Services/Clinics

General Medical Services

Litchdon Medical Group’s core business is the delivery of top quality general practice to our patients. This is delivered by our highly trained team of doctors, nurses, dispensers, receptionists and phlebotomists. We have a full range of attached supporting staff such as district nurses, midwives, health visitors and physiotherapists that provide vital assistance in delivering the full range of community services to our patients.

We believe fervently that medical care is best delivered by a doctor who knows you well, and we therefore operate a “personal list system”. This means that you will be assigned to the care of an individual named doctor who will be your personal GP. We will always strive to offer you an appointment with this doctor who knows you and with whom we hope you will develop a long-term doctor-patient relationship. If your doctor is not available then you will always be offered an alternative appointment with another doctor at the Medical Centre if that is appropriate.

Children's Services

All of our staff are fully qualified to deal with children’s health problems, and liase with our attached health visitors to deliver high quality care. We also run the full compliment of childhood immunisations that are administered by our practice nurses. In line with public health advice, scientific evidence, best practice and government policy we encourage all parents to give their children the benefits of the protection provided by these immunisations.

Chlamydia Screening

We are avid supporters of Devon PCT’s programme of Chlamydia screening, and offer this simple test which is performed on a normal urine sample.

Contraception

We offer a full range of contraceptive services, including depo contraceptive injections, implants and coil fitting. All of our doctors and most of our nurses are family planning trained, but we also have a number of female GPs who have higher training in contraception and sexual health.

Dermatology

In addition to the hospital style (secondary care) dermatology service that we provide from Litchdon House we also deliver top class dermatology care for our own general practice patients. This is delivered by Dr. Brian Malcolm who is a GP expert in dermatology, and involved in training other GPs in specialist dermatology. Litchdon Medical Centre patients are therefore able to access specialist dermatology care within the Medical Centre itself.

Diagnostics

We offer a full range of general practice diagnostic facilities including phlebotomy, ECGs, 24 hour blood pressure monitoring, Doppler testing for arterial disease and audiology amongst others. This means that unless you require some form of X-ray test it is likely that all investigations that you may need will be provided by us for your increased convenience.

Immunisations

We offer all childhood immunisations, but also those vaccinations needed by adults. Adult immunisations include tetanus boosters, pneumococcal and flu vaccination. Each autumn we run a flu vaccination campaign by inviting target groups to specific flu vaccination clinics run at weekends, usually in September and October as soon as the flu vaccine is available. We also offer a wide range of travel vaccinations, delivered by our practice nurses. We do not offer yellow fever vaccination, but can direct you to an approved yellow fever vaccination centre.

Long Term Conditions

We take great pride in managing long term conditions to the very highest standards. Diabetes, coronary heart disease, hypertension, asthma, chronic bronchitis, stroke, epilepsy, depression and chronic mental illness are all managed pro-actively through planned appointments with either your doctor or via a practice nurse run clinic. When you are due to have your regular review you will be invited by letter to attend.

Maternity Services

The bulk of maternity services at Litchdon Medical Centre are provided by our highly qualified attached midwives. For the majority of uncomplicated pregnancies you will be seen and cared for solely by your midwife. If you develop any complications, or if you have other health problems these will be dealt with by your doctor or practice nurse.

Minor Surgery

Litchdon Medical Centre offers a full range of GP minor surgery, including the removal of small “lumps and bumps”, joint injections, skin lesion cautery, nasal cautery for nosebleeds, ingrowing toe-nail surgery. Our treatment suite was fully refurbished in 2008 and offers state of the art general practice operating facilities. In addition to this, we also boast a full secondary care operating theatre in Litchdon House which is available for more complex surgery not normally available to general practice patients, and delivered by our dermatology (skin) specialist Dr. Brian Malcolm.

Ophthalmology

In the same vein as our in-house dermatology service we also offer the same level of care in eye disease. Drs. McElderry and Jefferies are both eye specialists in general practice and are able to offer our patients their superior expertise in eye disease.

Physiotherapy

We have an in-house physiotherapy clinic, delivered by our excellent attached physiotherapy staff. This means that you can often access these services without having to attend the local hospital.

Smoking Cessation

We are very keen to help our patients stop smoking should they wish to. We offer a full range of smoking cessation help, including nicotine replacement and other medical treatments to help you quit.

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Warfarin Management

Litchdon Medical Centre offers our patients a full in-house monitoring service for warfarin. If you take warfarin you will need to have regular blood tests to ensure that you are receiving the correct dose. In many parts of the country this will be done at a hospital out-patient clinic. However, here at Litchdon Medical Centre we offer this as a routine service to our patients. Blood is taken, and the new dose of warfarin is worked out on the spot in order to avoid any mis-communication and to minimise inconvenience to our patients.