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Flu Clinic 2024/25

Our flu clinics will commence on Thursday 3^rd October 2024. The majority of patients will receive invites to book their flu vaccination via text message. Patients will be able to book or amend their appointment via the link in the text message. To reduce the number of telephone calls to the practice, invitations will be staggered over a period of days and will commence on Thursday 5^th September 2024. If you haven’t received an invite by Monday 16^th September 2024, please contact reception on 01202 517333 to book an appointment.

IMPORTANT: Our phone lines are very busy between 8.00am and 10.00am. Please be aware the reception team will not be able to manage any enquires or bookings for flu vaccination until after 10.00am.

If you fall within the cohorts detailed below you are eligible for a flu vaccine.

those aged 65 years and over
those aged 6 months to under 65 years in clinical risk groups (as defined by the Green Book, chapter 19 (Influenza))
pregnant women
all children aged 2 or 3 years on 31 August 2024
those in long-stay residential care homes
carers in receipt of carer’s allowance, or those who are the main carer of an elderly or disabled person
close contacts of immunocompromised individuals
frontline workers in a social care setting without an employer led occupational health scheme including those working for a registered residential care or nursing home, registered domiciliary care providers, voluntary managed hospice providers and those that are employed by those who receive direct payments (personal budgets) or Personal Health budgets, such as Personal Assistants

All those who turn 65 years by 31 March 2025 are eligible for flu vaccination.

#HelpYourNHS

Prescriptions for 35 minor conditions are no longer available in Dorset such as coughs, colds and indigestion. Visit your pharmacy or supermarket instead.

NHS App

For information about the NHS App and how to register for this service please click on this link NHS App

St Alban's Medical Centre Practice Information

We have 7 doctors at St Alban's Medical Centre. The partnership is contracted to NHS Dorset - Integrated Care Board to provide personal medical services to patients registered with us and patients temporarily residing within our practice boundary. Our patient numbers are in excess of 11,400.

The doctors and our staff aim to provide medical care to the highest possible standard and to promote and improve the health of our practice population by providing the most appropriate range of services for their needs.

The partnership provides services from both the surgery at St Alban's Crescent and from our satellite clinic at East Way and these are listed in detail later on in this website.

Between 1 and 2pm the surgery is open for emergency calls only. St Alban's Medical Centre is closed on Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays. Enhanced Access services are delivered by the Central Bournemouth Network at East Way Clinic, Monday to Friday 5.00pm to 8.00pm and Saturday 9.00am to 1.00pm.

Access

There is good access for the disabled to all of our consultation rooms. Both surgeries have a ramp and wide doors to allow for wheelchair access. At both surgeries we have electronically operated doors for ease of access.

We are working to improve access to appointments for our patients, in particular at evenings and weekends. If you would like to be offered one of these appointments, please ask at Reception. These appointments may be at a different site, e.g. East Way Clinic, the Urgent Treatment Centre at Bournemouth Hospital.

When We are Closed

If you become ill whilst the surgery is closed, there is medical help on hand.

If you feel you are suffering from life-threatening symptoms, please dial 999 and ask for an ambulance. It is useful to know that you can dial 112 for emergency services too – this can be helpful if you are in the countryside on your mobile phone, as the service can use GPS tracking to identify where you are.

If you are unwell and you do not feel you can wait until the surgery reopens, please call 111.

Calls to these services are free from landlines and mobiles, although pay as you go mobiles must be in credit for 111 calls to go through.

111 calls are triaged and graded for urgency, and then a doctor or nurse will call you back and decide the most appropriate form of help. Depending on your problem, you may:

Receive advice over the phone;
Be asked to visit the local treatment centre
Receive a visit from a health professional, such as a doctor, paramedic or nurse.

If you have difficulty communicating or hearing, you can contact NHS 111 via a textphone by dialling 18001 111 - the calls are connected to TextDirect and messages will display on your textphone or computer to let you know what is happening. A typetalk relay assistant will join the call, and relay your message to the NHS 111 advisor and let you know their response and advice. There is also a video relay service for people who communicate using British Sign Language (BSL) – look up NHS 111 BSL interpreter service online.

The 111 service cannot deal with practice-based enquiries such as repeat prescription requests, test results or booking appointments.

If you have run out of medication whilst the practice is closed, you can contact your usual pharmacist. In many cases, they can dispense some medication to tide you over until the surgery reopens.

NHS111