free service.Who should I see?

If we are to provide prompt appointments with doctors it is very important that patients also make use of the services provided by the other members of the team. For the following problems it is best if you see the nurse Practitioner, as she will be able to treat and assess these problems as needed and obviously she can call on the doctors for further advice if needed:

General medical advice, such as

  • fevers
  • colds
  • flus
  • headaches
  • sore throat
  • wounds including bites
  • rashes and stings
  • impetigo
  • diarrhoea and vomiting
  • urinary symptoms in women and children (males over 16 should see the doctor)
  • earache
  • conjunctivitis
  • emergency contraception

Home Visits

If possible please try to telephone reception before 10:00 if you require a home visit.

You may only request a home visit if you are housebound or are too ill to visit the practice. Your GP will only visit you at home if they think that your medical condition requires it and will also decide how urgently a visit is needed.

You can be visited at home by a community nurse if you are referred by your GP. You should also be visited at home by a health visitor if you have recently had a baby or if you are newly registered with a GP and have a child under five years.

Necessary Visits

A doctor will always visit the following patients:

  • Terminally ill patients
  • House-bound patients - These are patients from whom attending surgery would have an affect on their health or cause severe discomfort.

Unnecessary Visits

In most cases a GPs visit is not required. It is much better for the medical assessment to be done at the surgery which is fully equipped and where access to other members of the medical team including nurses and other doctors is available.

Children

Children with the following symptoms are usually strong enough to travel to surgery by car:

  • Fever ( It is not harmful to take a child with a fever outside)
  • Coughs and Colds
  • Earache
  • Headache
  • Vomiting and Diarrhoea
  • Abdominal Pain
  • Children experiencing these symptoms may not be fit to travel by bus or to walk, but car transport may be available from friends, relatives or by taxi. If a child is fit enough to come to surgery, we ask that you make every effort to bring them.

Adults

  • Adults who experience the symptoms mentioned above, as well as back pain, are usually able to come to surgery by car.

Elderly

  • Common problems in the elderly such as poor mobility, joint pain and general malaise are usually treated in surgery. Although patients who are truly housebound can be visited.

Home visits are only for patients that cannot attend the surgery.If you need to request a home visit please call the surgery before 10.00am. A member of the medical team may phone before the visit to confirm it is a problem that would not be better dealt with at the surgery. If the visit is not urgent or is not necessarily needed on that day please notify the receptionist when you call.

Emergencies

If you believe a patients is seriously ill and needs an urgent visit, a doctor will call you back to assess whether the patients can wait for the doctor to visit or if an emergency ambulance needs to be called. E.g.

  • Chest paints
  • Shortness of breath
  • Severe bleeding

Thank you

ACE Child Immunisation

ACE - the North East Essex Provider Services have arranged the following sessions for any child/student to catch up with any of their missed vaccinations including (DPT and HPV). These will enable you to continue/complete your vaccination course.

In order to ensure that there are enough vaccines available on the day, please contact the Immunisation Team office (01206 518521) with your preferred choice at least 24 hours prior to the clinic sessions.

Please make sure you have something to eat and drink before you come for your injection and be prepared to stay for 20 minutes afterwards.

The sessions are listed below:-

Colchester - Colchester Primary Care Centre, Turner Road, Colchester, CO4 5JR

Saturdays - Between 10:00am -1:00pm

  • 10th August 2013
  • 12th October2013

Clacton - Reckitts Lodge, Clacton Hospital, Tower Road, Clacton on Sea, CO15 1LH

Saturdays - Between 10:00am - 1:00pm

  • 14th September 2013

No appointments necessary, please feel free to drop in and speak totheir nurses

Travel Vaccinations

Please note the surgery is unable to accommodate travel health appointments for:

  • Short notice travel (less than 4 weeks)
  • Complicated itineraries

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

Who should I see?

