The British Red Cross provides wheelchair hire services across the UK.
They offer comfortable, safe, and reliable manual wheelchairs whether you’re looking for self-propelled or transit wheelchairs.
They offer:
Use their website to book a wheelchair or phone them on 0300 456 1914.
People across Bath, North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire can access urgent eyecare, free of charge and close to home by calling 0300 303 4922 Monday to Saturday 9am to 5pm, or by visiting the Urgent Eye Care website.
The brand new service means that high-street opticians can offer free treatment advice and management for urgent eye conditions such as a red or painful eye, foreign body, sudden change in vision, or sudden onset of flashes and floaters which may suggest retinal detachment.
Anyone, whatever age and whether registered with an optician or not, can access treatment for any new or worsening urgent eye conditions.
This is a temporary service set up as a result of concerns that many patients were not seeking treatment for eye conditions due to worries about exposing themselves to COVID-19 by visiting A&E departments or their GP.
The Priority Services Register (PSR) is a free UK wide service which provides extra advice and support, including when there is an interruption to your electricity, gas or water supply.
You are eligible if you:
If you have a different reason and want to see if you are eligible, or if you are eligible and want to register, follow this link to find out more.
Some services are not covered by the NHS Contract, but we are still able to help you with these. However, please be aware that each services has a fee attached to it.
Some services we can offer are:
To request or enquire into private work, please email us at medical.reports@nhs.net or fill in a request form.
Please ensure you read any form you need actioning carefully and complete and sign any sections you are required to before bringing the paperwork to the surgery.
We ask that you allow up to 21 days for the process to be completed.
Please be aware that as of September 2024, we will no longer be able to provide pilot licence medical assessments or medical certificates for activities which fall under the extreme sports category, such as diving, skydiving, bungee jumping, marathons, etc.
GP surgeries are essentially small businesses that work primarily for the NHS, however not all work is covered and paid for by the NHS. The NHS will only pay for work that is covered in their contract, and any work that falls outside of this requires a fee to cover the time and costs – staffing, buildings, lighting, etc – the same as any other small business.
For more information, please visit the BMA website.
Our fees are based on the BMA (British Medical Association) suggested scales. You can view them here.
Alternatively, you can contact the private work team at medical.reports@nhs.net or by called 01249 479809 and choosing option 5. They will be happy to advise you.
Doctors have a high volume of work almost constantly, from both the NHS and private work.
For that reason, even though a form may only require a simple signature, we do ask that you allow us 21 days to review and action your request. In order to complete even the simplest of forms, they may have to check your entire medical record.
Carelessness or an inaccurate report can have serious consequences for the doctor with the General Medical Council (the doctors’ regulatory body) or even the Police.
It is your responsibility to investigate which travel vaccines are needed for your holiday. As different countries have ever-changing requirements and recommendations we advise that you investigate the vaccination programme you require as early as possible. We recommend travel websites such as: www.nathnac.net or www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk where you can find information regarding the countries and areas that you are visiting to determine which vaccinations are required.
The NHS offers free vaccinations for:
Prescriptions for Malaria medication can be provided by the surgery at a cost of £20 plus the normal prescription charge payable to the pharmacy. You can also get Malaria advice and certain anti-malaria tablets from the ASDA Pharmacy in Melksham.
These vaccinations can be given at the Lodge Surgery on completion of a Travel Questionnaire. Please ensure that you submit your travel questionnaire at least 4 weeks before you are due to travel. One of our nurses will review your medical record and offer you an appointment accordingly.
If you are travelling at short notice or require vaccines which are not available on the NHS, please contact one of the private travel clinics in the area for further information. Please note that you will be charged at these clinics for all vaccinations, even the ones which would usually be free on the NHS.
Private Travel Clinics:
Travel Vaccinations at Chippenham Pharmacy
Lyneham Pharmacy Travel Vaccination Clinic
(This list is not exhaustive)
The following websites will provide additional travel advice:
Travel Health for information of vaccinations available on the NHS
Gov.uk for specific country travel advice
GHIC to apply for your free European Health Insurance Card
Lodge Surgery recognises the hard work and dedication of our patients who are carers. The Practice has been accredited the Gold Plus Award for our efforts to recognise and assist carers. Our Carers Lead is Jade Stockley and Deputy Lead is Lisa Sandford.
