Who is a carer?

Many carers are not known by their GP practice as there is confusion around how to define the term ‘carer’.

A carer is a person of any age (including children) who provides unpaid support to a partner, relative, friend or neighbour who couldn’t get by without their help. This could be due to old age, frailty, disability, a serious health condition, mental ill health or substance misuse. Parents of children who are disabled or who have a serious health condition are also considered to be carers.

It is estimated that 10% of patients are carers.

Jean from our Patient Support Team is our Practice Carers Champion and is here to offer advice and signposting support where possible.

Improving carer identification

As a practice, we want to increase the number of people on our carers’ register so that we can look after you better. We do this by:

• Asking patients with long-term conditions to name their carers
• Running awareness-raising campaigns to get carers to tell us about their caring responsibilities

What we offer to improve healthcare for carers

• Flu vaccination – most carers are eligible for a free flu vaccination to protect themselves and the person they care for
• Regular health check appointments to help you keep fit and well
• More flexible appointments
• Carer support groups
• Referrals to carers’ services for more specialised information, advice and support

Dedicated services for carers

If you care for someone and would like additional support then the following service may help

• Carers Leeds

Private Medical Services

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.

This is our current list of Non NHS fees.

More information about why we charge can be found on the BMA website.

Vaccination clinic

At SF Screening and Vaccination, we offer a range of services including a travel clinic providing comprehensive travel advice, vaccinations and antimalarials. We also provide private vaccinations such as childhood immunisations and workplace vaccinations including those for healthcare professionals and care workers. A range of private blood tests can also be requested if required.

Private Medical Forms

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.

What is flu?

Flu occurs every year, usually in the winter, which is why it is sometimes called seasonal flu. It is a very infectious disease that can come on very quickly. The most common symptoms of flu are fever, chills, cough, headache, pains in your joints and muscles and extreme tiredness. Healthy people usually recover within 3 to 4 weeks, but some people can develop serious life-threatening complications and need to be admitted to hospital.

Colds are much less serious and usually start with a stuffy or a runny nose, sore throat and cough.

How do we prevent the spread of flu?

Flu is unpredictable and there can be different strains of the virus. However, over the last ten years, the flu vaccine has generally been very good at targeting the circulating strains.
The flu vaccine is available every year on the NHS to help protect adults and children who are most at risk of flu and its complications.

Can I have a free flu vaccination on the NHS?

Flu can affect anyone but if you have a long-term health condition flu can make it worse, even if the condition is well managed and you normally feel well.

We provide flu vaccines if you are:

• Aged 65 or over,
• Pregnant,
• Aged 2, 3 or 4 (by nasal spray),
• Over six months of age and have one of the following conditions:
  • Chronic respiratory disease, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), chronic bronchitis and cystic fibrosis. Also, people with severe asthma who need to continuously or repeatedly use their inhaler, take steroid medication, or who have been admitted to hospital because of their asthma
  • Chronic heart disease, including heart failure, congenital heart disease, and heart disease caused by high blood pressure
  • Chronic kidney disease, such as kidney failure and people who have had a kidney transplant,
  • Chronic liver disease, such as cirrhosis and chronic hepatitis,
  • Chronic neurological diseases, such as stroke, Parkinson’s disease, cerebral palsy, motor neurone disease or multiple sclerosis,
  • Diabetes
  • A suppressed immune system, due to disease or treatment. This includes people who have a damaged or no spleen, those people with HIV, people having chemotherapy or other immunosuppressant treatment, and those on high doses of steroid medication.
• Very overweight with a BMI over 40.
• Living in a long-stay residential care home or other long-stay care facility (not including prisons, young offender institutions or university halls of residence),
• Receive carer’s allowance or you are the main carer for an elderly or disabled person whose welfare may be at risk if you fall ill,

For more information please see the Department of Health Website.

Flu Clinic

Every autumn, around September, we start our flu clinics. We aim to vaccinate as many of those at risk, as indicated above.

You can book online if you are registered for online services, or call reception to make an appointment.

Keep an eye out under the news section of this website for when the clinics start.

There are a number of services that can help you when it comes to looking after yourself if you have diabetes.

Routine care

The majority of people with diabetes are looked after by the practice diabetes team.

We like to see all people with diabetes twice a year, once during their annual health check and again 6 months later.

You will receive an invite for both the annual health check and the 6 month review. Both of the appointments will be a nurse and you will need to have a blood test before each appointment.