Nurse Practitioners can treat/advise the following:- fevers, colds, flu, sore throat, bites, rashes, stings, impetigo, urinary symptoms, earache, conjunctivitis and emergency contraception. Diarrhoea and vomiting will be dealt with over the phone.

Necessary Visits

A doctor will visit the following patients:Terminally ill patients and House-bound patients –Request for home visits should be before 11am.

Children with the following symptoms are usually strong enough to travel to surgery by car:-Fever, coughs and colds, earache, headache, Abdominal Pain (vomiting and Diarrhoea would be dealt over the phone), children experiencing these symptoms may not be fit to travel by bus or to walk, but car transport may be available from friends, relatives or by taxi. If a child is fit enough to come to surgery, we ask that you make every effort to bring them.

Adults who experience the symptoms mentioned above, as well as back pain, are usually able to come to surgery.

Elderly- poor mobility, joint pain and general malaise are usually treated in surgery. Although patients who are truly housebound can be visited.

Emergencies Theon call doctor may call you back to assess whether the patients can wait for an appointment, home visit or if an emergency ambulance needs to be called forchest paints andshortness of breath.

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.

Travel Health Questionnaire

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

Travel Questionnaire

Parsons Heath Medical Practice Travel Advice Leaflet

Travelling in Europe

If you are travelling to Europe a very useful booklet has been published with advice and guidance to help you get the most out of your holiday. To visit please click:- is a large document and may take a minute or two to view)

Private Travel Clinics

  • The Travel Clinic at Colchester
  • The Travel Clinic at Ipswich
  • Aviation Medica - The Premier Medical Service at Stansted Airport - Telephone: 01279 661580
  • Fleet Street Clinic - Telephone: 020 7353 5678
  • Masta Travel Clinics
  • Trailfinders Travel Clinic - Telephone: 020 79383999
  • Travelhealth UK

Consultation

During the clinic appointment the Nurse will discuss your requirements such as:-

  • Vaccinations required
  • Malaria and its preventioin
  • Existing medication (prescribed or otherwise)
  • Comprehensive general travel advice

Malaria Prevention - Patient UK Information Leaflet

You will be advised at your travel consultationif malaria tablets are required and if so, which are effective in the area you intend to visit.

Chloroquine and Proguanil can be bought from the chemist without a prescription. These drugs are only effective in certain parts of the world where the mosquitoes are not resistant.

The antimalarials:Doxcycline, Malarone, Malarone Paediatric and Mefloquine can be obtained with a private prescription for which a charge of £10.00 is payable at the surgery. The prescription will be generated following your travel consultation and the fee is payable when you collect the prescription.

The cost of medication itself is payable to the chemist. The price is decided by the pharmacy and the price may vary widely between chemists.

Additional Information

Please click to see advice sheet

Costs of vaccines

Many vaccinations required for travel are free of cost, however certain vaccines do incur a charge, these are as detailed below. Please note some vaccines are not kept in stock at the surgery and will need to be ordered. If following your travel consultation you require any of these vaccines, you will need to pay prior to them being ordered. All payments are made at reception, cash or cheques made payable to Parsons Heath Medical Practice are accepted. Sorry no credit or debit cards.

List of Vaccines available:-

  • Yellow Fever - single dose - £45.00
  • Rabies - 3 dose course - Price availabe on request
  • Japanese B Encephalitis - 2 dose course - Price available on request
  • Tick Bourne Encephalitis - 2 dose course - Price available on request
  • Hepatitis B - 3 dose course (over 6 months) - £111.00
  • Meningitis ACYW - 1 dose £40
  • Typhoid Immunisation: Patient UK Leaflet-no charge for this vaccine for NHS patient
  • Tetanus Immunisation: Patient UK Leaflet- no charge for this vaccine for NHS patients
  • Polio Immunisation: Patient UK Leaflet- no charge for this vaccine for NHS patients
  • Preventing DVT When You Travel: Patient UK
  • Lonely Planet
  • Travel Vaccines NHS Choices