Pneumococcal Vaccination

The Northeast has seen a steady rise in cases of invasive pneumococcal disease since 2013. The majority of cases occurred in people who had not received the Pneumococcal vaccination. Some people are at higher risk of serious illness and can be given the pneumococcal vaccination on the NHS. These include:

Babies
Adults aged 65 or over
Children and adults with certain long-term health conditions, such as a serious heart or kidney condition.

While we are happy to offer this vaccinate alongside the annual flu jab, you can have the Penumococcal vaccination at any time of the year and we keep a stock at all times. Unlike the flu jab, in most cases you will not need to repeat the vaccination.  So if you believe you are eligible for a vaccination make an appointment with a Practice Nurse, or just ask when you have your next routine appointment with a Practice Nurse.

Meningitis ACWY vaccine

If you are aged 17/18 then you are advised to be vaccinated with the Meningitis ACWY vaccine. Please make an appointment with a Practice Nurse or simply pop into the Practice on any Monday between 4pm and 5pm when we run our open access young people's clinic. If you are eligible for this vaccine you should by now have received an invitation letter, a reminder letter and possibly also a text message (if we have your mobile number). Now is a good time to get vaccinated. If you are attending University in September you can register as a patient there and get the vaccine but it is best to receive the vaccine before you go and start to mix with other young people.

Travel Health

Thinking about travelling abroad? We highly recommend the NHS Fit For Travel website for up to date information on risks and recommended vaccinations.

The Practice Nurse team offers advice and vaccinations for foreign travel. This is strictly on an appointment-only basis.  Where possible we recommend that you plan ahead and seek advice at least one month before travel (two months if taking a prolonged trip or visiting many countries e.g. gap year). The reason for this is that most vaccines take seven to ten days to be fully effective and you may need more than one visit to the surgery to complete your course of injections.

We are unable to provide the following:
Telephone consultations
Emergency appointments squeezed in when we are fully booked
Vaccinations when date of departure is less than 48 hours away

We offer a variety of different appointment times throughout the week as late as 7.30pm some nights, but if we cannot meet your needs the nearest private travel clinic is in Newcastle and they do offer Saturday mornings (University Medical Centre, Claremont Road. Tel 0191 2303721).

Many of the routine vaccines are readily available and free of charge at the surgery. We can also give advice on avoiding malaria and arrange prescriptions for anti-malarials if required.  Where a vaccine or prescription does incur a charge you will be informed of this during the consultation.
We cannot provide the following vaccines here:
Rabies
Japanese Encephalitis
Yellow Fever
Cholera

In order to access the travel clinic all you need to do is make a 20 minute appointment with one of the Practice Nurses and complete a travel assessment form which can be downloaded below or we have paper copies at reception. This form must be returned prior to your appointment.

Attachments:

Travel Assessment form.doc

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Urgent Care

If you have a new medical problem, or perhaps an ongoing problem that worsens, you may need to seek help urgently.

Read more: Urgent Care