Greenwich Community Health Services

Community Gynaecology Services Provided by

Community gynaecology servicesMany women’s health problems can be helped without the need to be referred to hospital. If your symptoms are not serious and do not require surgery, you can be seen for diagnosis and treatment by our specialist Contraception and Sexual Health (CASH) team.

What we can help with A wide range of symptoms and conditions can be assessed and treated. We have an ultrasound machine and can take swabs and samples – these are sent to the hospital for checking.

We commonly see and help women with:

• Heavy or painful periods

• Premenstrual syndrome (PMS/PMT)

• Problems with the menstrual (monthly) cycle which cause other medical conditions to get worse, ie migraines

• Advice and treatment for the menopause

• Irregular or abnormal bleeding (unless your GP suspects something serious)

• Assessment of fertility (difficulty becoming pregnant)

• Hormone imbalance

• Pain in the abdomen or pain or difficulty having sex

• Pain or itching in the vagina or vulva (skin outside the vagina)

• ‘Lost’ IUD (coil)

• Help with prolapse (lump in the vagina).

How to access the service Your GP will contact the Greenwich Referral Management Service, a specialist team who manage referrals to other health services, who will contact you to arrange your appointment. They will give you a choice of available appointments to choose from.

When and where can I be seen? The CASH team offer community gynaecology services from Tuesday to Friday, during the day and in the evening, with clinics in Woolwich, Eltham and Greenwich. See overleaf for clinic locations and contact information.

What will happen at your visit? You will be seen by an experienced doctor or nurse and any tests or scans that you need, will be performed in the clinic during your appointment time.

There will be a chance for you to ask questions at your appointment. You may like to write these down beforehand and keep them handy.

You may be given a follow up appointment or asked to return to the clinic for test results or further treatment. Depending on the tests and/or treatment, we may be able to give you results or follow up with you over the phone. The doctor or nurse will discuss this with you at your appointment. In some instances, we may have to refer you to a hospital gynaecologist. This can be arranged at the hospital of your choice.

Your GP will need to provide any medicines or treatment that we recommend and we will write to them to ensure that they are fully informed.

Market Street Health Centre16-20 Market Street Woolwich, SE18 6QRPhone: 020 8301 8951 Web: www.oxleas.nhs.uk

Travelling by bus? The 51, 53, 54, 122, 161, 178, 244, 291, 386 & 469 stop nearby.

Where to find usCommunity Gynaecology clinics are also run at:

Vanbrugh Hill Health CentreVanbrugh Hill, London, SE10 9HQ

Travelling by bus? The 129, 177, 180, 286, 188, 386 and 422 stop nearby.

The closest train station is Maze Hill.

Bungalow 3Wensley Close, Eltham, SE9 5AB

Travelling by bus? The B15, B16, 124, 132, 161, 162, 286 and 314 stop nearby.

The closest train station is Eltham.

Your opinion matters to us We are committed to providing the highest standards of care, so we welcome your views on the services we provide. If you would like to comment, make a suggestion or make a complaint, please speak to the doctor or nurse or ask to speak to the team manager. You can email the team manager at fiona.dickson@nhs.net. You may also like to speak to our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) by ringing the freephone number on 0800 917 7159.

Confidentiality All our staff are required to abide by a strict code of conduct on confidentiality. We will only share information with those who need to know in order to provide good quality care. Occasionally there may be exceptions to this, for example to support a clinical audit or to monitor the quality of care provided. We will usually discuss this with you beforehand.

MARCH 2012