Clinics

Child Health Development Screening clinics are held weekly at Taymount Surgery and appointments for these clinics are sent out centrally by the child health office. Immunisations are now carried out in a central location for all Perth patients regardless of which surgery they are registered with. This clinic is held within Drumhar Health Centre in the city centre. Appointments for this are also handled centrally by the child health office and a number for them can be obtained on your clinic invitation.

More Information regarding childhood immunisation can be found on the NHS Inform website.

Our specially trained Practice Nurses liaise closely with the Lead GP for each of the disease areas noted below:

• Asthma
• COPD
• Diabetes
• Heart Disease
• Hypertension
• Stroke

The nurses hold regular weekly clinics and patients will be called on an annual basis, usually around their birthday month, or sooner as necessary. These clinics allow us to review your condition and medication to ensure that you are receiving the optimum treatment and advice on lifestyle issues. The doctors strongly encourage you to attend these clinics when you receive your invitation letter.

We offer a comprehensive contraceptive service, including IUCD and Sub Dermal Implant insertion, and the receptionist will arrange an appropriate appointment with the doctor or practice nurse. Confidential emergency contraception (morning after pill) is available up to three days from the time of intercourse although is most effective when given early. For this reason, please let the receptionist know if you need to see a doctor urgently about this.

Routine ante-natal care is carried out by a midwife at Taymount Surgery. Newly pregnant mothers are advised to contact the Community Midwife Unit on 01738 473270 who will offer a suitable time (at Taymount Surgery) for an initial booking appointment with them. We would advise patients at this time to collect a Pregnancy Pack from the reception area of either Taymount or Scone Surgery. This pack contains paperwork that you will need to take along to your first appointment with a midwife, therefore ideally it would be best to pick this up as soon as you book your appointment.

Our premises at Taymount are well equipped to deal with minor surgery and we have weekly clinics where certain minor surgical procedures are carried out by our specialist GPs. Joint injections are performed routinely by several of the doctors but do involve a longer appointment. For this reason please advise the staff if this is what your GP has asked you to book in for.

The practice nurses also run regular Cryotherapy clinics for the treatment of warts and other skin lesions. This treatment is not suitable for children under 9 years.

If you require help to stop smoking, you can access NHS Tayside smoking cessation services at any local pharmacy. You can also contact the NHS Smokeline by contacting 0800 848484 or visit the website at www.cantstopsmoking.com for help and advice.

Our specially trained Practice Nurses can provide advice and immunisations for patients planning to travel abroad. As you may require a course of vaccinations it is important that you make contact with the practice at least 6-8 weeks prior to your date of travel. If you are planning to travel sooner than this, we may be unable to offer you this service.

You should first ensure that you complete a travel questionnaire and return this to the practice. The nurse will then carry out an assessment of your needs based on the country/countries you are planning to visit. An appointment can then be arranged at a Travel Clinic in the practice following this assessment, if time permits.

The following vaccinations are provided free on the NHS and where necessary you will be issued with a prescription:

• Hepatitis A
• Hepatitis A+B (combination)
• Hepatitis A and Typhoid (combination)
• Diphtheria/Tetanus/Polio
• Meningitis ACWY
• Typhoid

The practice nurse will administer these vaccinations at no cost to you. Certification of vaccination (if mandatory for the country you are travelling to) will cost £18.00 per patient.

If you require vaccinations outwith the NHS list above (e.g. Malaria, Rabies, Tick-borne Encephalitis, Hepatitis B etc), it is likely you will be issued with a private prescription for them. The cost for the issue of the prescription will be £18.00 per item. There will be a charge made by the practice for administering any non NHS vaccines and this charge is £25.00 per patient, per course of vaccine.

We are a registered Yellow Fever Vaccination Centre and the charge for this is currently £65.00 for the vaccination and certification. Lost Yellow Fever vaccine certificates can be issued only if the vaccination was carried out in the practice. The charge for the re-issue is £18.00.

All charges are payable at the outset of travel services and the practice can accept payment in cash or cheque only.

There is further information about countries and vaccinations required on the 'fitfortravel' website provided by NHS (Scotland) and on NHS Inform.