Practice Nurses and Phlebotomists

The Phlebotomists (Jill Holden and Kristina Avery) are primarily trained to take blood samples, but they can also do ECGs, blood pressure checks and flu vaccinations. The Practice Nurses can do all of these things plus a range of other more specialised nursing tasks such as dressings, pre-school immunisations, asthma checks, contraception checks, stop-smoking advice, etc.

Phlebotomists and Nurses are only available by appointment, and they usually work in the mornings, although we do have some early-afternoon slots. All blood tests have to be taken in the morning, because the van which collects samples comes in the middle of the day. In addition to blood tests, an appointment may be made for any of the following:

• Routine immunisations (eg. Tetanus, Polio, Influenza) - for guidelines on holiday immunisations, click here
• Dressings
• Removal of stitches
• Well woman (eg. cervical smears, breast examinations, hormone replacement therapy, pill checks)
• Checkups for over-75s
• General health checks
• New patient registraton checks
• Followup checks for asthmatics and diabetics
• Ear syringeing

Contraceptive Services

Patients requiring Contraceptive Services can be seen by appointment with the Practice Nurse. If this is impossible, then the Doctor can be seen for this service during normal consulting hours.

Health Screening

We are committed to general health screening and would urge everyone who has not consulted the Doctor in the last three years to make an appointment with the Practice Nurse for a general health check. We feel sure that regular checks of this type can help reduce the risk of heart disease and other problems.

Patients over 75 years of age shouldtry to attend once a year for a routine checkup, to ensure that they are getting the best possible service from the NHS. Again, appointments are available with the Practice Nurse.