Surgery clinics

The Child Health Department will send you an appointment for your baby’s 8-week check which includes the first set of immunisations. This will be done by the doctor. If you are unable to attend at the allocated time, please contact us to rearrange an appointment. Please don’t just turn up as occasionally we have no doctor available in baby clinic.

The 8 week check is really important for your baby, so please make sure you attend for your appointment.

Future immunisations (after the first set with the 8 week check) are given by our nurses. The Child Health Department will send you a letter to remind you when these are due and will suggest the day you should attend the clinic, we will also send you a reminder when your baby is due their next immunisation.

Immunisations are important to keep your baby well, so please make sure you bring your baby when they are due. You can find out more on the NHS Website.

If you are new to the practice it would be useful for you to bring any details of previous immunisations. This helps us to ensure that your child is up to date with the British schedule.

The health visitors run clinics for weighing and general advice (but not for immunisations).

Monday

• 9:30am-11pm, St James Children’s Centre
• 1:30pm-2:30pm, Longsight Children’s Centre

Tuesday

• 9:30am-11pm, Rusholme Children’s Centre

Wednesday

• 1:30pm-3pm, Martenscroft Children’s Centre

Thursday

• 9:30am-11am, Longsight Health Centre

Friday

• 9:30am-11:30am, Alexandra Park Health Centre

Emergency contraception (the ‘morning after pill’) is available free-of-charge from:

• Some (not all) local pharmacists
• The practice
• Walk-in centres
• Some family planning or Brook clinics

Emergency contraception pills can be effective if taken within 72 hours (3 days) of the event, but it works best when it’s taken as soon as possible. So don’t delay. After 72 hours, and for up to five days, there is the option to have a coil fitted at the local family planning clinic.

The practice provides a wide range of contraceptive advice and services, including tablets, injections, implants and the coil (IUD).

The service is free and completely confidential. As well as helping you choose the best type of contraception for you, we also provide ongoing follow-up and monitoring and treat each individual’s contraceptive needs as part of their whole care.

You can book to see the Sexual Health Nurse by using the request an appointment with the nurse online form.

Please bear in mind that only condoms can protect against sexually transmitted diseases – a major cause of ill health and infertility in the UK.

If you are taking the contraceptive pill, for your safety, you will need check-ups every 6-12 months with the nurse, before your repeat prescriptions can be continued. The GP or nurse will tell you how often you need a check. To request a contraceptive medication review click here.

The doctors can refer patients to professional counsellors. They can help with a variety of problems and their service is free and confidential.

If you have been advised by the surgery to submit a Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), please complete our online Patient Health Questionnaire form.

We also work with the local Primary Care Mental Health Team and the GPs can refer patients if appropriate.

Employers may make counselling services available to their staff as part of their responsibility for occupational health. Please ask your employer or their HR department.

We offer services in the treatment of drug and/or alcohol addiction, including detox and methadone programmes. These are offered in partnership with the community drug team and community alcohol team.

All new patients aged over 35, and all patients with a long-term condition need to have a health check as part of our registration process. It is free and takes less than 10 minutes.

The doctors and nurses will be able to give you better care if we have this essential information about you. When you register the staff will make an appointment for you.

Are you over 40 and under 75? Then we recommend an NHS Health Check. This is a national initiative to help prevent or delay the onset of certain health problems. It is free and we do it here at the practice. It takes about 20 minutes.

We are all at risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes or kidney disease. The NHS Health Check helps identify your risk and offers suggestions for you to lower your risk. If you already have one of these conditions you will not need this health check. We will continue to monitor you in the usual way.

You will be asked some questions about your and your family’s health. You will have your blood pressure checked and have a finger-prick blood test to check your cholesterol. Further tests may be offered if necessary.

For more information visit www.nhs.uk/nhshealthcheck or call the NHS Health Check helpline on 0845 850 9850.

As we get older our health needs may change, so we offer an annual health check to all our patients age 75 years or over. The aim is to identify any issues that may affect your independence and general health. We also ensure you are aware of local services which may benefit you.

We will write to you about this every year, but you can also book by speaking to a Patient Services Advisor.

Health checks are also available for long term conditions.

