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Disappointing experience

Story from nhs.uk

"Disappointing experience "

About: The Street Lane Practice

My recent experience with the surgery left me feeling frustrated and concerned about the accessibility of essential healthcare services for its registered patients.

My problem started when I contacted the surgery to inquire about travel vaccinations, including diphtheria, polio, tetanus (combined booster), and typhoid. However, I was informed by several receptionists that Street Lane GP Surgery does not provide travel vaccinations at all. This response was perplexing to me, especially considering that these vaccinations are vital for personal health, and the NHS considers them essential due to their role in protecting public health.

According to the NHS website, GPs should administer these vaccinations to patients at no cost. It was disheartening to hear that my own GP surgery was unwilling to offer these services despite the clear guidelines from the NHS.

In my quest for a solution, I contacted the NHS 111 service for advice. They suggested that I try other local GP surgeries to inquire about becoming a temporary patient for the purpose of receiving the necessary vaccinations. Although other local practices confirmed their ability to provide these vaccinations, they expressed their inability to accept temporary patients. Moreover, some of them expressed concern that Street Lane GP Surgery was not fulfilling its obligation to offer these essential vaccinations to its registered patients.

Unfortunately, I had no choice but to seek these vital vaccinations privately, incurring significant expenses of over £150. I find this situation deeply disappointing, as I believe that all registered patients should have equal access to essential healthcare services without financial barriers.

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Responses

Response from The Street Lane Practice 7 months ago
The Street Lane Practice

Submitted on 28/09/2023 at 14:16
Published on nhs.uk on 02/10/2023 at 08:19

Dear Patient,

I'm sorry to read of your experience.

Your feedback has ensured that we look at our systems. GPs are contractually obliged to vaccinate against Hepatitis A, Polio, Cholera and typhoid if required. There is no charge for these vaccinations.

Any other vaccinations required for travel can be provided by a GP surgery at the discretion of that particular surgery but there is no obligation to provide the service, and those vaccines would be chargeable. Travel medicine is a highly specialised and rapidly changing so generally we defer to specialist services for travel advice.

I will look at our system going forward to ensure that this is clearer to us all.

You are welcome to contact the practice and we can look into whether any of the vaccinations you've paid for could be reimbursed by us.

Best wishes,

Dr Hobman

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