Appointments

For cervical screening appointments, you will be scheduled with our nursing team. Simply inform the reception staff of the reason for your call. Additionally, if you are enrolled in our text message service, this can help you to stay up-to-date with your health checks.

Extended access – book after working time 

The NHS cervical screening programme invites women aged between 25 and 64 for cervical screening. Screening also applies to other people within this age range who have a cervix, such as trans men.

The screening test aims to pick up changes early that could develop into cervical cancer if left untreated.

Contact us

Cervical screening is a way of preventing cancer. It tests for a virus called high risk human papilloma virus (HPV). High risk HPV can cause cervical cells to become abnormal. Most cases of cervical cancer are linked to high risk HPV. 

The cervix is part of the female reproductive system. It is the lowest part of the womb and is at the top of the vagina. A nurse takes a sample of cells from the cervix using a small soft brush (smear test) and sends the sample to the laboratory.

More information and translated guides

Please visit Cancer Research UK for more information: About Cervical Screening.

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If you have any queries regarding cervical screening please do not hesitate to get in touch.

The NHS provides free access to contraception for all patients.

For contraception appointments, you will be scheduled with our nursing team. Simply inform the reception staff of the reason for your call. We can provide the contraceptive pill or injection.

You can read more about contraception options here

Which method of contraception suits me? – NHS (www.nhs.uk)

Alternatives

Alternatively, you can contact the local Contraception and Sexual Health Clinic (CASH).

County Durham and Darlington – Sexual Health Services (cddft.nhs.uk)

Tel: 01913728700

The GP practice is often not the best place to visit in the first instance for an eye problem. There are two other NHS services locally that can provide more expert help for eye problems. For eye emergencies, Sunderland Eye Infirmary provides round the clock access. For non-emergency problems, several local opticians are able to offer quick appointments that are free for all patients. These are different to a routine sight test.

What is an “Eye Emergency”?

• Chemical liquids splashed in the eye.
• An injury to the eye in which the eye ball or lids are lacerated or objects enter the eye, such as sharp instruments or metal.
• A suddenly blind and painful eye which causes sickness and general feeling of being unwell.
• After an eye operation, a suddenly painful, red, swollen eye in which the vision has unexpectedly deteriorated.
• Patients following corneal graft surgery in which there is no pain, but for whom vision has rapidly deteriorated.
• Shadows or ‘curtaining’ in the field of vision which is painless but may be associated with flashing lights or an increase in seeing black specks or blobs (floaters).
• A red and painful eye associated with wearing contact lenses.
• Very painful eyes.
• Sudden loss of vision in one eye with no other symptoms. If both eyes are affected, call 999 as this may be a stroke.

Sunderland Eye Infirmary The nearest 24/7 eye hospital to Durham is Sunderland Eye Infirmary. This is not like a normal accident and emergency department in that you need to phone them first on 0191 569 9952.

Call Sunderland Eye Infirmary about an Eye Emergency

The hospital address is: Sunderland Eye Infirmary, Queen Alexandra Road, Sunderland, SR2 9HP (Google Maps)

Alternative Eye Emergency Hospitals

• Darlington Memorial Hospital – 01325 743472
• Middlesbrough – James Cook University Hospital – 01642 85409
• Newcastle – Royal Victoria Infirmary – Walk in’s only, 8.15am – 4.30pm Monday-Friday, 9am – 12:30pm Saturday, Closed Sunday & Bank Holidays.

What are the minor eye problems the optician can deal with?

• Red eye or eyelids
• Dry eye, or gritty and uncomfortable eyes
• Irritation and inflammation of the eye
• Significant recent sticky discharge from the eye or watery eye
• Recently occurring flashes or floaters
• Ingrowing eyelashes
• Recent and sudden loss of vision
• Foreign body in the eye

Minor Eye Conditions Service (MECS)

If you have a recent problem with your eyes – such as sore eyes, red eyes or visual disturbance – you can be assessed and treated by our local Minor Eye Conditions Service.

This is a free NHS service available from a number of local opticians.

How do I book an appointment with the service?

To make an appointment, call one of the opticians below. You will be asked some questions about your symptoms in order to assess how quickly you need to be seen by the service, which will be within 24 hours in urgent cases and within a few days for routine appointments.

Please take your glasses and a list of your current medication with you to the appointment. The optometrist may put drops in your eyes to enlarge your pupils in order to get a better view inside your eyes. You should not drive until the effects of these drops have worn off, which may take a few hours.

Costspex	41 Dragonville Industrial Park, DH1 2XU	0191 386 3517
Grundy and Naisbitt Ltd	1 Sanderson Street, Coxhoe, DH6 4DF	0191 377 0628
Simon Berry Optometrist Ltd	41a Marshall Terrace,  DH1 2HX	01913757544
Specsavers Durham	Unit 2, 1-4 North Road, DH1 4PW	0191 383 9495
Specsavers Arnison	Unit S, Arnison Retail Park Durham, DH1 5GB	0191 814 2020

Conditions treated

Conditions that can be seen under the service include:

• Red eye or eyelids
• Dry eye, or gritty and uncomfortable eyes
• Irritation and inflammation of the eye
• Significant recent sticky discharge from the eye or watery eye
• Recently occurring flashes or floaters
• Ingrowing eyelashes
• Recent and sudden loss of vision
• Foreign body in the eye

If you have a major eye condition that is being regularly monitored by your optometrist or hospital eye service, this will not be covered by this service; for example, cataracts, diabetic retinopathy or glaucoma.

Where should I go?

Registered optometry practices (opticians) offering the service are listed above. An appointment will normally be required, so telephone first. Appointments are available during normal working hours and some practices offer appointment at weekends. Not all practices have an optometrist available every day,
but if they don’t, they will be able to find you an alternative appointment nearby.

Who is this service for?

If you are registered with a local GP you can use this free service. It is for people of all ages – adults and children. Children under 16 years must be accompanied at their appointment by an adult.

Home visits are reserved for patients who are housebound (i.e. unable to leave the house, even with transport.)

The surgery is the best place to be assessed as we have the necessary equipment available for safe, effective examination and treatment, along with access to your full medical record. In addition, home visits are time consuming taking up to 4 usual appointment slots, reducing our overall availability.

If you need a home visit, please request this BEFORE 10.30. All requests for home visits are assessed and prioritised by the doctor on call.

All medication should be reviewed annually.  We aim to streamline this process where possible.  These might occur in one of two ways:

1. Review of notes
   If your medication does not need a discussion with a clinician or you have had the appropriate review, a clinician will review your notes and update your medication review.
2. Discussion with GP or pharmacist
   If your medication requires a discussion you will be invited to an appointment with the GP or pharmacist for your medication review.  Please note these appointments are only for your medication reviews and any separate issues should be delt with in separate appointments.

If your medication review is out of date you will not be able to order medication via the online systems. We do not accept requests via the telephone so you will need to attend the surgery with a written request and arrange a medication review. If you consistently fail to attend for reviews your might find the prescription quantity is reduced until this has been updated.

County Durham Integrated MSK Service

The local NHS trust also runs a musculoskeletal (MSK) service, details of which can be found here:

County Durham and Darlington – Integrated Musculoskeletal Services (cddft.nhs.uk)

If you have a musculoskeletal problem that requires longer-term management than can be offered by Patients using the self-refer to the MSK service here:

County Durham and Darlington – Self Referral to Physiotherapy (cddft.nhs.uk)

The MSK service website also provides some excellent resources to help you manage your conditions yourself:

• Self-help Resources for Joint or Muscle pains and Injuries
• Self Refer for Physiotherapy

In Durham the Sexual Health services are provided by the local hospital trust, CDDFT. You can find information about their services and how to access them on their website below.

Their services include:

• Sexual health screening (AKA STI Check)
• Contraceptive services including IUD/Coils

Stopping smoking is really hard, but makes a huge difference to your health and finances. County Durham has an excellent Smoking Cessation service that can help you quit. They are able to arrange medication and other support to help you stop for good.

Get Stop Smoking Help from Smoke Free County Durham

Talking and Psychological Therapies

Talking therapies are an important part in the treatment of mental health problems. You can self-refer to these services without seeing a doctor if you choose. However, if you are looking for advice on a diagnosis, or would like to discuss medication, you will need to speak to a doctor at the surgery.

If you are feeling suicidal or struggling with an urgent mental health crisis, there are different services available. If you need this help, please visit our dedicated page on mental health crisis contacts.

Self Refer to NHS Durham & Darlington Talking Therapies

An NHS self-help and psychology based talking therapies service designed to help deal with common mental health problems such as stress, anxiety or depression, as well as panic, phobias, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and post traumatic stress disorder.

Durham University Counselling Service (Students/University Staff Only)

Travel Vaccinations

Chastleton Medical Group offers a basic travel assessment relating to assessment and administration of the limited vaccines available as part of the NHS vaccination service. 

If your travel plans or needs are complex and outside our experience, we will direct you to other private providers. You will have to pay for their service.  If vaccination not available on the NHS is required we will direct you to other private providers and you will have to pay them directly for this.

Which vaccines are available through the NHS

• polio (given as a combined diphtheria/tetanus/polio jab)
• typhoid
• hepatitis A
• cholera

Other vaccines recommended for some countries are available from private providers.  Some are listed later on this page.

Antimalarials

If medication to reduce the risk of malaria is recommended, these are not available on the NHS.  We will advise you if antimalarials are required.

• Some antimalarials are available to buy from a pharmacist such as chloroquine / proguanil
• Others, (appropriate for areas with resistance to the above drugs) are available on prescription only.  You will need to buy these from a private provider. 

