DOWNING DRIVE SURGERY
TRAVEL VACCINATION POLICY
As part of our GP contract, we are able to provide free NHS vaccinations for travel when patients are due them. However, it is not part of the GP contract to provide travel risk assessments or advice and we advise that patients seek this from a private provider.
The travel vaccinations available on the NHS are: Hepatitis A, Polio, Typhoid and Cholera.
For us to be able to give these to patients, we require a copy of a travel risk assessment document showing clearly which of the free NHS vaccinations you are due. This document must be dated and signed by the travel risk assessor. There is often a small fee for this travel risk assessment if patients are not having the vaccinations done by the private travel provider. Without this signed and dated travel risk assessment, we will not be able to give the free NHS vaccinations as we need evidence of what vaccines are required for the relevant country. This is for the safety of patients so that they are vaccinated appropriately.
Following a travel enquiry, we provide a letter stating the above policy and we attach a copy of the patient vaccination history from their electronic record to help, along with some local travel clinics we have sourced. However, these are just a guide and it is the patients responsibility to research them further. We also provide the fit for travel website: www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk which might be useful.
On receipt of this travel risk assessment, we will book you an appointment with a nurse, if one is available before you travel. The more notice you give us, the more likely we are to be able to fit you in.