A carer is someone of any age who provides unpaid support to family or friends who could not manage without this help. This could be caring for a relative, partner or friend who is ill, frail, disabled or has mental health or substance misuse problems. Carers may even be juggling paid work with their unpaid caring responsibilities at home. The term carer should not be confused with a care worker or care assistant, who receives payment for looking after someone.
If you are a Lodge patient and care for someone else you will benefit from joining our Carers’ Register and benefit from carers’ clinics which are supported by a Practice Nurse and a member of Carer Support Wiltshire. The practice works closely with Carer Support Wiltshire to ensure that patients are provided with the help and support that they need in order to stay healthy and able to carry on with their important work.
Carer Support Wiltshire aims to identify and help as many Carers as possible living in Wiltshire. They provide free information, support, advice and opportunities for adult Carers who look after a relative, friend or neighbour regardless of the disability, illness or age of the person being cared for.
Carers have different needs and centres can assist you in information regarding health issues, entitlements, mobility, grants for holidays, equipment and support. We can refer you directly to Carer Support Wiltshire but you do not necessarily need a referral to access services. For more information about Carer Support Wiltshire please see their website Carer Support Wiltshire | Supporting unpaid carers in Wiltshire.
Call Carer Support Wiltshire on 0800 181 4118 (freephone)
Email admin@carersupportwiltshire.co.uk
Website www.carersupportwiltshire.co.uk
If you are a carer please complete the form so that we can include you in our register. Once you are added we can support you in your busy life as a carer, which can affect your physical and mental health.
We can also try and be flexible when offering you appointments as we will know about and understand your commitments.
Carer Registration FormDid you know we have a Care Co-ordinator who can help you? Hayley, our friendly Care Co-ordinator, works with individuals, families and carers to help signpost you to a large number of social and voluntary agencies for help.
She works closely with our GPs, community team, social services and hospitals to coordinate patient care and will keep patients and their families informed of progress. If you feel she can help you please call the surgery and we will pass your information on to her.
Have you walked our Health Route yet? This is a project that Dr Heath worked on in conjunction with NHS Forest. The project aims to improve the health and wellbeing of patients, staff and communities by increasing access to green space on or near NHS land.
Spending time in nature can reduce anxiety and improve your mood and physical activity is known to reduce your risk of diabetes, depression, dementia and cardiovascular diseases. It is free and fun!
Dr Heath received grants from Tesco Bags of Help scheme and Chippenham Town Council to fund the project.
You may have already spotted the signs on lamp posts marking the walk but you can download a route map here or ask Reception for a copy if you are unable to print it. And let us know if you do the walk!
For more information about the project visit www.nhsforest.org
They’re here to make sure that no matter how complicated your query or your experience, you don’t have to care alone.
Telephone: 020 7378 4999
Website: www.carersuk.org
If you need help considering future care plans for yourself or someone you care for, Carer Support Wiltshire has useful resources available on their website.
https://carersupportwiltshire.co.uk/resource-centre/managing-someones-affairs-2
There is a wealth of information on the NHS website about carers and caring. Below are some links into the site that we hope you will find useful.
Help claiming benefits, looking after your bank balance and understanding the legal issues of caring.
All doctors provide full maternity services, including pre-conception advice.
You can self-refer for antenatal services online:
Postnatal Care
For the first 10 days, or longer if necessary, the midwives will visit you. After 10 days one of the health visitors will be in contact with you and will arrange to visit you. The postnatal examination is usually carried out at six weeks after the birth along with a check up for the baby. Please make an appointment for this in the postnatal clinic.
The surgery will invite you for a six week postnatal check for mother and baby.
Please find below the services available from our Practice Nurses & Healthcare Assistants
We are pleased to announce that the First Contact Practitioner (FCP) service is available through The Lodge Surgery in conjunction with our Primary Care Network.
Patients who contact the surgery with joint or muscle pains or injuries can now be directed straight to the FCP service. The service provides assessment and enables self-management by qualified and experienced Musculoskeletal Physiotherapists without the need to see the doctor or nurse first.
Who can they see?
The turnaround for contact with the service is far quicker than the traditional physiotherapy service. An appointment will usually be offered on the same day or within 24 hours (Monday-Friday). To access the service contact the surgery in the usual way.
The service is not available for under 16s, medical management of rheumatoid conditions, ante-natal or post-natal physio problems, neurological or respiratory conditions, mental health crisis, those with long term conditions or those who are acutely unwell.
Please find the services available the NHS below: