Anna Morton is the Carers Lead within Avon Valley Practice, Charlotte Redgrave is the Carer Deputy.
The Carers Lead holds the carers register, which is updated monthly within the Practice.
Carers are identified at the point of registration, by Reception, the Admin Team and the Clinical Team.
Once identified, the patient will be need to complete a carers identification form, which is held in the Practice; this will then generate a referral to Spurgeons.
In addition to the support, Carer Support Wiltshire offers, Avon Valley Practice also advertises regular coffee mornings at The Queens Lead, Ludgershall and The Stonehenge Inn in Durrington, which are open to all carers.
Avon Valley Practice was awarded a Platinum Award at the Carers GP Accreditation Awards August 2020.
reply CANCEL to your appointment reminder text message
If you need help when we are closed
If you need medical help now, use NHS 111 online or call 111.
NHS 111 online is for people aged 5 and over. Call 111 if you need help for a child under 5.
Call 999 in a medical or mental health emergency. This is when someone is seriously ill or injured and their life is at risk.
If you need help with your appointment
Please tell us:
if there’s a specific doctor, nurse or other health professional you would prefer to respond
if you would prefer to consult with the doctor or nurse by phone, face-to-face, by video call or by text or email
if you need an interpreter
if you have any other access or communication needs
Home visits
If you are housebound and need an appointment, we will do a home visit. We will phone you first to understand what you need.
To request a home visit, it’s helpful if you phone the practice as soon after 8am as possible.
Non-urgent advice: Extended Access & Out of Hours
We ensure everyone has easier and more convenient access to GP services, including appointments at evenings and weekends. We are working with a variety of health care providers in several locations, all registered with CQC to provide GP services, to achieve this. Ask reception for more information.
111 If you need a doctor between 6:30pm and 8:00am and at weekends and bank holidays, please dial 111 to contact the NHS 111 service. They can advise you and if necessary put you through to the Warwickshire Out of Hours GP Service.
Walk-In Centre Salisbury Walk in Centre is co-located with Millstream Medical Centre and is open 18:30 – 22:00 Monday to Friday and 08:00 – 20:00 on weekends and Bank Holidays.
Emergencies Chest pains, sudden severe shortness of breath, stroke symptoms and vomiting large amounts of blood count as an emergency.
In an Emergency dial 999.
Screening Services
Screening is a way of finding diseases and problems at an earlier stage in apparently healthy people, when treatment will be more successful.
The following screening services are offered as part of the NHS.
Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) screening is a way of detecting a dangerous swelling (aneurysm) of the aorta – the main blood vessel that runs from the heart, down through the abdomen to the rest of the body. This swelling is far more common in men aged over 65 than it is in women and younger men, so all men are invited for screening in the year they turn 65.
An AAA usually causes no symptoms, but if it bursts, it’s extremely dangerous and usually fatal. Around 8 out of 10 people with a ruptured AAA either die before they reach hospital or don’t survive surgery.
Screening involves a simple ultrasound scan of your stomach (abdomen), which takes about 10-15 minutes.
Bowel cancer screening programme
Bowel cancer is the third most common cancer in the UK. Screening is offered every two years to all men and women aged 60 to 74 who are most at risk. A home testing kit that is posted out to you. Please complete and return your testing kit which could save your life as it gives us the chance to detect the disease in its early stages.
Breast cancer screening programme
Breast cancer screening is offered to all women aged 50 – 70 to detect early signs of breast cancer.
Breast cancer screening uses an X-ray test called a mammogram that can spot cancers when they are too small to feel. If breast cancer is discovered in its early stages, there is a very good chance of recovery.
Women who notice any breast symptoms or changes should make an appointment to see a GP immediately.
If you are registered at the practice you should automatically receive an invitation by post every three years for women aged 25 – 49 and every five years for women aged 50 – 64. You simply need to contact the practice and make an appointment to see a nurse.
It is very important that you make these appointments, as early detection and treatment of abnormal cells can prevent cervical cancer.
If any concerns have been raised in the past, you may be invited for more frequent checks.
It aims to spot early signs of stroke, kidney disease, heart disease, type 2 diabetes and dementia because as we get older our risk of developing one of these conditions increases.
If you would like to book an NHS health check please contact reception to make an appointment.
The health check only takes about 30 minutes.
The nurse/health professional will ask you some simple questions about your lifestyle and family history, measure your height and weight, take your blood pressure and do a blood test. From this, they can give you an idea of your risks. If you are over 65, you will also be told the signs and symptoms of dementia to look out for.
