This page is to support anyone wishing to book online using their text message link.

Your booking link is only valid for 7 days, so please use it quickly to book your vaccination/s.

If you have any problem using the booking link provided after reading this guide, please call us from Monday 9th September on 01271 863119 after 11am to book your vaccination. *

You only need 1 appointment for your Covid and Flu vaccinations. If you would like the Flu vaccination, but not the Covid vaccination, please use the booking link to book, but inform the nurse at your appointment that you do not wish to have the Covid vaccination.

PLEASE NOTE we are unable to give Covid vaccinations without a flu vaccination at this time. (See Flu Page for more info)

The text message will give you the option to decline your vaccination automatically and avoid any further invitations this season. Please however do not call us to decline your vaccination if you are unable to use the decline option, as the phone lines can get very busy.

Booking is easy, please follow these directions:

1) Please click on the link you have received to take you into the Accurx booking system (requires a smart phone with internet access).

2) You will need to confirm your DOB.

3) You will then be presented with a copy of the message with a “Book Appointment” button to click

4) Please select the correct location for your vaccinations if given the choice. We have limited availability at Combe Martin, so please select Combe Coastal Practice for the Ilfracombe option if you are able to travel.

5) You will be given a selection of dates currently available to book. Please click on the clinic date of choice to expand the time options.

6) select the circle next to the appointment time you require (it is important this year that you attend at the exact time of your appointment, we may be unable to vaccinate you outside this appointment time).

7) Click Review to check the details of your booking. Please check this carefully. If you are happy please click “Confirm”

You will get a short delay whilst your appointment is booked. If you receive an error, it could be that the booking system is congested and advise trying again shortly.

You will receive confirmation when your appointment has been booked.

If you can not attend your appointment, please ensure you call us to cancel.

For further information on the Vaccination clinic and criteria, please take a look at our Flu/Covid vaccination page: Flu and COVID-19 Vaccinations coming soon… | Combe Coastal Practice

* Please note the surgery and booking line will be closed on the afternoon of Tuesday 10th September for staff training (see news page for details).

Urology Awareness Month is an annual campaign running in September to raise awareness of urology diseases.

Every September Urology Awareness Month raises awareness of urology diseases including bladder, kidney, prostate and male reproductive cancers and non-malignant conditions including incontinence, urinary tract infections (UTIs), erectile dysfunction and kidney stones.

Your urology health relates to the ‘urogenital system’ in both males and females. These are the parts of your body responsible for producing, storing and discharging urine (kidneys, bladder, urethra) and the parts of your body involved in sexual function (prostate, penis, and testicles).

1 in 2 of us will experience a urology condition in our lives. Urology conditions include some of the most common serious diseases in the UK – such as prostate cancer, kidney damage and incontinence. Other diseases include bladder cancer, testicular cancer, kidney stones, interstitial cystitis, and urinary tract infections.

Check out this myth busting guide for information on common men’s health myths:

For more information on Urology awareness month, please visit: https://www.theurologyfoundation.org/impact-achievements/campaigns/urology-awareness-month/

This Autumn we will be offering appointments for co-administration of both the Flu and COVID-19 vaccines to all of our eligible patients.

Our main Flu clinics are scheduled for Saturday 5th October & Saturday 19th October in Ilfracombe and Wednesday 9th October in Combe Martin. Latest scientific evidence shows that protection from the flu vaccine decreases over time so it is better to have the vaccine closer to when flu typically circulates which is why our clinics are slightly later than normal this year.

We will be sending out staggered Flu and COVID-19 Vaccination invitations via text message to our eligible patients shortly. If you receive a text invite, please try to book your vaccination as soon as possible using the link provided. The link will only last for 7 days.

We will send out invitations in the post for anyone eligible who does not have a mobile phone number or has dissented to text messaging.

Our Vaccination Line opens from Monday 9th September weekdays 11am – 3pm* (Tuesday 10th, line will close at 1pm) and runs for 1 week for anyone wishing to book over the phone if you have had a letter or unable to book via the link.

PLEASE DO NOT CALL TO BOOK YOUR VACCINATION OUTSIDE OF THE SPECIFIED TIME, AS THIS COULD OVERWHELM OUR PHONE LINES AND BLOCK IMPORTANT CALLS FROM GETTING THROUGH.

The vaccination line is only available to book flu and COVID-19 vaccinations, please do not select this option for any other bookings or enquiries as the call handler will be unable to assist you.

NHS Flu and COVID-19 Vaccination Eligibility this year is as follows:-

• Children aged 2 to 15 years old on 31 August 2024 – FLU ONLY*
• pregnant women
• Anyone aged 6 months to 65 years in a clinical risk group**
• Everyone aged 65 years and over
• Adult Care Home Residents
• People who receive a carer’s allowance, or are the main carer for an older or disabled person who may be at risk if the carer gets sick.
• Close contacts of immunocompromised individuals
• Frontline health and social care workers

* Pre-school children aged 2 or 3 years (on 31 August 2024) will be vaccinated at the practice. Children aged 4 to 15 years will usually be vaccinated at school.

** COVID-19 vaccination for children aged 6 months to 18 years in a clinical risk group will need to book their vaccination via the National Booking Service (see details below)

If you are not eligible for free NHS Flu Vaccination, you may be able to pay for vaccination through your local pharmacy. Please contact them for information.

If you want to have the vaccinations separately, you can still book your flu vaccination with us but you may need to book your COVID-19 vaccination at a vaccination centre, due to limited appointment and stock availability. Should you need to book the COVID-19 vaccination through the National Booking Service, their service will open for bookings on Monday 23rd September https://www.nhs.uk/nhs-services/covid-19-services/covid-19-vaccination-services/book-covid-19-vaccination/

If you do not wish to have the vaccinations, please just ignore the invitation. We DO NOT need to know.

PLEASE NOTE – This year we will be running the clinics as per the appointment times booked. For the last few years, we have run a system of ‘first come – first served’. However, with the introduction of co-administering the COVID-19 vaccination this year, it is important that patients arrive at their booked appointment time to prevent a backlog as the appointment times will be longer.

As always, these clinics are very busy as is our car park so if you are able to, it would be appreciated if you could arrive on foot to help with pressure.

Thank you

A reminder to all that this weekend is a bank holiday. The surgeries will be closed all day on Monday 26th August.

If you require medication, please ensure you get the request to us in plenty of time. We require 3 working days notice in most cases.

Please see below for information on which pharmacies are open in the area during the bank holiday. Full information on other pharmacies around the country, can be found at: Bank Holiday Opening (including out of hours opening) – Devon (communitypharmacy.org.uk)

Want to make a difference for your community? Become a governor

The Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is looking for people to bring the voices of their communities to the Trust by nominating themselves to be a public governor.

What is a governor?

Governors share their feedback with members of the Board of Directors, those at the highest level of the Trust, to represent the interests of local people.

As well as representing people in your area, governors play a vital role in the governance of the Trust. The Council of Governors appoints the Trust’s Non-Executive Directors (NEDs) and holds them to account for the performance of the Board.

Public governors work alongside staff governors and appointed governors from Devon County Council and the University of Exeter, so that the Council of Governors as a whole represents the voices of the Trust’s staff, patients and wider communities.

Governors have a wide range of experiences and backgrounds, but what they share is a passion for helping to shape local health services in a way that best meets the needs of patients and the public.

You can nominate yourself from Friday 19 July. The closing date is 5pm on Tuesday 6 August.

Find out more about the role and how to apply: https://royaldevon.nhs.uk/about-us/foundation-trust-and-membership/council-of-governors/governor-elections/

The Trust is holding three information webinars where can find out more about the role, hear from some of the current governors, and ask any questions. Click on the dates below to register and get the joining link:

• Thursday 11 July at 12 noon-1pm
• Tuesday 16 July at 5pm-6pm
• Monday 22 July at 5pm-6pm

For those who are eligible for Covid vaccination this spring and have not yet received one, there are a number of clinics available in the area in June. The vaccination is available to immunosuppressed or over 75’s (you need to be 75 years old by 30 June 2024) only. Please check the NHS Covid website for further details.

Details below are for Ilfracombe only. For a full list of locations please Click Here.

This week is Heart Failure Awareness Week.

There are 1 million people in the UK with a diagnosis of heart failure. However, there are also approximately 400K undiagnosed cases.

Please watch the video for more information on detecting the undetected.

FindMe #DetectingTheUndetected#HFAW2024

We have had quite a few calls from patients who have not received a Covid spring booster invitation, but have done in the past and were expecting to be invited.

At this time the NHS have advised they are only offering the spring Covid booster to the following 3 groups:

1) Patients who are Immunosuppressed (some examples are patients currently undergoing chemotherapy/radiotherapy, Those who require long term immunosuppressive treatment for conditions including, but not limited to, SLE, RA, IBD (eg Crohn’s), scleroderma and psoriasis, Patients who have undergone solid organ, bone or stem transplant, Multiple myeloma, HIV or genetic disorders of affecting the immune system.)

Your GP records should list if you are currently immunosuppressed, in which case we will have sent you an invitation.

2) Anyone over the age of 75 this spring.

3) Anyone residing in a care home for the elderly.

Unfortunately we are unable to vaccinate anyone who does not meet this criteria, and will be running checks to ensure no one is booked in accidentally who doesn’t qualify.

Please note that if you have been listed previously as a high risk for Covid, unless this is for Immunosuppression, or you are over 75, you will most likely not be eligible currently for the spring booster.