News:

Appointments
Appointments are available to book in advance and on the day and patients are reminded that booking on the day is very useful in certain circumstances, but is not the only option for booking an appointment.

Out of Hours
Emergency Out of Hours contact number 01372 844000. Outside normal surgery hours, calls are diverted directly to Thamesdoc

Telephone Calls
If you wish to contact us about test results or have queries on referrals or other general enquiries, please ring between 2:00pm - 4:00pm so that we have an opportunity to clear the early morning rush for appointments.

Announcements

01 Sep - 01 Oct
NHS Smokefree

Find out about all of the free NHS services available to support you as you go try to give up smoking.

01 Aug - 01 Oct
NHS Summer Health

Stay safe in the sun, including sunscreens, sunburn relief, heat exhaustion, eczema and moles. Summer holidays are great fun for children, but can bring risks. Find out more

01 Jul - 01 Oct
Change for Life

Would you like loads of tips and help to make changes for a healthier future? As part of Change4Life, you will receive tons of helpful information, recipes, tools, tips, and games for the kids.

BBC Health

UK radiotherapy 'lagging behind'

Too few UK cancer patients are receiving state-of-the-art radiotherapy care, experts from Cancer Research UK say.

ME 'virus link' found in children

ME, or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, in children could be caused by a virus, scientists say.

Gaps persist in cancer survival

Despite significant improvements in cancer survival rates across England, regional differences remain, national statistics show.

'Genetic link' to breast cancer

Researchers have identified a series of genetic variations which may play a role in a common breast cancer.

Bipolar 'not linked to violence'

People with a mental illness are no more likely to be violent unless they abuse drugs or alcohol, a study suggests.

NHS in Wales faces £380m cutbacks

The Welsh NHS faces making £380m worth of cutbacks by April, with managers saying it is the biggest challenge they have faced in 20 years.

Diabetes drug advice 'not heeded'

A type two diabetes drug is still being prescribed in the UK two months after it was recommended for withdrawal, BBC Panorama learns.

Junior medics 'leaving training'

Nearly one in four junior doctors drop out of their NHS training after two years, figures show.

Gum and heart link 'breakthrough'

Scientists say they have established one reason why gum disease may increase the risk of heart disease.

Reading Arabic 'hard for brain'

Israeli scientists believe they have identified why Arabic is particularly hard to learn to read.

Yahoo Health

US smoking rate still stuck at 1 in 5 adults (AP)

AP - U.S. smoking rates continue to hold steady, at about one in five adults lighting up regularly, frustrated health officials reported Tuesday.

FDA cites claims on 2 green tea beverages (AP)

AP - Federal health regulators have issued warnings to the makers of Canada Dry ginger ale and Lipton tea for making unsubstantiated nutritional claims about their green tea-flavored beverages.

FDA relents from midodrine withdrawal plan (AP)

AP - Federal regulators have backed off a plan to remove a Shire PLC low blood-pressure treatment from the market after warning in August that the drug has not been proven effective.

Japan confirms its first case of new superbug gene (AP)

AP - Japan has confirmed the nation's first case of a new gene in bacteria that allows the microorganisms to become drug-resistant superbugs, detected in a man who had medical treatment in India, a Health Ministry official said Tuesday.

Picking right blood pressure medicine challenging (AP)

AP - It's hard to predict which pills will best lower which patient's high blood pressure, but researchers are hunting ways to better personalize therapy — perhaps even using a blood test.

Cholera outbreak in Cameroon 'worst in 20 years' (AP)

AP - UNICEF says more than 300 people have died in the West African nation of Cameroon from the country's worst cholera outbreak in 20 years.

Lack of Sleep May Be Linked to Childhood Obesity (HealthDay)

HealthDay - MONDAY, Sept. 6 (HealthDay News) -- Infants and preschoolers who don't get enough sleep at night are at increased risk for later childhood obesity, a new study suggests.

For Bonobo Males, Mom Is the Best Wingman (LiveScience.com)

LiveScience.com - To most human males, the thought of your mother anywhere near your sex life is probably horrifying. Not so for the bonobo, one of our closest primate relatives. A new study confirms that hanging out with mom boosts male bonobos' chances of getting intimate with a fertile female.

