The First Contact Physiotherapy (FCP) service has been running at Green Valley Health for 3 years. Emma and Pete are experienced Physiotherapists who work at Leap Valley Surgery and Emersons Green Medical Centre respectively, providing assessment of patients with musculoskeletal problems – problems related to muscles, joints, the spine, and nerves. They will talk to you about the history of your condition and perform an examination, providing advice about the next steps and what options are available for treatment. If required, they can request imaging investigations, provide exercises, perform corticosteroid injections, refer to other services and liaise with GPs about other conditions or tests which may be required. This service is for over 18’s – to book an appointment please use our eConsult service or contact the surgery. Appointments can be booked directly with the First Contact Physiotherapists, without the need to speak to a GP –reducing the pressure on GP appointments.

Feedback has shown that 92% of patients were Very Satisfied with the FCP service, with everyone reporting they felt listened to, had confidence in the knowledge and skills of the FCP, felt involved in their care and would recommend the service to family and friends.

Dr Evan’s, GP Partner at Green Valley Health, encourages patients to use the service: ‘Musculoskeletal medicine is a speciality in itself and I would encourage patients with musculoskeletal problems to book an appointment to be assessed by our First Contact Physiotherapy specialists and benefit from their expertise – this can be done without a referral from a GP’.

Green Valleys Health provide some travel vaccines.

 If you would like to attend Leap Valley Surgery or Emersons Green Medical Centre for travel vaccines, please complete and return the request form. Unfortunately, we are unable to offer this service at Abbotswood Surgery at present.

Please complete a separate ‘Travel Risk Assessment’ form for each individual traveller. By completing and returning this form, you are consenting under General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for the surgery to communicate with you via telephone or text.

Diphtheria/Tetanus/Polio, Typhoid, and Hepatitis A are free of charge on the NHS and are stocked at both Leap Valley Surgery and Emersons Green Medical Centre. Some travellers may be at risk of other diseases such as Hepatitis B, Rabies, and Yellow Fever etc, for which there is a charge for. These vaccines are given at private travel clinics. 

Where possible you need to complete this form at least 6- 8 WEEKS before your departure date as some vaccines require more than one dose and all vaccines need a minimum of 2 weeks to give full protection/immunity.
If less than three weeks’ notice is given prior to travel, we may NOT be able to offer an appointment before you go

Please bring back the completed travel form to reception– forms can be returned to Abbotswood’s reception but please be aware that no travel clinics are held at Abbotswood, and you will be offered a travel appointment at Leap Valley Surgery. A nurse will then look through the travel form and assess. Please allow a turnaround time of approx. 2 weeks from handing in your travel form to being contacted to book an appointment.

Some services provided by the practice are not covered by the NHS therefore you will be asked to pay a fee. A list of our current charges is available from Reception.

The fee is required to be paid prior to the time of the examination.

Payment is by cash or cheque only (cheques payable to Green Valleys Health).

If you need a doctor to complete and sign a medical report or other form, please note that we have a 30 day turnaround for these requests. This is because our doctors have limited time for paperwork, and have to prioritise work related to patients that they have seen in clinics.  Please ask us if you need something more urgently, but we cannot always guarantee a quicker response.

Non NHS Services Include

• Some Travel vaccinations (including yellow fever)
• DNA testing
• Medicals for employment and Large Good Vehcile (LGV) driving
• Private Medical Assessment Reports
• “Blue Badge” applications
• Private sick notes
• Private consultations for non NHS patients

Firearms Certification and Renewal Reports

The Partners at Green Valleys Health have made the decision that they will not be completing Firearms Certification or Renewal reports as they do not ethically approve of these requests and therefore are entitled to refuse to carry out these reports due to these ethical beliefs.

Our qualified practice nurses deal with a wide range of conditions and health concerns. They carry out a variety of duties such as smears, injections, dressings etc. In addition to general nursing duties our practice nurses provide care for patients with chronic conditions such as asthma, diabetes, coronary heart disease and hypertension.

Our health care assistant and phlebotomist are important members of the nursing team who work under the supervision of a qualified nurse. Our phlebotomist takes blood whilst our health care assistant carries out well person checks and can take blood, check blood pressure, test urine, do Electrocardiograms (a heart test normally referred to as ECG) and undertake simple dressings.

Our Nurse Practitioner Team offers some prebookable and some same day appointments. They can deal with a range of issues such as minor illnesses and injuries.

Should you need medical advice, please contact reception. The receptionist will ask you the nature of your problem, please do share this with them. The receptionist will then be able to ensure your enquiry is dealt with by the most appropriate person, using guidelines approved by our GPs. Our Nurse Practitioners often have shorter waiting times that our GPs too.

Our district nurses and health visitors are attached to the practice, but are employed by Sirona Care and Health Community Interest Company (CIC)

District Nurses

The district nurses are responsible for providing skilled nursing care to our housebound patients. The team can be contacted on 0117 330 2505.

Community Midwives

If you are pregnant and need to make your first appointment with a midwife please complete an Antenatal Booking Form. If you do not have internet access, call 0117 414 6743 and leave a message.

The midwife team for our Downend patients can be contacted on 0117 330 2505. The midwife team for our Yate patients can be contacted on 01454 315 355.

Health Visitors

Health visitors offer advice and support for pre-school children and their families on all aspects of parenting and family health. The health visiting team for our Downend patients can be contacted on 0117 957 6908. The health visiting team for our Yate patients can be contacted on 01454 338 809.

Led by one of our practice nurses, this clinic offers advice and general health check ups to patients diagnosed with diabetes.

Some of our practice nurses provides advice and health check ups to patients diagnosed with coronary heart disease. Please make an appointment.

It is the policy of this practice to respect the privacy and dignity, and the cultural and religious beliefs of our patients, and to provide a safe environment for all.

If you would like a chaperone to be present during a consultation, examination or procedure, or if you would prefer to be examined by a health professional of the same sex as yourself, please let us know as soon as possible and we will do our best to comply with your wishes. 

The practice has trained members of staff who can act as a formal chaperone.  You are welcome to bring a friend or relative with you to support you, should you wish however this will not be regarded as a chaperone and therefore a trained member of staff should also be in attendance.

Your healthcare professional may also require a chaperone to be present for certain consultations in accordance with our chaperone policy.

Please note that we may need to reschedule your appointment to accommodate your wishes, and we may not be able to offer a same sex doctor or health professional on the same day.

Basic sexual health screening, treatment, advice and contraception

Services are confidential, free and open to all registered patients. We provide:

• Sexually transmitted infection (STI) tests
• Chlamydia and Gonorrhoea tests
• Contraception: condoms, emergency contraception, implants, contraceptive pill, contraceptive injection (Depo Provera, Sayana Press or Noristerat), IUS or IUD (coils)
• Cervical Smear Screening

No Worries (No need to be registered here)

We are also part of the NO WORRIES drop in service, providing confidential sexual health and relationship advice for 13 to 20 years olds in the South Gloucestershire area.

This includes:

• condoms
• pregnancy tests
• STI tests
• Emergency contraception