Clinics & Services
Physiotheraphy : First Contact Practitioner
We are pleased to announce that we now have a Physiotherapy First Contact Practitioner attached to the practice.
The company providing this service for all the practices in Billericay are Pure Physiotherapy
The First Contact Physiotherapy (FCP) service allows patients to get early access to specialist Musculo-skeletal practitioners working in the GP surgeries. They will be able to assess, advice and set patients up on an agreed plan that may include exercise, rehabilitation, activity modification and discussion around their condition and how best to manage it. They will work alongside other staff in the GP surgeries and can refer into local Physiotherapy providers, refer into secondary care, refer for imaging if required, issue sick notes/fit notes, optimise painkillers and liaise with colleagues if this needs to be reviewed or changed.
The FCP service is not a substitute for Physiotherapy in the region which is supplied by Connect Health but it allows patients to get early access to specialist advice and support to ensure they are on the right path to enable recovery.”
Further information regarding the service can be found on Self Help Tool - Symptom Checker | Pure Physiotherapy
Mental Health : First Contact Practitioner
We are pleased to announce that we now have a Mental Health First Contact Practitioner attached to the practice.
The Mental Health Practitioner has been commissioned to deliver NHS regulated and quality Mental Health services
The company providing this service for all the practices in Billericay are Vita Health Group.
The Mental Health First Contact Practitioner has full access to the patient’s medical record and will provide treatment , advice and support and can if appropriate refer the patient onto other healthcare services for on-going care.
The Mental Health First Contact Practitioner can also prescribe medication if they feel that this is required.
Patients who contact the surgery with anxiety, struggling with low mood or physical health issues will be booked an appointment with the Mental Health First Contact Practitioner by one of the receptionists.
The telephone appointments will be up to 30 minutes to give the patient adequate time to discuss their issues with the Mental Health expert.
Treatment options will be discussed with the patient at the end of the appointment.
Keeping safe:
If you are concerned about being able to keep yourself safe and in need of immediate support, please contact the emergency services by telephoning 111 or 999 or attend your local A&E.
Download our Keeping Safe leaflet
Download our Feeling Unwell Leaflet here
Treatment Room Nurses / Health Care Assistants
All nurses working in the treatment room are Registered General Nurses (RGN) and have extensive experience in hospitals and general practice and work under the clinical direction of the General Practitioners.
They are able to carry out wound dressings and the treatment of leg ulcers, regular injections prescribed by a GP, all immunisations, including holiday immunisations, and procedures such as ear syringing or removal of small splinters.
To help you book an appointment with the appropriate nurse please see the range of services each Nurse provides HERE.
Preventative Care Nurse
The aim of the preventative care nurses is to promote better health. This is achieved by disease prevention, through giving lifestyle advice in different situations and by chronic disease management, ensuring the best possible care in illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes and asthma.
You can see the nurse directly by asking at reception. If you have diabetes or coronary heart disease, you will receive an appointment to come to the relevant clinic on a regular basis. If you have asthma, we advise that you come to see Elizabeth McKenzie (the asthma nurse) at least once yearly for a review of your condition.
Immunisation
Certain illnesses can be prevented by immunisation. All children should be immunised, according to the recommended schedules, against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio, measles, mumps and rubella, haemophilus influenzae type B. (Hib) and meningococcus group C.
The small risks associated with some of these vaccines are less important, in every case, than the risks of the disease they prevent.
For further information on immunisations please visit NHS Immunisation Information
Tetanus Vaccination
If you have received a primary course of tetanus immunisation and two boosters (five injections in all), you do not need routine boosters every 10 years, except in case of certain injury or possible travel.
Influenza Vaccination
Influenza can be a life-threatening illness in some people. Those over 65, diabetics, people with heart disease or chest disease (including asthmatics on regular medication) should have a flu vaccine every year from September onwards. If you believe that you are eligible for a flu vaccination, please contact reception from mid-September.