We do not offer the service of private prescriptions for antimalarial medication.

Which vaccines do I need for travel?

We suggest you do your own reading / research into which vaccinations and antimalarials are necessary or recommended for the areas you’ll be visiting.

The following websites are very good.  :

• Travel Health Pro
• NHS Fit for Travel
• NHS travel vaccines website

No measure will confer complete protection against illness when travelling abroad.  As well as considering immunisation and / or anti-malarial medication, other risk avoidance measures will reduce your risk of illness.  All preventative measures are additive.

The links below will direct you to additional information on the Travel health Pro website to reduce your risk.   We suggest you read these prior to travel.  The list below is not exhaustive, and Travel Health Pro has lots of resources as well as the ones specific below.

• NaTHNaC – Factsheets (travelhealthpro.org.uk)
• Food-borne and water-borne disease
• Insect and tick bite avoidance
• Personal safety
• Sexual health
• Exposure to sun
• Altitude-related illness
• Animal bites (see section called Preventing Rabies)

Suspected UTI

Many Community Pharmacies are now able to give antibiotics for suspected urinary tract infections on the NHS.

The service is available to people who are:

• Female
• Aged 16-64
• Currently having symptoms suggestive of a possible urinary tract infection (e.g. pain on passing urine, urinating more frequently than usual, having to rush to go and urinate, blood in the urine, or lower abdominal pain)

Local Pharmacies offering the service

The full and up-to-date list of pharmacies can be found here. Below are the Durham pharmacies offering the service at the time of writing:

• Boots Market Square
  Telephone: 0191 384 2213
  Address: 2/5 Market Place,  Co Durham, DH1 3NB
  Open: Monday-Saturday 8:30-5:30pm. Sunday 11am-5pm
• Belmont Pharmacy
  Telephone: 0191 384 7708
  Address: 6 Blue House Buildings, High Street, Belmont, Durham, DH1 1AR
  Open: Monday-Friday 9am-6pm (closing 1-2pm for lunch)
• Whitfield Chemist
  Telephone: 0191 384 2172
  Address: 34 Sunderland Road, Gilesgate, Co Durham, DH1 2LG
  Open: Monday-Friday 9am-6pm. Saturday 9-11:30am.
• Leak Chemists
  Telephone: 0191 386 2193
  Address: 29 Front Street, Framwellgate Moor, Durham, DH1 5EE
  Open: Monday-Friday 9am-6pm. Saturday 9am-1pm

This service is likely to be quicker and more convenient than waiting to talk to a GP or Nurse Practitioner at the practice. If you are eligible for free prescriptions, you will not need to pay for any antibiotics offered and if you do pay, the cost will be the same as charged for a prescription from a GP.

This service is not suitable if you have any of the following;  (please book a GP or Nurse Practitioner appointment at the practice if any of the following apply)

• New back or loin pain
• Are male
• A history of allergy to nitrofurantoin
• Have a fever (or chills, nausea, vomiting, new headache or shaking)
• Have had a recurrent urinary tract infection treated with antibiotics within the previous 4 weeks
• Are catheterised
• Have renal impairment
• Are confused
• Are pregnant or breast feeding
• Have a history of kidney stones
• Have porphyria or G6PD deficiency

Social Prescribing Link Workers (SPLW)

What is Social Prescribing?

Social prescribing involves helping patients to improve their health, wellbeing and social welfare by connecting them to community services which might be run by the council or a local charity. For example, signposting people who have been diagnosed with dementia to local dementia support groups. We have a Social Prescriber link worker located within Chastleton Surgery.

Social prescribing activities are community focused and may include arts and crafts, skills workshops, volunteering opportunities, social inclusion activities including friendship building and getting connected within the community, physical exercise and nutrition, support with employment, housing, money management and debt advice.

Our Social Prescribing Link Workers will focus on working towards “What matters to you” through signposting to external specialist support networks.

Have you tried contacting an NHS pharmacist?

Many conditions can be safely managed for free by an NHS pharmacy. They are usually able to offer help without an appointment, on the same day (including weekends), which is often faster than waiting for a GP appointment.

The common conditions they are able to help with are listed below.

If your issue is not mentioned in the list provided, please feel free to contact our reception team by phone or conveniently book an appointment online. We’re here to assist with all your healthcare needs.

Issues a Pharmacist Can Help With

• Athletes foot
• Bites and stings
• Cold sores
• Conjunctivitis
• Fungal skin infections
• Haemorrhoids
• Hay fever
• Head Lice.
• Mouth Ulcers
• Muscular ache
• Nappy Rash
• Period pain
• Scabies
• Sinus congestion
• Skin reaction
• Styes
• Teething
• Threadworm
• Toothache
• UTI (Urinary Tract Infection)
• Vaginal Thrush
• Warts and verrucae

Thank you for looking you cancel your appointment, this will allow it to be made available to someone else.