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Travel Clinic & Holiday Vaccinations

Currently Vine House Health Centre is offering this service. 

If you have any questions or enquires, please complete an online triage form

Advice on Medicines and Vaccines for Patients Travelling Outside the UK

Under NHS legislation, the NHS ceases to have responsibility for people when they leave the UK. GP’s are not required to provide prescriptions for the treatment of a condition that may arise while the patient is abroad. 

For example;

  • Sun cream/lotions
  • Pain relief
  • AntidiarrhoealsTravel sickness medicines

For Prescription Only Medicines (POM), patients may be offered and charged for a private prescription e.g. Ciprofloxacin for traveller’s diarrhoea. The GMS contract allows items for travel to be prescribed by GPs for patients on their NHS list.

Drugs for malaria prophylaxis are not prescribed on the NHS

  • Patients should be advised to purchase where possible over the counter medications
  • For prescription only medicines (eg. Doxycycline, Lariam®, Malarone® and Maloprim®), GPs may charge for and issue a private prescription.

All other travel vaccinations are not available on the NHS and must therefore must be offered to patients via a private prescription;

  • Meningitis ACWY
  • Tick Borne Encephalitis
  • Japanese Encephalitis
  •  Rabies
  •  Yellow Fever Vaccine

Healthy Travel Leaflet

You may find the following leaflet helpful when making your travel arrangements.

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.

Planning on having private treatment/surgery in the UK or abroad?

Please be aware that the whole episode of the treatment should be provided by the private provider, i.e. blood tests and other tests, suture removal, dressing changes, routine wound check, prescribing during your episode of private treatment, etc., and the Practice should not be involved in any aspects of this episode of treatment, with the exception of emergency care relating to the treatment.

It is also the private providers responsibility to issue a Fit Note covering the entire anticipated period off work, but if any longer time off is then required when you are no longer under the care of the provider then this would be the practice responsibility.

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