New Patient Health Check
Everyone joining this practice should, if on regular medication, make an appointment to see a doctor for your medication to be reviewed. It also enables us to obtain some basic information about your current state of health, whether or not you are allergic to any medicines etc. It also gives us the opportunity to carry out some basic checks such as blood pressure.
Maternity Care
There is a midwife attached to the practice. She provides an essential link between the expectant mother, GP, hospital and Health Visitor. All midwives carry the statutory responsibility to care for women throughout pregnancy and labour and to summon medical aid when necessary.
In this practice, the midwife works alongside the General Practitioners, holding a regular clinic on Wednesday mornings from 9am to 12 noon. Throughout pregnancy and delivery, continuity of care is important and the midwife maintains links with the family and the GP after the birth. She also works closely with the health visitor in the month following delivery. Mothers are visited, with agreement, up to the 28th day following birth.
All of the doctors also offer antenatal appointments; these are currently booked as a double (20 minute) appointment within normal surgery times.
At the practice we share all antenatal and postnatal care with our hospital specialist colleagues, but leave the delivery itself to the in-patient maternity unit at Basildon Hospital or St John's Hospital, Chelmsford. The standards of these units are so high that we feel the risks of anything going wrong with a home delivery, however slight, are not worth taking. We do not therefore attend them.
Six Week Checks
The six week check is an appointment with the doctor for both mother and baby which gives an opportunity to review how things are going and to identify any problems. The baby will be examined by the doctor. This examination forms part of the local programme of child health surveillance. The total appointment length is 30 minutes.
Family Planning
We provide a comprehensive, confidential service to all our patients, including young people. We are able to provide a full range of services including coil-fitting, although not every doctor provides every service. We encourage you to see the doctor if you are planning to get pregnant, to ensure that you are at your fittest before you conceive. We offer a full coil fitting service, which includes follow ups, removals, changeovers and new fittings (of both copper coils and the Mirena IUD). Please ask at reception for details.
For more information please visit the Family Planning Association website.
Emergency Contraception
The morning after pill is effective up to 72 hours after unprotected sex, or a coil may be fitted as an emergency up to five days afterwards.
However, the sooner action is taken the less likely is the chance of an unwanted pregnancy. If you are requesting emergency contraception, please let the receptionist know that this is the reason for your appointment and you will be seen on a same-day basis.
For emergency contraception please contact Essex Sexual Health Service or call 0300 003 1212.
Minor Surgery
Surgery that is only skin deep, i.e. the removal of small moles, lumps, skin tags or cysts, in-growing toenails and injection of arthritic joints with steroid can be carried out, under local anaesthetic, by GPs using our treatment room. Please ask the doctor about this service during any routine consultation.
Health Visitors
The Health Visitor is a highly trained and experienced Registered General Nurse with further qualifications, usually in midwifery or mental health nursing. Their aim is to work within the community to promote better health and to prevent serious or chronic illnesses by detecting them at an early stage before they develop. To achieve this aim, they work in liaison with other professionals and become involved at an early stage. (A Health Visitor will visit every child, in their home, 10 days or so after birth.)
A Health Visitor may prescribe some medicines and may, on occasion, arrange referral to other specialists but he or she is there primarily to offer advice, direction and support on any health-related problem, whether physical, emotional or social, either in the GP surgery or at your own home. Other specific services provided by the health visitor at this practice are health and development checks for children under five, antenatal parentcraft and relaxation classes, and counselling for those who have recently suffered a loss in the family.
The Health Visitors may be contacted via 0300 3001500. You do not have to go through your GP.
Counsellor
The counsellor enables the process of change by helping people to express their feelings, clarify their thoughts, reframe their problems and consider potential solutions so that they can understand themselves better and be able to manage their lives more effectively. Counselling is most likely to benefit individuals with difficulties adjusting to a traumatic life event, or experiencing acute social or sexual difficulty. It is not suitable in the context of severe mental illness, significant suicidal wish, dementia, eating disorders or substance abuse. You can self refer by calling Vita Health Group on 01268 977171.