Welcome to
Clarence Medical Centre
Routine appointments Return to top
Routine appointments can be booked with any member
of the clinical team. You can see any doctor or nurse at the surgery but for ongoing
problems we would encourage you to try and see the doctor who has previously looked
after you for that problem -
All
of the doctors do sessions at both surgeries and patients can book appointments at
the surgery of their preference.
Nurses appointments are available at both surgeries
Monday to Friday.
We will happily provide home visits where
they are clinically justified, for example to house-
If you wish to request a home visit please contact the surgery as soon as possible
so that the doctor may plan his visits. The triage nurse will telephone you back
to discuss your home visit request before confirming it.
Please try to get to the
surgery if at all possible -
Except in exceptional circumstances we will
always ask for small children to be brought to the surgery, where we believe we can
offer the best care -
The doctors undertake small operations
at both surgeries.
Different doctors do varying types of minor surgery and your usual
doctor may refer you to a different doctor at the surgery for a particular procedure
to be undertaken.
We have a number of practice leaflets available to advise you on
post-
Patients must be seen
by a doctor before booking a minor surgery appointment.
Blood
pressure measurements can be undertaken by any of our practice nurses, or by Donna,
our Health Care Assistant.
Rose Jones, one of our Nurse Practitioners also runs a
clinic for patients whose blood pressure is more complicated, for example high blood
pressure which has not been fully controlled, or has only recently been diagnosed.
She is able to start or modify medication without you needing to see the GP. Unless
your doctor has requested that you specifically see them for your check we would
encourage you to visit the nurse for your blood pressure check. If necessary the
nurse will involve Rose to make sure your blood pressure control is as good as possible.
Blood
Tests Return to top
Blood tests are undertaken by our phlebotomist (or by our District
nurses for strictly house-
Please state that the appointment
is for a blood test when you arrange -
When you have your blood test you will be given a slip outlining the tests you
have had done, and how to get the results. It is your responsibility to contact the
surgery for the result -
To make it easier for patients we have a results system so that you
do not need to make an appointment with the doctor just to get your test results
-
Our surgery midwives run antenatal clinics at Clarence Medical Centre.
If you
are pregnant your first port of call to arrange antenatal care is your doctor, who
will assess your general health and past obstetric history in order to refer you
for antenatal care. The degree to which other professionals such as obstetricians
will be involved will depend upon your general health and your preference -
Your doctor
will refer you to the midwives and they will contact you directly to attend your
first antenatal appointment with them -
If you have had a difficult time with pregnancy previously
or if you anticipate a difficult time then you are encouraged to contact your doctor
as soon as you know that you are pregnant.
Whilst some patients decide to have a home
birth (after discussing it with their midwife) most of our patients choose to deliver
at Glan Clwyd Hospital, and your midwife will help to coordinate your care there.
You may be invited to hospital antenatal clinics at the Royal Alexandra Hospital,
Glan Clwyd Hospital or HM Stanley Hospital depending upon your requirements.
Your
midwife will give you details of how to contact her when you first meet her.
We have a dedicated Childrens Nurse Practitioner, Llinos Howatson,
who specialises in the care of children. She runs clinics every day and can see children
with minor illnesses as well as children with chronic conditions such as asthma.
If necessary Llinos will refer children to a GP or to the local hospital services
for further care.
All children are eligible to be registered for Child Health Surveillance
between birth and the age of 5 and we encourage the parents of all our eligible patients
to agree to them being registered. Child Health Surveillance is a programme for monitoring
children for possible developmental problems which may otherwise cause health problems
if not picked up at an early stage. Examples include screening for hearing problems
and speech delay.
Llinos runs a baby clinic each week, which is where child health
surveillance commonly starts.
Your child will also have a health visitor who undertakes
much of the child health surveillance work and is a useful source of information
if you have any concerns about a young child.
Contraceptive Care Return to top
Effective
contraception is not simply about preventing pregnancy -
Age
is not a barrier to seeking contraceptive / sexual health advice. Your medical records
are confidential and young patients should seek contraceptive advice if they are,
or are thinking about becoming, sexually active.
