Prior to travelling patients must allow a minimum of 6 weeks before their date of departure, to arrange the necessary appointments and advice. If you are travelling in less than 6 weeks please click HERE to find your local community travel clinic.
The first step is to complete the ‘Travel Risk Assessment Form’ as the Nursing Team will require to know which countries, and areas within countries, you are visiting to determine what vaccinations may be required. This form is available below, or you can request a physical copy at the practice reception. It is one form per patient, including children.
Once you have completed the form, it will be passed on to the Nursing Team for processing. A Nurse will then contact you via text message either giving advice on your intended destination, or requesting you to book an appointment for vaccinations.
Vaccines
Some travel vaccines are ordered on a private prescription and these incur a charge over and above the normal prescription charge.This is because not all travel vaccinations are included in the services provided by the NHS.
Please note only the undernoted vaccines are available on NHS Prescriptions:-
- Hepatitis A
- Typhoid
- Diphtheria
- Tetanus
- Polio
Travel Form
Please complete this form prior to contacting the Practice. This form is essential to us processing your request.
Once we have your travel form you will then be sent a text message with relevant information or requesting you to book an appointment.
Additional Information
Fear of Flying
Patients sometimes contact us asking us to prescribe sedative medication for fear of flying; this includes but is not limited to: diazepam (and other benzodiazepines), zopiclone and valium. At Vale Medical Centre we appreciate that fear of flying can be very frightening but there are many reasons why the prescription of these medications in this circumstance is not recommended – please see these outline below – as such our policy has been updated in keeping with current medical guidance and we will no longer be providing such prescriptions.
- These medications are sedatives. This means they make you sleepy and more relaxed, cause longer reaction times and slowed thinking. In the event of a critical incident or emergency during a flight it may impair your ability to concentrate, follow instructions and react to the situation. This would put you at significant risk of not being able to act in a manner which could save your life. Incapacitation from these medications is a risk to the lives of all onboard the aircraft in the event of an emergency requiring evacuation.
- Any sedating drugs induce non-REM sleep, which tends to be of a type where the person does not move in their sleep. This therefore increases the possibility of sitting without moving for several hours. If this is more than 4 hours (the amount of time shown to increase the risk of developing a DVT whether in an aeroplane or elsewhere) the risk of DVT or PE is further increased. These conditions are potentially fatal.
- Sedative effects can also affect breathing and cause low oxygen levels, which again could be life threatening. This is further exacerbated with the lower circulating oxygen levels on an aeroplane (normal Oxygen saturations for a healthy person at 8000ft are around 90% whereas normal oxygen saturations at ground level are between 94-100%) and furthermore in those with underlying lung disease. With the two affects added together this may become significant.
- Some people may have a paradoxical effect from these medications shown by an increase in agitation, aggression and/or confused behaviour. They can also cause disinhibition and lead to abnormal behaviours. These behaviours could impact on your safety as well as that of the people around you.
- If taken in addition to alcohol consumption, there is an increase of all the risks mentioned above – many nervous flyers will consume alcohol in the terminal before flying and during the flight despite any advice otherwise.
- For some countries it is illegal to import these drugs e.g. in the Middle East.
- Diazepam stays in your system for some time, if you have to take a drugs test for employment purposes you may fail this.
- According to the prescribing guidelines that UK doctors follow (the British National Formulary), diazepam is not recommende in treating phobic states. It also states that “the use of benzodiazepines to treat short-term ‘mild’ anxiety is inappropriate.” NICE guidelines suggest that these medications are only advised for the short term use for a crisis in generalised anxiety disorder in which case a person would not be fit to fy. Fear of flying in isolation is not a generalised anxiety disorder.
- These medications are highly addictive in their nature even with short term use.
We appreciate that fear of flying is very real and frightening, however we would recommend tackling the phobia in an appropriate way by using self-help resources or a fear of flying course. Whilst we do not recommend any specific course, you may find the following links useful:
- Fear of flying course | Fearless Flyer (easyjet.com)
- Our course venues | Flying With Confidence (British Airways)
- Collections | flyingwithoutfear (Virgin)
If you still feel you need these medications please contact a travel clinic or aviation medicine specialist.
Healthy Travel Leaflet
You may find the following leaflet helpful when making your travel arrangements.
Malaria
Advice on Malaria will be given, HOWEVER Malaria tablets are not available on the NHS and will not be prescribed by a GP.
Please download and print our useful guide below about Mosquito advice.
Hepatitis Immunisation
Immunisation against infectious Hepatitis (Hepatitis A) is available free of charge on the NHS in connection with travel abroad. However Hepatitis B is not routinely available free of charge and therefore you may be charged for this vaccination when requested in connection with travel abroad.
Excess quantities of regular repeat prescriptions
Under NHS legislation, the NHS ceases to have responsibility for people when they leave the United Kingdom. However, to ensure good patient care the following guidance is offered. People travelling to Europe should be advised to apply for a Global Health Insurance Card.
Medication required for a pre-existing condition should be provided in sufficient quantity to cover the journey and to allow the patient to obtain medical attention abroad. If the patient is returning within the timescale of their usual prescription, then this should be issued (the maximum duration of a prescription is recommended by the Care Trust to be two months, although it is recognised that prescription quantities are sometimes greater than this). Patients are entitled to carry prescribed medicines, even if originally classed as controlled drugs, for example, morphine sulphate tablets.
For longer visits abroad, the patient should be advised to register with a local doctor for continuing medication (this may need to be paid for by the patient).
General practitioners are not responsible for prescriptions of items required for conditions which may arise while travelling, for example travel sickness or diarrhoea. Patients should be advised to purchase these items from community pharmacies prior to travel.
Useful Links
NHS Overview – Travel Vaccinations
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
International Society of Travel Medicine
Health Advice for the Diabetic