Welcome to the Courtfield Autumn Newsletter
Despite the warm sunshine, it is indeed that time of the year when our focus turns to vaccination against influenza, COVID-19, pneumonia, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) – the latter particularly for those of you over 65 or with chronic respiratory conditions such as emphysema.
It is also an opportunity to protect yourself against shingles, for those of you over the age of 55.
We are also sending out booster reminders to those of you who received your first dose of meningitis B vaccine (specifically Trumenba) in March.
We will be running nurse-led clinics on Saturday 10th and Saturday 24th October.
Where any of the above vaccines are administered by the nurse, there will be no additional fee other than the cost of the vaccine itself. For patients who would prefer a doctor to administer the vaccine, there will be an additional vaccination fee of £80.
When booking, please let the reception team know which vaccine or vaccines you require.
At the time of writing, we only have flu vaccination for the over-50s in stock, but we expect to receive the vaccine for the under-50s in mid-October. The minimum age for flu vaccination is six months.
AI at Courtfield
The extraordinary advances in the medical application of artificial intelligence over the past two years have presented us with the opportunity to introduce a carefully researched tool to support our doctors during consultations.
The system we have chosen is called Heidi. With your permission, Heidi listens to the consultation and prepares a draft summary of the relevant medical history, examination and discussion. This is reviewed and edited by your GP before it is included in your medical record.
Your privacy and confidentiality remain extremely important to us. The recording is anonymised and is not stored once the consultation has been processed. Heidi has been designed specifically for use in healthcare and uses security and privacy safeguards to protect patient information. Any consultation data is handled in accordance with applicable data protection requirements and Courtfield’s own confidentiality and information-governance responsibilities.
Your doctor will always let you know in advance if they would like to use Heidi during your consultation, and it will never be used without your consent.
If you would prefer not to use it, simply let your doctor know.
Please see at the bottom of this newsletter an information leaflet with further details about Heidi and how it is used at Courtfield.
Fourth Courtfield baby of the year on the horizon!
Following the arrival of healthy babies for Giulia in reception, Laura in our secretarial team and Dr Krishan Joseph, we are delighted that another Courtfield baby is now on the horizon.
Dr Sophie Ladbrooke is now on maternity leave in anticipation of the arrival of her daughter, who is due on 19th October.
To help support the presence of female doctors while she is away, her mother, Dr Jill Harling, will be increasing the number of sessions that she offers.
Dr Ebba Khalil and Dr Clare Thompson will, of course, also continue to be available to ensure continuity of care for those of you who prefer to see a female GP.
Welcome to Dr James Thaxter
We are also delighted to welcome Dr James Thaxter, who will be joining us at Courtfield on Thursdays.
Dr Thaxter is an experienced local GP and also works at the Centre for Men’s Health in Harley Street. He brings a wealth of expertise in men’s health, longevity and testosterone replacement therapy.
Just as hormonal changes around the menopause can have a significant impact on women’s health and wellbeing, men can also experience important hormonal changes as they get older. Alongside the care already provided by Dr Jill Harling, in women’s hormonal health, we are very pleased to now be extending our focus on hormonal health to men too. Dr James Thaxter will bring his expertise in men’s hormonal health and the potential benefits of testosterone replacement therapy where appropriate.
Dr Thaxter will be talking about this in the upcoming weeks on our social media platforms and will also be writing an article for publication on the Courtfield website.
New Check-up consultation
For those of you who would like a longer consultation, we are now offering a 60-minute consultation appointment at £450 (our standard 30-minute consultation fee is £250).
Please contact our friendly reception team or book an appointment online.
Boring, but necessary…
We apologise to our patients with international health insurance for now having to ask you to obtain a Guarantee of Payment (GOP) from your insurer prior to your consultation with us.
Please note that we are only able to accept a GOP and cannot accept pre-authorisation codes in its place.
We appreciate that obtaining a GOP introduces an additional step for our patients, and this is not a change we have made lightly.
Please be assured that we have only introduced this requirement after exhausting all other avenues to ensure prompt payment from insurers. Unfortunately, some insurers can take a very considerable amount of time to settle even straightforward invoices, in some cases as long as two years.
Of course, if in future we can be reassured that prompt payment can be guaranteed without this, we will be very happy to return to our previous system, which was undoubtedly simpler for everyone.
Google Reviews
If you have a spare moment, we would be incredibly grateful if you could leave us a Google review to help support our online presence. We truly appreciate the wonderful feedback our patients have already shared on our Google page so far.
We are also very grateful for our growing Instagram community! We post regular updates and health advice and would be delighted if as many of our patients as possible followed us. It’s a great way for us to communicate with you without bombarding your inbox with emails.
Dr Sophie has recently been giving advice to new mothers, and we also have some helpful videos on ‘Signs of a Sick Child’ (a useful watch in the lead up to the winter season), and recent changes to the 1-year vaccination schedule.
Thank you, as always, for your continued support of Courtfield.
With all best wishes for a happy and healthy autumn season.
The Courtfield team