There are times when you will need to be seen more often than twice a year, for example after you are first diagnosed or if problems are detected during one of the routine reviews. We arrange these additional reviews as needed and may be a nurse or one of the Doctors.

The practice team

There are 2 nurses in the team; Anne Gascoyne and Clare Bilynskyj.

The diabetes lead for the practice is Dr Abbas

Specialist care

If there is a particular problem identified with your diabetes care that we cannot help you within the practice, then we will refer you to a specialist service.

For the majority of specialist problems we use Leeds Community Healthcare diabetes service, though for some people we also refer to Wharfedale General Hospital or St. James’s.

Self help and support groups

There are 8,760 hours in a year and over a year you will only spend 2 to 3 hours receiving support and advice about your diabetes from professionals. The vast majority of care comes from ‘self care’.

We suggest that all people who develop diabetes should attend the self-management education programme, which is 6 hours of extra education offered to those with a new diagnosis of diabetes (your nurse will mention it).

There is also a local PEP Diabetes support group as we recognise people live with diabetes for years and so need on-going support and advice.

Health visitors

Health Visitors are all trained nurses who have extra training and qualifications in child health. They are a fantastic source of information about child development and health, parenting strategies, breastfeeding, nutrition and community support. They also offer help with social, emotional and environmental issues that affect families.

Health visitor service website

Child health checks

Dr Isherwood runs a Wednesday afternoon Mother and Baby check clinic- Please contact reception on 0113 221 3510 for booking details

The first will be with a GP at the surgery when your baby is around 6 weeks old.You will be sent information about this and asked to make an appointment at the practice.

You will also be offered routine health reviews for your child, with your health visitor, at 6-8 weeks, 8-12 months and 2-2½ years old.

Child Immunisations

Immunisations are given by our practice nurses in accordance with the NHS vaccine schedule.

Further information on the schedule and vaccines in general can be found on NHS choices vaccinations.

Immunisation Schedule

Stopping smoking increases your life expectancy and helps improve your quality of life, not to mention making you wealthier as well!

It is never too late to stop and the NHS is here to help you.
Getting NHS support really works – it can be four times more successful than going it alone (cold turkey) and it’s completely free of charge. So why not try it? You have nothing to lose.

Be Smoke Free

This is the service we recommend to our patients and is free to everyone. You can arrange an appointment without having to see a doctor.

If they recommend medication or patches to help you stop then we will prescribe them for you (according to your agreed treatment plan).

Visit the Be Smoke Free website for more information about the service, or request an appointment.

Electronic cigarettes

E cigarettes are marketed as a cheaper, safer alternative to conventional cigarettes. As they do not produce smoke, research suggests that electronic cigarettes are relatively harmless in comparison with smoking. To find out more have a look at the ASH Briefing on electronic cigarettes.

Local smoke free stories

In need of inspiration? Then why not listen to some people who have been successful at giving up – today is the day.

Do you need to lose weight? There are a number of online resources and local clinics that you can access without having to see your doctor for a referral.

Not sure if you need to lose weight then try out this weight calculating tool.

Online help

Advice for adults:

NHS Choices weight loss guide is an excellent guide with suggestions on a 12 week plan. It also has email support.

One You Leeds provides some online advice as well as face to face services.

Advice for children:

NHS Choices excellent guide on what to do if my child is overweight.

Face to face support

Support for adults:

• One You Leeds offers a range of free NHS service to help you loose weight. This is the service that our Nurses and Doctors will refer you to if you need additional support. You can self refer to this service.
• There are also private services (that you would need to pay for) such as Weight Watchers and Slimming World who both provide popular classes locally.

All our doctors are trained to help people suffering from mental health problems. Making an appointment is a good place to start if you are looking for help.

There are also lots of other services locally that are there to support you, many of whom you can refer yourself to.

Services for adults

• If you are aged 17 or older then a good place to start is the Mindwell website. It is designed to help you understand the common problems that people face and the range of services here to help. It also offers help to those who are worried about others.
• You might have heard your GP or friend talk about IAPT. This is a range of services that we commonly refer our patients to when they have problems with mental health. Here is a list of what IAPT offer, you can also refer yourself to this service from their website.

Services for children

If you are aged 16 or under, then a good place to start is the MindMate website.

MindMate is specifically aimed at young people and can help you understand the way you are feeling and find the right advice and support. It also offers advice for parents.

Feeling suicidal

If we are open, then please call now to book an urgent same day appointment with one of our doctors.

If we are not open, or you would prefer to get help elsewhere, then please click one of the links below:

I am 17 and older and need help now

I am 16 or younger and need urgent help