Clinical Trials Update: Sept. 7, 2010 (HealthDay)

HealthDay - (HealthDay News) -- Here are the latest clinical trials, courtesy of ClinicalConnection.com:

Autistic Toddlers Prefer to Gaze at Geometric Patterns: Study (HealthDay)

HealthDay - MONDAY, Sept. 6 (HealthDay News) -- When given the choice to gaze at geometric patterns or children dancing and playing, toddlers with autism spent more time looking at the patterns while typically developing toddlers preferred to look at other kids, a new study finds.

MedPage Today

Adult Smoking Hits Plateau

(MedPage Today) -- One in five U.S. adults continues to smoke tobacco -- a percentage that hasn't budged since 2005 -- suggesting that more aggressive efforts are needed to reduce smoking-related diseases and deaths, the CDC said.

Pandemic H1N1 Similar to Seasonal Strains (CME/CE, with video)

(MedPage Today) -- In general, the pandemic H1N1 influenza virus did not cause more serious disease than other recent influenza A strains, researchers found.

Nevirapine Reuse Possible in Exposed Children With HIV (CME/CE)

(MedPage Today) -- In most HIV-infected children being exposed at birth to nevirapine (Viramune) doesn't rule out using the drug again later, researchers reported.

PCV-7 Vaccine May Promote Serotype 19A Infection (CME/CE)

(MedPage Today) -- Infants receiving a three-dose regimen of heptavalent PCV-7 pneumococcal vaccine were more likely than unvaccinated controls to pick up a nonvaccine pneumococcal strain associated with invasive infection and antibiotic resistance, researchers said.

More Human Trials Needed for HIV Vaccine Hunt

(MedPage Today) -- HIV vaccine researchers are calling for more and better human trials as part of the quest for ways to block transmission of the virus.

Patients Expect More from PCI than It Delivers (CME/CE)

(MedPage Today) -- Cardiologists fully understand the limits of percutaneous coronary interventions -- but their patients are often overly optimistic about the benefits of PCI, a new survey revealed.

Splint Matches Cast for Kids' Wrist Fractures (CME/CE)

(MedPage Today) -- In children with wrist fractures, a splint works as well as a cast, researchers reported.

Behcet's Takes Higher Toll in Men (CME/CE)

(MedPage Today) -- Men with Behçet's disease are much more likely than women to die of this chronic multisystem vasculitis, a large French study found.

City Living Can Drive You Crazy (CME/CE)

(MedPage Today) -- Increased social fragmentation in large cities is a large part of the reason that psychotic disorders are more common in urban areas, researchers have suggested.

Tapentadol Eases OA Pain (CME/CE)

(MedPage Today) -- The centrally acting, extended-release analgesic tapentadol provided effective pain relief in patients with knee osteoarthritis, but with fewer of the gastrointestinal side effects seen with oxycodone, a phase III study found.

Reception Opening Hours

Monday - Friday:

08:00 to 13:00

14:00 to 18:30

Appointments

Appointments are available to book in advance and on the day and patients are reminded that booking on the day is very useful in certain circumstances, but is not the only option for booking an appointment.

Reasons for using On the Day Appointments

your condition is of a more urgent nature and requires treatment on that day

Reasons for booking in advance

your condition is on going and not restricted by a time limit
medication reviews
continuation sick notes
follow up appointments eg if the doctor asks you to come back and see him/her you should be booking your next appointment at reception before you leave or as soon as you get home if you need to check a work rota first.

Our telephones are very congested at 8:00am due to the overwhelming volume of calls we receive. If any of the reasons for booking in advance apply to you or you know you will need to see your GP routinely it would be apprecaited and of huge benefit to yourself, the surgery and other patients if you would endeavour to book these appointments as far in advance as you possibly can.

Consulting Times

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
DR NAC Down	08:30 - 11:30 16:30 - 18:30	08:30 - 11:30 16:30 - 18:30	08:30 - 11:30 15:00 - 17:00		08:30 - 11:30 Alternate afternoon & evening surgery
Dr R Draper	08:30 - 11:30 16:30 - 18:30	08:30 - 11:30 15:00 - 17:00		08:30 - 11:30 16:30 - 18:30	08:30 - 11:30 Alternate afternoon & evening surgery
Dr J Pickin	08:30 - 11:30		08:30 - 11:30 16:30 - 18:30	08:30 - 11:30 15:00 - 17:00	08:30 - 10:20
Dr J Austen			08:00 - 11:00		08:00 - 11:00
Dr F Sindall	09:20 - 12:00	09:20 - 12:00		09:20 - 12:00

Practice Information

For quick medical advice online or on the telephone contact NHS Direct