You will then receive personalised advice to help lower your risk. This could include:
How to improve your diet and the amount of physical activity you do
How to lose weight or stop smoking
If a particular problem is found, such has high blood pressure, then we will make an appointment for you to see a doctor.
Maternity Care and Child Health
Full pregnancy care is provided by the community midwifery team.
If you discover you are pregnant you can book an appointment directly with the midwife but we do recommend that you make your first (booking) appointment between the 8th and 12th week of pregnancy.
To speak to a Health Visitor for advice, or to make an appointment please telephone the team direct on 0300 247 0090 option 1.
Every child under 5 will have a named Heath Visitor
Child Health Surveillance Checks
These are offered every two weeks by appointment with a GP. All new babies should be reviewed by a GP prior to the commencement of their childhood vaccination programme at 8 weeks.
It is also advisable for the birth mother to have a post-natal check 6-8 weeks post delivery. This can be a routine appointment with the GP.
Child Immunisations
Weekly, notification of appointments will be sent to you by the child health department at the hospital.
If you require any vaccinations relating to foreign travel, we advise that you contact a Travel Vaccination Clinic such as Boots.
The Practice is only able to offer the following vaccinations. Each one is available free of charge:
Polio (given as a combined diphtheria/tetanus/polio jab)
Typhoid
Hepatitis A
Cholera
These vaccines are ordered for you specifically. We do not have these vaccines in stock. Therefore time must be allowed for purchase and delivery.
Should you need any of the above vaccine, it is important provide a travel vaccination risk assessment as early as possible and at least 8 to 10 weeks before you travel.
If you a travelling in less than 6 weeks or you are travelling to more than one country, please seek urgent travel advice from private travel vaccination clinics.
There is further information about countries and vaccinations required on the Fit For Travel website.
Travelling in Europe
If you are travelling to Europe the EU has published useful information for travellers on the European website.
You may have to pay a fee for certain services that are not covered by the NHS. These fees reflect the time it takes for the doctor to look at your medical records and some admin time.
Services include things like private health certificates, insurance claim forms, HGV/taxi medicals and some travel vaccinations.
There are also times when we are asked for information about a patient’s health, such as when you are applying for a mortgage or life insurance. We only do this with your permission and you have the right to see the report before it is sent. To avoid any delays, please make sure you sign the consent form that the company gives you.
Sick Certificates
You do not require a doctor’s sickness certificate for any illness lasting seven days or less. Your employer may however require you to complete a self-certification form (SC2) which is available from your employer or on the HMRC website.
Evidence that you are sick
If you are sick for more than seven days, your employer can ask you to give them some form of medical evidence to support payment of SSP (statutory sick pay).
Your employer can ask you to confirm that you’ve been ill.You can do this by filling in a form yourself when you return to work. This is called self-certification.
If you’re sick and off work for more than seven days, your employer will probably ask for proof of your illness. Most employers ask for a fit note from your GP.
However, this will also depend on your employer’s company policy on sick leave (or sickness absence). This policy should tell you how many days you can be off sick before you need to provide proof of illness or a fit note.
You could also provide evidence from someone who is not a medical practitioner, e.g. a dentist. Your employer will decide whether or not this evidence is acceptable. If your employer has any doubts, they may still ask for a medical certificate from your GP.
Statement of Fitness for Work – ’Fit Note’
The ‘fit note’ was introduced on 6 April 2010. With your employer’s support, the note will help you return to work sooner by providing more information about the effects of your illness or injury.
For more information see the DirectGov website (where this information was sourced)
Sick/Fit Note Request Form
Complete the form below to request a Sick/Fit Note.
Tests and Results
Find out my test results
The doctor, nurse or other health care professional carrying out the test will advise you when your results will be available.
It is then your responsibility to obtain the results of the tests. Use your Online SystmOne to find your latest test results. It’s the easiest and quickest way. Alternatively, please call the Practice
Different tests take different times to process. Some may take up to 2 weeks. If anything serious is found, the laboratory will usually telephone to let us know and we or the Out of Hours service will contact you as quickly as we can to discuss it with you.
The doctor will review your results and give the receptionists specific instructions regarding any follow-up that may be required and what information they would like conveyed to you.
The receptionist may tell you what the result is, they may ask you to make a telephone consultation with the doctor, they make ask you to make a face-to-face consultation with a clinician, or it may be that the clinician telephones you direct.
If you did not have the test with the Practice, please contact the service where the test was taken: