Public Holidays
The public holidays upcoming are as follows: 29/3/24, 1/4/24, 6/5/24, 27/5/24, 15/7/24, 30/9/24, 25/12/24, 26/12/24, 1/1/25 and 2/1/25.
The surgery will be closed on those days. For urgent or emergency care, please call NHS 24 on 111.
Change in Opening Hours
To allow staff time to complete essential clinical administrative tasks, we are altering the opening hours of the surgery.
The building will now open at 09:00.
The phones will be diverted to our answering service from 08:30 to 09:00, so will still be monitored. However, this is only for medical emergencies. For all other matters such as appointments, prescriptions, results etc, please phone between 09:00-12:00.
Charity Donation
On 23/12/22 we made a substantial donation of food, treats, blankets, toys, leads and beds to the Scottish SPCA Rescue & Rehoming Centre at Cardonald. We would like to give a big thank you to the patient who gave a generous donation to the surgery to allow us to buy even more goods for the animals.
Christmas 2023
We wish to thank all the patients who dropped off gifts and cards at the surgery. They were all much appreciated, and we would like to wish you all the very best for 2024.
Interpreting Services
Please find a link to a patient leaflet (in English) Telephone Interpreting Instructions on how to use our telephone interpreting service to contact any NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde service.
The instructions are available in 30 languages from this link: Telephone interpreting instructions in 30 languages
It allows direct access to an interpreter. For example, patients can use the telephone interpreting service to call from home and make an appointment with their GP, discuss medications with their Pharmacy, book a Maternity appointment or contact NHS 24.
Maternity Services
NHS GGC are committed to implementing the Scottish Government's Best Start review recommendations for maternity and neonatal services.
They aim to continue to increase the number of women who book for their maternity care before 10 weeks of pregnancy and increase the level of antenatal midwifery continuity of care.
In order to achieve these goals, they are offering a new additional method for women to self refer to maternity services.
At present women can only self-refer into the maternity service by calling the Central Booking Office (CBO). The CBO phone line remains in use for women to use if they prefer (0141 347 8422).
From 23rd November 2023, women are able to also self-refer online from the website Self-Referring to Maternity Services
Travel Vaccinations
From 1/4/22, general practices will no longer be offering travel vaccinations. For more detail, please click in the "services" tab at the top of the screen.
New Phone System
We have a new phone system. Please note that all calls are recorded for security and training purposes.
Ear Care and Syringing/Microsuction
As Community Treatment and Care (CTAC) Services have become re-established with additional accommodation and trained staff, GG&C Health Board are now in a position to provide patient self-referral to ear care clinics across all sectors. From 5th January 2022 patients will no longer require a referral from the GP practice and patients can call directly to make an appointment at health centre reception desks. Before having wax removed, it must be adequately softened. The instructions for this process are detailed in this document Wax Softening.
There are 10 clinics in South Glasgow. The contact numbers can be found below:
Govanhill Treatment Room | 0141 531 8300 (option 5) |
Gorbals Treatment Room | 0141 201 5000 (option 9) |
Castlemilk Treatment Room | 0141 531 8500 |
Thornliebank Treatment Room | 0141 531 6900 |
Pollok Treatment Room | 0141 531 6800 |
Cardonald Treatment Room | 0141 355 1033 |
Govan Treatment Room | 0141 531 8421 |
Mount Florida Treatment Room | * call any number above * |
The availability times are as follows:
Govan Health Centre | Monday PM clinic | ear care (irrigation and microsuction. Nurse can determine which intervention is required following assessment) |
Govanhill Health Centre | Tuesday PM/Thursday AM | irrigation |
Cardonald Medical Centre | Tuesday AM/Thursday PM | irrigation |
Castlemilk Health Centre | Thursday PM/Friday AM | irrigation |
Thornliebank Health Centre | Wednesday PM | irrigation |
Pollok Health Centre | Monday All Day/ Tuesday AM/ Friday PM | irrigation |
Gorbals Health Centre | Tuesday All Day/ Wednesday All Day/ Friday PM | irrigation |
Gorbals Health Centre | Friday All Day | ear care clinic (irrigation and microsuction. Nurse can determine which intervention required following assessment) |
Organ and tissue donation law in Scotland
The law in Scotland has changed to an opt out system to help save and improve lives.
The Human Tissue (Authorisation) (Scotland) Act 2019 provides for a system of deemed authorisation for organ and tissue donation for transplantation purposes. This is commonly known as an opt out system.
The law covers the processes surrounding organ and tissue donation, including the role of the family and routine medical procedures and tests that would need to be carried out on a potential donor to ensure that transplantation is likely to be safe, successful and a suitable match for somebody on the transplant waiting list.
Under the new opt out system, if all adults aged 16 years and over have not confirmed whether they want to be a donor, they will be considered to be willing to donate their organs and tissue when they die, unless they choose to opt out.
You can still choose whether or not you want to be an organ and tissue donor by registering your decision and telling your family. Your faith, beliefs and culture will always be respected.
Full details are available here: www.organdonationscotland.org
Car Park Management
We have introduced a system of car park management at Ailsa Surgery and Kinning Park Medical Centre.
The system is an Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system and will be an effective and accurate method of policing the car park to prevent the abuse of the car park from those who have no business in the Medical Centre. We have had problems with patients and staff struggling to find parking spaces.