The aim of the health check is to keep you healthy and to reduce the impact of your illness on your life. We will write to you when your check is due, but please contact the practice if you are unsure when your next health check is due or if you have any concerns about your long term condition.

Whooping cough is a serious infection. New born babies are at the greatest risk because they cannot be protected against it at birth. However, if you get the whooping cough vaccine when you are pregnant the vaccine will pass on to your baby through the placenta. This is the safest way to protect your baby from whooping cough. Your baby will have enough protection until they are old enough to have the vaccine themselves.

The vaccine is free, safe and very effective. The most effective time to have it is between 28 and 38 weeks (between 28 and 32 weeks is the ideal time).

If you have any questions or concerns about the vaccine please talk to your midwife. To get the vaccine just make an appointment with the practice nurse.

Community midwife

Your first appointment with the community midwife will be a short appointment to assess your needs. The midwife will then book you a longer appointment (called the ‘booking appointment’) which will be about an hour long and will include a discussion of the choices available to you, e.g. hospital or home birth. The midwife will organise tests and scans and will talk to you about how to keep yourself and your baby healthy.

You will then see the midwife regularly throughout your pregnancy. The frequency of your appointments will vary depending on the stage of pregnancy, but your midwife will advise you on this.

If you opt for a home birth then the community midwife may deliver your baby.

After birth, the midwife will visit you at home for about ten days, before handing over care to the health visitor.

St Mary’s hospital

You will be invited to St Mary’s hospital twice for scans and possibly for other tests if needed. If you choose a hospital delivery then that will also be in St Mary’s. Your GP or midwife may ask you to go to St Mary’s if there are any concerns or worries and you need further tests.

GP

Your GP is available throughout and after your pregnancy if you are ill, worried or need advice.

Health visitor

The health visitor will take over care once you are discharged from the care of the midwife, about ten days after birth. They may also visit before your birth. Your health visitors will monitor your baby’s development and growth and offer you support. They are experts in child development and can offer lots of advice about health, parenting, feeding, sleeping, vaccinations, childhood illnesses, etc.

For patient with a family history of high cholesterol

For patients over 40 years old

For female patients over 50 years old. The service is offered every three years as part of the NHS national breast screening programme.

Women aged 50 to 70 years old are automatically sent an invitation to attend the screening unit. The first appointment is sent when the patient is aged 50-53 years old. If this hasn’t happened, please let us know.

Women aged 70 and over will not be automatically invited but can contact the screening unit to book an appointment, if they would like to have screening.

For female patients over 25 years old. The service is offered every three to five years, as part of the NHS national cervical screening programme. Invitations to attend the practice will be automatically sent out. If this hasn’t happened, please let us know.

These are available every 3 years, on request.

Patients over 75 years old are advised to have an assessment every year.

There is no national screening programme for prostate cancer as the benefits are unclear. For further information, see the NHS prostate cancer website. However, a blood test (the ‘PSA test’) is available at the practice on request. The test is most likely to be beneficial for men over 50 years old with a family history of prostate cancer. Find out more from the PSA test information sheet.

Free and confidential – screening, treatment, advice.

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are infections that are passed from one person to another during sex. Using a condom for sex reduces the risk of picking up or passing on an STI.

Lots of people will have an STI and not know it. This is because the symptoms for some STIs are not always obvious.

These are some of the symptoms to look out for:

• Pain when peeing
• Blisters, sores or spots around the genitals or anus
• Irritation of the urethra (where the pee comes out)
• Pain when having sex
• Unusual discharge from the penis, vagina or anus
• Itching around the genitals or anus

If you think you might have an STI, you can book an appointment with the Sexual Health Nurse at The Robert Darbishire Practice or The University GP Service. These clinics are free and confidential. You will be offered testing and treatment for STIs and referral to other services if needed.

Notes of attendance at the clinic will form part of your GP medical record. This helps to ensure continuity of care.

Did you know that 1 in 10 young people in Manchester have chlamydia? We offer free and confidential testing for chlamydia for our patients aged 16-24.

Chlamydia is a common STI. It often doesn’t have any symptoms so lots of people who have it don’t know it. It can lead to long-term health problems such as infertility (not being able to have children) if it isn’t treated. If you are aged under 25 you should have a routine test, once a year, and when you change your sexual partner.

