Travel Information

Travel Vaccinations

If you are travelling abroad and require vaccinations you will need to complete a travel risk assessment form and contact the surgery in plenty of time to make an appointment for your vaccinations.

Some courses of vaccinations take two or three months to complete so please take this into consideration when planning your journey.

Most travel vaccines are ordered on a private prescription and incur a charge over and above the normal prescription charge.

Please note we are not a Yellow Fever Vaccination Centre

International travel, whether for personal or business reasons, can be challenging if you are not prepared. Disease, illness, crime, and injury happen unexpectedly to even the most experienced travellers. Planning for good health on an international trip is as important as buying tickets or obtaining a visa and passport.

It is important to make this initial request as early as possible – at least 6-8 weeks before you travel. These vaccines have to be ordered as they are not a stock vaccine. Your appointment for the vaccination to be administered needs to be at least 3 weeks before you travel to allow the vaccine(s) to work.

Please contact a member of our reception team to book your initial telephone consultation with one of our experienced practice nurses. The Nurse will require to know which countries, and areas within countries, that you are visiting to determine what vaccinations are required.

Unfortunately it may not always be possible to accommodate your requests at the surgery if left too late.

Medication for fear of flying and Medical Procedures

People often request the doctor to prescribe diazepam for fear of flying or assist with sleep during flights or before a medical procedure.

There are several reasons why prescribing this drug is not recommended.

1. Diazepam is a sedative, which means it makes you sleepy and more relaxed. If there is an emergency during the flight it may impair your ability to concentrate, follow instructions and react to the situation. This could have serious safety consequences for you and those around you.
2. Sedative drugs can make you fall asleep, however when you do sleep it is an unnatural non-REM sleep. This means you will not move around as much as during natural sleep. This can cause you to be at increased risk of developing a blood clot (DVT) in the leg or even the lung. Blood clots are extremely dangerous and can even prove fatal. This risk is even greater if your flight is greater than 4 hours.
3. Whilst most people find benzodiazepines like diazepam sedating, a small number have increased aggression. They can also cause disinhibition and lead you to behave in a way that you would not normally. This could impact on your safety as well as that of other passengers and could also get you into trouble with the law.
4. According to the prescribing guidelines doctors follow (BNF) Benzodiazepines are contraindicated (not allowed) in treating phobia. Your doctor would be taking a significant legal risk by prescribing against these guidelines. They are only licensed short term for a crisis in generalised anxiety. If this is the case, you should be getting proper care and support for your mental health and not going on a flight.
5. Diazepam and similar drugs are illegal in several countries. They may be confiscated, or you may find yourself in trouble with the police.
6. Diazepam stays in your system for quite a while. If your job requires you to submit to random drug testing, you may fail this having taken diazepam. It may also impact your ability to drive.

Given the above we will no longer be providing Diazepam or similar drugs for flight anxiety and instead suggest the below aviation industry recommended flight anxiety courses.

We appreciate that fear of flying is very real and very frightening. A much better approach is to tackle this properly with a Fear of Flying course run by the airlines.

• Fear of flying course - easyjet
• Flying with confidence - British Airways
• Tips For Nervous Flyers - Virgin Atlantic

Alternative local travel clinics

• Travel Klinix: Health Care for Travellers
• CityDoc: Travel Health & Vaccination Clinics
• GP Led Travel Clinic Coventry
• Boots: Travel Vaccinations available in some stores

Useful links

• Covid Travel Advice
• Fit for Travel: Information on how to stay safe and healthy abroad
• Mosquito bite avoidance advice