Flu can be serious, especially for older people or those with chronic illnesses. A preventative vaccine is available each Autumn.

If you are over 65 or have diabetes, heart, lung or kidney disease, or take steroid tablets ask for details in September.

Are You a Carer?

If you are please let us know - we may be able to help you

There is a wealth of information on the NHS website about carers and caring. Below are some links into the site that we hope you will find useful.

Every parent or carer wants to know what to do when a child is ill. Most of the problems you will come up against are simply an everyday part of growing up, often helped with a chat with your Midwife, Health Visitor or Pharmacist.

Almost all babies, toddlers and children will get the most common childhood illnesses like chickenpox, colds, sore throats and ear infections. While these are not very nice at the time they are easy to treat by your GP or at home with the support from a GP or Health Visitor rather than an unnecessary trip to Accident & Emergency.

If you are worried you must get further advice. Trust your instincts, you know your child better than anybody else. 

Further Information

There are also common emotional, behavioural and developmental problems that happen in childhood, such as sleep, tantrums, hearing problems, fears and worries in your child.  Sleep problems for instance can be very stressful for everyone in the family and often can be sorted out fairly easily for most familes.

For more information about common behavioural and sleep problems you can visit the following.

• Common Childhood Illnesses
• Developmental Milestones
• Mental Health Problems

The doctors offer comprehensive advice on methods of contraception. We fit coils, the contraceptive implants and can arrange a vasectomy in house, by appointment during normal surgery times. Please tell the receptionist if you need to be seen urgently for emergency contraception. This can be done confidentially, stating the appointment is needed for personal reasons/women’s problem.

The Enhanced Access has been launched in East Lancashire and will be provided by East Lancashire Alliance to increase the number of appointments available to patients in the area.

Every GP practice in Burnley, Rossendale, Hyndburn, and Ribblesdale will be involved in the new Enhanced Access scheme.

The Enhanced Access scheme means that patients can make an appointment via their registered practice to see a variety of Health Professionals such as GPs, ANPs, PNs, HCAs and Clinical Pharmacists which are delivered F2F and remotely Mondays to Fridays from 17:00 – 20:45, and 09:00 – 17:00 on a Saturday. This service has been set up by East Lancashire Alliance on behalf of Primary Care Networks to improve services available to patients outside GP core hours.

The Clinicians will be able to access patients full medical record (including their practice notes), request tests and investigations, as well as completing referrals for them into further services and care. Anything added to the patients record during the Enhanced Access Consultation will go straight back to their registered practice so they can be kept up to data with anything that may have changed or been updated on the record.

Appointments for services provided to all the patients in Rossendale Practices are available from the below locations:

• Irwell Medical Practice, Bacup Health Centre (Irwell Mill/Rochdale Rd, Bacup OL13 9NR) – Monday and Thursdays
• Ilex View Medical Centre, Rossendale Health Centre (Bacup Rd, Rossendale BB4 7PL) – Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays

If you would like one of these appointments, please ask your receptionist team at your practice for more information. Sometimes these appointments 'Open' up to all practices if they aren't used, so it may be we may ask you to attend the Burnley, Hyndburn or Ribblesdale sites for a sooner appointment.

We want to offer people who are nearing the end of their life the highest quality of care and support. We wish to help you live as well as you can, for as long as you can.

We will:

• Listen to your wishes about the remainder of your life, including your final days and hours and answer as best we can any questions that you have;
• Help you think ahead so as to identify the choices that you may face, assist you to record your decisions and do our best to ensure that your wishes are fulfilled;
• Talk with you and the people who are important to you about your future needs. We will do this as often as you feel the need, so that you can all understand and prepare for everything that is likely to happen;
• Endeavour to ensure clear written communication of your needs and wishes to those who offer you care and support both within our surgery hours;
• Do our utmost to ensure that your remaining days and nights are as comfortable as possible, and that you receive all the particular specialist care and emotional and spiritual support that you need;
• Do all we can to help you preserve your independence, dignity and sense of personal control throughout the course of your illness;
• Support the people who are important to you, both as you approach the end of your life and during their bereavement.

We also invite your ideas and suggestions as to how we can improve the care and support that we deliver to you, the people who are important to you and others in similar situations.

Some of our doctors are qualified to perform certain surgical procedures. Your doctor will advise you where this may be appropriate.

Practice Nurse

Please see the Practice nurse for any of the following:

• Asthma reviews
• B12 Injections
• Blood Pressure Checks
• Childhood Immunisations
• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
• Contraceptive reviews (includes Pill checks)
• Coronary Heart Disease Checks
• Dementia reviews
• Depo Provera (contraceptive) Injections
• Diabetes reviews
• Flu/Pneumonia Vaccinations
• Health Checks
• Home Visits
• Medication Reviews
• New Patient Checks
• Referrals
• Smears
• Travel Vaccinations

Healthcare Assistant

See the healthcare assistant for:

• Blood pressure checks
• ECG’s
• New Patient Checks
• Phelbotomy
• Weight Management

Smoking is a major cause of disability and death. We offer advice to help smokers to quit.

Many things affect your health and wellbeing. GPs tell us that a lot of people visit them feeling isolated or lonely. Or they might be stressed out by work, money and housing problems. Sometimes it’s the stress of managing different long-term conditions.

That’s where social prescribing comes in. It starts with a conversation. It might be the conversation you’ve just had with your doctor. Or with another person in the practice team. They will refer you to a social prescribing link worker.

The link worker is there to listen to you, and put you in touch with the people and activities that might help you to feel better.

Your link worker might introduce you to a community group, a new activity or a local club. Or they might help you find legal advice or debt counselling. They might just help you find information and guidance: a bit of inside knowledge on your situation or what local resources there are. They could even support you to create something new such as a gardening club, a fishing group, a ‘men’s shed’ or knit and knatter group.

Social prescribing can help you to have more control over your own health and find ways to improve how you feel in a way that suits you.

Studies show that people get better and feel better faster than those treated with medicine alone. And because it works, it’s happening more and more – including here in this area.

For more information about social prescribing visit the NHS England website

We also run the following Specialist clinics:

• Dietician
• Mental Health Support Clinic
• Drug Rehabilitation Clinic

These clinics can be accessed by a GP or Nurse referral or from the Community Drugs Team.

Well baby clinics are held on Thursday mornings from 09.00 to 12.00, by appointment run by Dr’s Roxburgh or Dr Ealing. A Health Visitor will usually be available at these clinics which are for routine checkups and vaccinations, together with help and advice regarding the health of pre-school children. It is important that all babies and young children receive their routine vaccinations. If you have any queries please speak to the Health Visitor, Nurse or Doctor. Post-natal's are also carried out in these clinics.