Joint Injections
Dr. Thevarkad and Dr. Luque offer joint injections to treat a variety of conditions affecting joints, soft tissues, and nerves. Commonly treated issues include frozen shoulder, rotator cuff problems, osteoarthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome, and tennis elbow, among others.
Joint injections are designed to reduce inflammation, which is often the primary cause of pain. These treatments involve administering a mixture of steroids and, in some cases, a local anesthetic into or around the affected joint. While the injection process may cause minor discomfort, most patients find it far less daunting than expected.
How to Access This Service:Patients are referred for joint injections following a routine assessment with one of our GPs. Please note that the injection itself will be scheduled separately from the initial consultation.
Diabetic Reviews
Diabetes reviews are conducted by our senior practice nurses- Jenny White or Hilary Buser. You will be invited initially to do your blood tests alongside blood pressure and foot checks with the healthcare assistant. You will then review the results with Jenny or Hilary who will agree a personalised plan for your diabetes care.
Asthma Reviews
Asthma reviews should be conducted yearly and are available with our asthma trained practice nurse or GP. Please bring your peak flow machines, inhalers and spacers to your appointment.
Contraception
All our practice nurses are trained to provide family planning advice and arrange your repeat prescription via the GPs. Our GPs are also able to discuss your contraception queries. We also assess for and fit contraceptive implants ( Jenny White ) and intrauterine coils ( Dr Thevarkad)
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Antenatal Clinics
The community midwife , Lydia Flanders, holds a weekly clinic at Desborough Surgery (Mondays & Fridays) and Hazlemere Surgery ( Thursdays ). The community midwife works closely with the practice and will care for you both in the hospital and at home. You can call your local community midwives’ office on (Aylesbury) 01296 316120 or (High Wycombe) 01494 425172. You can refer yourself to the midwife by registering your pregnancy here.
Blood Tests, Blood Pressure & ECGs
Our Health care assistants see patients for their blood tests and ECGs. Please drink plenty of water before your blood test, so you are well hydrated. Please do not use moisturisers or emollients prior to your ECG.
Blood tests can also be done at the local hospitals and can be booked online here.
Blood Pressure is checked at your annual Long Term Condition review or as part of an NHS Health Check which is offered to adults in England aged 40-74 every 5 years. You can also request to have your BP checked at most pharmacies.
Find a pharmacy that offers free blood pressure checks
Some libraries also have blood pressure machines for short term loan to library members. Enquire directly with the library for availability: High Wycombe, Castlefield, Micklefield, Burnham, Chesham, Aylesbury, Buckingham.
Childhood Immunisations
Our practice nurses offer regular appointments for childhood immunisations as per the national routine immunisation schedule. New children should provide evidence of child immunisations at registration.
When registering at the surgery please bring in the list of immunisations that your child has received previously.
Vaccinations
Flu vaccine clinic start in September/October each year at the surgery.
Minor Illness Clinic
Senior Practice Nurses Jenny White and Hilary Buser run this clinic for all patients over 5 years of age. Here you will be examined and treated for conditions such as coughs and colds, sore throats, rashes, earache, tummy ache, diarrhoea and vomiting, eye complaints, sprains and strains, urinary symptoms etc.
NHS Health Checks
The practice offers the NHS Health Check for patients aged 40-74. For more information, click here.
Mother & Baby Clinic
The practice provides a routine 6-8 week mother and child health check for a thorough physical examination. For more information on child health checks click here.
Travel Clinic & Fear of Flying Medication
Not all travel vaccines are available on the NHS, but our nurses can offer you travel advice.
UPDATE October 2024: unfortunately due to workload and staff shortage we are currently unable to provide travel advice and NHS travel vaccines. Please use the links below for travel vaccine information and local organisations where they can be obtained.
Information regarding your travel destination requirements can be found at https://travelhealthpro.org.uk/
You can download the Travel advice Sheet and also the list of Private travel clinics locally from the given links below:
Diazepam in the UK is a Class C/Schedule IV controlled drug. The following short guide outlines the issues surrounding its use with regards to flying and why the surgery no longer prescribes such medications for this purpose.
People often come to us requesting the doctor or nurse to prescribe diazepam for fear of flying or assist with sleep during flights. Diazepam is a sedative, which means it makes you sleepy and more relaxed. There are a number of very good reasons why prescribing this drug is not recommended.
According to the prescribing guidelines doctors follow (British National Formulary) diazepam is contraindicated (not allowed) for treating phobias (fears). It also states that “the use of benzodiazepines to treat short-term ‘mild’ anxiety is inappropriate.” Your doctor would be taking a significant legal risk by prescribing against these guidelines. They are only licensed short term for a crisis in generalised anxiety. If this is the case, you should be getting proper care and support for your mental health and not going on a flight. Fear of flying in isolation is not a generalised anxiety disorder.
Although plane emergencies are a rare occurrence there are concerns about reduced awareness and reaction times for patients taking Diazepam which could pose a significant risk to themselves and others due to not being able to react in a manner which could save their life in the event of an emergency on board necessitating evacuation.
The use of such sedative drugs can make you fall asleep, however when you do sleep it is an unnatural non-REM sleep. This means you won’t move around as much as during natural sleep. This can cause you to be at an increased risk of developing a blood clot (Deep Vein Thrombosis – DVT) in the leg or even the lungs. Blood clots are very dangerous and can even prove fatal. This risk is even greater if your flight is greater than 4 hours, the amount of time which has been shown to increase the risk of developing DVT whether in an aeroplane or elsewhere.
Whilst most people find Diazepam sedating, a small number have paradoxical agitation and aggression. They can also cause disinhibition and lead you to behave in a way that you would not normally which can pose a risk on the plane. This could impact on your safety as well as that of other passengers and could also get you into trouble with the law. A similar effect can be seen with alcohol, which has led to people being removed from flights.
Diazepam and similar controlled drugs are illegal in a number of countries. They may be confiscated or you may find yourself in trouble with the police. The passenger may also need to use a different strategy for the homeward bound journey and/or other legs of the journey
It is important to declare all medical conditions and medications you take to your travel insurer. If not, there is a risk of nullifying any insurance policy you may have.
Given the above we will no longer be providing Diazepam or similar drugs for flight anxiety and instead suggest the below aviation industry recommended flight anxiety courses.
Flight anxiety does not come under the remit of General Medical Services as defined in the GP contract and so we are not obliged to prescribe for this. Patients who still wish to take benzodiazepines for flight anxiety are advised to consult with a private GP.
For further information:
https://thefearofflying.com/programs/fly-and-be-calm/
https://www.fearlessflyer.easyjet.com/
https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/information/travel-assistance/flying-with-confidence
Home Visits
Home visits are for those patients who are housebound and too ill or frail to come to the Surgery. Home visits are not for patients who do not have transport. If you need a home visit, please try to call before 10.00am.
However , In cases of major injury or critical condition, it may be more appropriate to go directly to your local Hospital Accident & Emergency Department. If an Ambulance is required, dial 999.