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More about GP services
The general medical services provided by GPs are defined under the General Medical Services Contract. These services are mainly split into three groups: essential, additional and enhanced which are briefly described below. You can also visit your GP practice simply for reassurance if you have particular worries or concerns.
Essential services
Essential services
All practices must provide essential services for people who have health conditions from which they are expected to recover, chronic disease management and general management of terminally ill patients.
The core services provided include:
- GP consultations
- Asthma clinics
- Chronic obstructive airways disease clinics
- Coronary heart disease clinics
- Diabetes clinics
Additional services Additional services
Practices are expected to provide additional services but can choose not to. Additional services include:
- Cervical cytology screening
- Contraceptive services
- Child health surveillance
- Maternity services
- Certain minor surgery procedures
- Vaccinations and immunisations
Enhanced services Enhanced services
Enhanced services are essential or additional services that are delivered to a higher standard, or extra, more specialised services. Specialised services can cover health issues such as substance misuse, depression or multiple sclerosis or particular groups such as the terminally ill, the homeless, immigrants, violent patients and those with learning disabilities. Enhanced services can include:
- Anticoagulant monitoring (medication to help with blood clotting)
- Childhood vaccinations and immunisations (provided to higher specified standard)
- Contraceptive coil fitting (IUD)
- Extended minor surgery
- Flu immunisation
- Immediate care/first response care
- Intra partum care (care to women in labour)
- Minor injury service (for example gluing or stitching wounds)
- Sexual health
Other services Other services
Some practices can also offer other, complementary services. Whilst these services do vary between practices, they can include:
- Child health and development
- Counselling
- Dermatology
- Dietician support
- Dressing clinics
- Monitoring disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs
- Ear wax and syringing
- ECGs (electrical heart trace)
- End of life care
- Epilepsy
- Lung testing (spirometry)
- Medication review clinics (by pharmacists)
- Men’s health
- Mental health
- Pregnancy testing and contraceptive advice
- Ring pessary replacement
- Stop smoking support
- Travel advice
- Women’s health
Paid services Paid services
A GP practice can also offer a number of non-NHS services which are generally paid for by the patient or their company. These services can include:
- Insurance claims forms
- Passport signing
- Prescription for taking medication abroad
- Private sick notes
- Sports, pre-employment and HGV medicals
- Vaccination certificates
Health Check and Health Screening Health Check and Health Screening
The NHS Health Check is a free midlife MOT. For adults aged 40-74 without a pre-existing condition, it checks your circulatory and vascular health and what your risk of getting a disabling vascular disease is.
Click here to find out more about the NHS Health Check
The NHS also offers a range of screening tests to different sections of the population. Screening is a way of identifying apparently healthy people who may have an increased risk of a particular condition. There are three national cancer screening programmes available through the NHS: breast, bowel and cervical. It may be useful to know that in many cases, cancer screening is done to help prevent the disease, as well as being useful for early detection.
Cllick here to find our more about NHS Health Screens
Source: It’s Your Practice: A patient guide to GP services, Royal College of General Practitioners, July 2011
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