The tests are free and painless. There is no poking or probing involved, you just need to pee in a pot or do a simple self-taken vaginal swab. Your sample will be tested for chlamydia and another common STI called gonorrhoea. These infections can be treated with a simple course of tablets.

However, if you have any symptoms, please book into the sexual health clinic for full advice and screening.

Wherever possible, plan ahead and book an appointment with the nurse at least 6-8 weeks before travelling, as some vaccinations need to be administered several weeks in advance. If you allow less time than this you can often still have some vaccinations. If it is short notice then we may not have any free appointments before your travel date.

Some vaccinations are provided free of charge, through the NHS. Vaccinations against yellow fever, rabies and hepatitis B are not available on the NHS for travel and so there is a charge. These vaccines are not required for travel to most countries. We can also provide a certificate of vaccination where needed and there may be a charge for this.

If you are travelling to an area where there is malaria, the nurse may advise tablets to help prevent it. These tablets are not available on the NHS and can be purchased from a pharmacy, with a private prescription. The nurse will arrange a private prescription and adults pay a charge for this.

All children registered with the practice are invited, by letter, to have their routine vaccinations. These are to stop potentially deadly infections like whooping cough and meningitis.

If you are unsure if your child is up to date with their immunisations, you can speak to our nursing team by filling in this form.

If you normally have a flu jab, please ring us for an appointment for this year’s jab. The reception staff will check that you are eligible and book an appointment for you.

Flu is not the same as a bad cold. Flu can be a very serious illness that can put you in hospital. Unfortunately flu can be a fatal illness. The risk of being very ill from flu is higher if you are older, for young children or if you have certain other medical conditions. The NHS provides free flu jabs for those at higher risk.

A flu jab can stop you getting the flu. The jab does not protect against common colds, even bad ones. The strains of flu in circulation vary from year to year, so it’s important to have the jab every year.

Who can have the jab?

You are eligible for a free (NHS) flu jab if you are:

• Aged 65 or over on 31 March next year
• Aged 2-4 on 1 September this year (nasal spray vaccination)
• If you are aged from 6 months to 65 years and you:
  • Live in a residential or nursing home
  • Are the main carer of an older or disabled person
  • Live in the same household as a person with lowered immunity due to disease or treatment (such as steroid medication or cancer treatment)
  • Are pregnant
  • Have one of these long-term conditions:
    • A heart problem
    • A chest complaint or breathing difficulties, including bronchitis or emphysema (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)
    • Asthma, if you have had steroid inhalers or steroid tablets in the last year or been admitted to hospital for asthma in the last year
    • Kidney disease
    • Lowered immunity due to disease or treatment (such as steroid medication or cancer treatment)
    • Liver disease
    • Previous stroke or transient ischaemic attack (TIA)
    • Diabetes
    • A neurological condition, for example multiple sclerosis (MS) or cerebral palsyA problem with your spleen, for example sickle cell disease, or you have had your spleen removed
    • Have a learning disability

How will I know when to have the jab?

Vaccines are usually delivered at the end of September or beginning of October each year. We will send you an invite if you are eligible or you can keep an eye on our web site for a news article saying that appointments are available. The Patient Services Advisor will check you are eligible and book you an appointment.

What if I don’t want the jab?

If you decide you don’t want to have the vaccine, please let a Patient Service Advisor know, so that we don’t chase you up!

What if I am not eligible?

If you are not eligible for a free vaccination from the NHS, then you may be able to have one privately. Some pharmacies or large supermarkets offer this service. They set their own charges.

Hepatitis vaccination is important for gay men, injecting drug users and healthcare workers. For advice on testing and vaccination for these potentially serious conditions, speak to one of the practice nurses or doctors.

The practice can provide vaccination against meningitis to certain groups of people at high risk. This provides protection against the common forms of the A and C types of the disease. At the moment, the vaccine is available, free, for young children and first-year university students. For children, parents will automatically be sent a letter.

University students can book an appointment with the practice nurse. They need to inform the receptionist what the appointment is for, and must bring their library card. After their first year university students may incur a charge for this vaccination.

If you are overweight there is a higher chance that you will develop:

• Diabetes
• Heart disease
• Strokes
• Other health problems

Our nurse offers help and support to manage your weight, including advice on finding a healthy diet, staying active and referring to weight management services in the community.