Contraceptive / sexual health advice
is provided by our team of doctors and senior nurses. They can provide you with information
to enable you to make the right contraception decisions for you.
We also have a number
of leaflets about contraception -
Gwyn, our Prescribing Team Manager, is available at the practice to
answer any questions you may have about the medication we have prescribed for you.
As
part of his role at the practice Gwyn regularly reviews patient prescriptions to
ensure that medication is being provided to you as we intended when it was first
prescribed.
You may on occasions receive a letter from him to suggest changes to
your prescription. These changes include:
1. changing your old prescriptions to new
types of the same drug
2. changing the name of the drug which appears on your prescription
from brand-
If you
have any questions about your medication or about any changes Gwyn proposes with
your medication you can contact him directly at the surgery on 01745 333632.
The warfarin clinic is run by Linda Hughes-
Regular INR
blood tests are undertaken at both surgeries by our practice nurses and the samples
analysed at Glan Clwyd Hospital. The results are available on the following working
day and a warfarin dose will be calculated for you.
Patients who are house-
Dr Lisa Williams
runs a well-
To book an appointment please contact our receptionists
(in person at either surgery or by telephone on our appointments line 01745 350680)
and request a 'well woman clinic' appointment.
All women
between the ages of 20 and 65 who have ever been sexually active should have a smear
done. These are usually carried out every 3 years or more frequently if previous
smears suggested this would be more appropriate.
Cervical smears assess the general
health of the cervix and can pick up cervical abnormalities which may otherwise progress
into cervical cancer.
The best time to have your smear done is around 2 weeks into
your menstrual cycle i.e. approximately midway between the date of your last period
and the date of your next expected period. Our receptionists will try to fit you
in around this time in an appointment slot which suits you.
Cervical smears are undertaken
by our practice nurses -
Results can take 2 or 3 months to return at busy
times -
We are able to undertake private medical examinations
in addition to the usual NHS medical examinations which are provided as standard
for our patients. A summary of medicals provided are shown below. This list is not
exhaustive -
Insurance medicals
Mortgage company / loan company medicals
Adoption
/ foster medicals
Benefits Agency medical examinations
Taxi driver medicals
HGV /
PSV driver medicals
Private employment medicals
Boxing medicals
Lifeboat service
medicals
Medicals at request of solicitor
To arrange a private medical please contact
our Medicals Secretary who will be able to provide you with our list of current medical
fees and book your medical:
Judith Griffiths -
Dieticians from Glan Clwyd Hospital visit the surgery from time to time and
appointments can be booked with them in the usual way.
Our dieticians can offer excellent
advice to tailor your diet to allow you the best possible health. Advice that they
provide includes:
Ways to reduce cholesterol
Healthy, weight reducing diets
Diabetic
diets
Diet in coeliac disease (a gluten free diet)
How to increase the fibre in your
diet
Healthy eating for people with liver disease
Healthy eating with gallstones
How to maximise your diet if your appetite is poor
Foods to avoid in allergies e.g.
nut allergy
Eating healthily on a low income
Vitamin deficiencies
Diabetes Return
to top
Our diabetes clinic is run by Nurse Rose and Nurse Sarah, and is supervised
by Dr O'Donnell and Dr Dobson.
All patients with diabetes are automatically invited
to the clinic periodically. Patients who are experiencing difficulties with their
diabetic control and management will be seen more frequently but all diabetic patients
at the practice will be invited to the clinic at least annually.
Heart Disease/Stroke
Care Return to top
Patients with coronary heart disease and patients who have had
a stroke will be invited to our Cardiovascular clinic which is run by Nurse Linda
and is supervised by Dr Stockport and Dr Dobson.
All patients with heart disease
and all patients who have had a stroke are automatically invited to the clinic periodically.
Patients who are experiencing difficulties with their management will be seen more
frequently but all eligible patients at the practice will be invited to the clinic
at least annually.
Respiratory Care Return to top
Patients with asthma or chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease (COPD) can attend our respiratory clinic and may be asked to attend
from time to time to make an up-
The clinic is run
by Nurse Sian and Nurse Karin, with supervision by Dr Bolina and Dr Medegadara.