The ANPR system went live on 30th May 2019 and notices in the surgery and car park give more details.
Contact Details & Next of Kin
Please update your contact and next of kin details with us. This can be very helpful when someone takes unwell suddenly, or if the surgery need to contact you in a matter of urgency (your consent will be sought before this kind of contact is used). A form is available at reception for this purpose.
Pre-school Immunisations
Please note that pre-school immunisations will no longer be performed in the surgery from the week beginning 16th July 2018. From that date on, they will be administered at the Shields Centre Community Immunisation Clinic, 80 McCulloch Street, Glasgow G41 1NX.
Influenza (Flu) Immunisation
The annual flu vaccine helps protect against the strains of flu virus that are likely to be circulating each winter flu season, which lasts from October to March.
Who should get the flu vaccine immunisation?
Anyone
with a health condition, people aged 55 or over,
pregnant women, and those who work in
health and social care are eligible for free flu immunisation.
For information on the childhood flu immunisation programme see below.
What is Flu?
Flu is much more than a bad cold. It’s a virus which can make even healthy people feel very unwell. In the most serious cases, flu can bring on pneumonia, or other serious infections which can, in extreme cases, result in death.
Flu is often spread through the air by coughs and sneezes. It can also be caught by coming into contact with contaminated surfaces.
When is flu season?
In Scotland, flu season usually begins as the weather gets colder, so get the vaccine as soon as you can. The vaccine is available from October through to the end of March.
How does the flu vaccine work?
The vaccine takes around 10 days to work and should protect you from flu for around a year. You have to get immunised every year because the virus changes constantly and your immunity reduces over time. Last year’s vaccine won’t necessarily protect you from this year’s flu viruses. The flu vaccine can’t give you flu, but it can stop you catching it. the vaccine effective?
Over the last ten years, the flu vaccine has generally been a good match for the circulating strains of flu so you can be confident being vaccinated is the best way to help protect yourself against flu, a virus which can cause serious illness. Even when it is not as well matched, if you do develop flu and you have had the vaccine, symptoms may be less severe and you may be less likely to develop complications requiring you to see your GP or being admitted to hospital.
Is the vaccine safe?
The Scottish Government has no safety concerns about the vaccines used in the seasonal flu programme. As with all medicines used in Scotland, the influenza vaccines undergo rigorous safety testing by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), and no concerns were reported. The MHRA continues to monitor the safety of these vaccines.
What if I am not in one of the eligible groups?
If you are 16 years old or over and not in one of the eligible groups for the free flu immunisation, you can get the vaccine in many high street pharmacies for a small fee.
Who are the eligible groups?
Anyone with a health condition is at particular risk from flu and eligible for the vaccine. Conditions and diseases which make flu more dangerous include:
- Chronic Respiratory Disease
| - Chronic Neurological Disease
|
| - liver problems such as cirrhosis/hepatitis
|
| |
- Health & Social Care Workers
| - asplenia or dysfunction of the spleen
|
| - being very overweight (BMI over 40)
|
| |
Anyone undergoing chemotherapy treatment should also get the flu vaccine. If you’re under 18 years, have a health condition or care for someone who does, you should also get the vaccine.
Anyone aged 65 or over is eligible for the flu vaccine.
Shingles Immunisation
The vaccine significantly reduces the risk of getting shingles, or reduces the severity of it if you do. It can be administered at any time of the year, not just in the Autumn/winter period.
Shingles is an infection of a nerve and the skin around it. It is caused by the same virus as chickenpox and causes painful blisters on the skin.
In Scotland around 7000 people aged 70 years and over get shingles every year. There is a vaccine that can reduce your risk of getting shingles (also known as herpes zoster), or, if you do get shingles, it can reduce how serious the symptoms will be.
How long does shingles last and how serious is it?
The shingles rash usually appears a few days after the pain begins and lasts for about a week, but the pain can last much longer. And the older you are, the more likely you are to have long-lasting pain. In some cases, the pain persists for several months or even years – this is called post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN). Current treatments for PHN are not very effective, but the shingles vaccine reduces the risk of getting shingles and PHN.
Pneumococcal Vaccine or "Pneumovacc"
The pneumococcal vaccine protects against serious and potentially fatal pneumococcal infections.
Pneumococcal infections are caused by the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae and can lead to chest infections, ear infections, sinus infections, pneumonia, septicaemia and meningitis. At their worst, they can cause permanent brain damage, or even kill.
If you are 65 or over, you will be offered a type of jab known as the pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPV). This one-off vaccination is very effective at protecting you against serious forms of pneumococcal infection.It is also offered to people under 65 in "at risk" groups. These groups are the same as those described above for flu immunisation.
Pharmacy First
Since 4/12/17, this scheme has been running to allow women aged 16-65 with symptoms of uncomplicated urinary tract infection (cystitis) to receive antibiotic treatment direct from a pharmacist without having to see a GP first. Patients should normally attend the pharmacy in person and the pharmacist will assess their symptoms and provide advice, NHS treatment (free of charge) or referral as appropriate.
This service is also available for patients over the age of 2 for the treatment of impetigo (minor skin infection limited to a few areas in one area of the body)