Clinics & Services

Physiotherapy Triage & Treatment Service

A new physiotherapy triage and treatment service is now available to Vale Of Neath Practice patients, at Resolven Health Centre and Dulais Valley Primary Care Centre. The 20 minute triage assessment slots are not subject to our normal appointment booking procedures, so patients that require physiotherapy treatment are advised to call outside of the normal peak morning and afternoon times. The triage appointments are available at Vale Of Neath Medical Centre on Monday and Wednesday mornings, and in Dulais Valley on Thursday and Friday mornings, these can be booked by selecting OPTION 2 on our telephone system, with our normal GP appointment system moving to OPTION 3. If you require any further information, please ask at Reception.

Physio Direct Leaflets

Physio Direct Telephone Service Leaflet

Physiotherapy are running a Physio Access Clinic at the Resource Centre to which patients can refer themselves into by booking an appointment in advance, as there is currently no walk-in Physio services available.

The easiest way to book an appointment is by using the following link :

Port Talbot Resource Centre Physiotherapy (office365.com)

The appointments are uploaded 48 hours in advance. Alternatively, appointments can be booked via telephone on 01792 487453 between 9.00am and 10.00am Monday to Friday excluding Bank Holidays.

Travel Vaccinations

If you require any vaccinations relating to foreign travel you need to make an appointment with the practice nurse to discuss your travel arrangements. This will include which countries and areas within countries that you are visiting to determine what vaccinations are required.

There is further information about countries and vaccinations required on the links below

Europe & Russia	North America
Central America	South America
Caribbean	Africa
Middle East	Central Asia
East Asia	Australasia and Pacific

It is important to make this initial appointment as early as possible - at least 6 weeks before you travel - as a second appointment will be required with the practice nurse to actually receive the vaccinations. These vaccines have to be ordered as they are not a stock vaccine. Your second appointment needs to be at least 2 weeks before you travel to allow the vaccines to work.

Some travel vaccines are ordered on a private prescription and these incur a charge over and above the normal prescription charge. This is because not all travel vaccinations are included in the services provided by the NHS.

Travel Health Questionnaire

To help us offer the appropriate advice, please fill out the online form before coming to see the nurse.

Travel Questionnaire

Travelling in Europe

If you are travelling to Europe the EU has published useful information for travellers on the European website.

Get a note from your doctor (GANFYD)

Patients will sometimes consult with a view to getting a note from their doctor. Some of these requests for letters are reasonable. For instance, in insurance medical reports where some knowledge of the patient's medical background is important and so the GP has something useful to contribute.

Sadly, many of these requests range from unnecessary to frankly absurd. Many are requested by people in positions of administrative responsibility who are not willing to believe information supplied by the patient, seek to avoid or shift legal responsibility for potential adverse consequences, or choose to impose effort and cost on the patient regardless of the effects on other services. Examples include letters to certify fitness to travel, fitness to work and fitness to undertake certain activities, e.g. acting, modelling, sitting examinations, using the gym, starting an exercise/diet programme, parachute jumping, diving etc.

At other times patients may come for letters on their own initiative, often in an attempt to recruit the doctor's support to avoid something undesirable, e.g. justifying an absence from work, trying to get off a speeding fine, etc.

Regardless of how valid the request may be, these letters are a form of medical report. They are therefore classed as private work and attract a fee. Please see the Practice Price List.

Letters for Court

It is not uncommon for patients to request "sick notes" to explain why they did not attend, or cannot attend, court. In some instances such requests may be motivated by an understandable anxiety due to the fact that they know they are likely to be found guilty of an offence.

All such requests must come from the courts. Doctors who have provided sick notes for such purposes, other than at the request of the court have, in the past, been heavily censured, and risk being found to be in contempt of court.

Note, also, that Med 3 and self-certification certificates are for statutory sick pay purposes only, and should only be used for statutory sick pay.

please see this link: https://www.gov.uk/jury-service/overview

Excusal from Jury Service

Similar rules apply to patients who want evidence to excuse themselves from jury service. Your doctor does not have to provide you with a letter unless asked for by the court - Delaying or being excused from jury service

In addition, if a patient requests a "sick note" because they are anxious about appearing as a witness, they might find it helpful to visit Victim Support, and they should contact the court for advice about the witness counselling and protection services that are available.

Podiatry Direct

Podiatry is the new term for chiropody.

A new direct access telephone service for Podiatry has been launched in the Neath Port Talbot area called "Podiatry Access Direct" it is a telephone service to provide direct access for advice and assessment of foot related problems.

You do not need to obtain a referral from your GP, Nurse to use Podiatry Direct.

The service is available Monday to Friday 9:00am - 12:00pm and 1:00pm - 3:30pm (except bank holidays).

Patients will need to contact the Podiatry Access Direct team by calling 0300 300 0024, or by emailing sbu.podiatry@wales.nhs.uk to obtain the Pre Consultation Questionnaire (self-referral form), that needs to be completed before treatment.

This completed form is then triaged by the Podiatrist, and an appointment will be offered (if applicable) within clinical priority.

Please note the Walk In Service is no longer available at Port Talbot Resource Centre.

Tel No: 0300 300 0024

Email: sbu.podiatry@wales.nhs.uk 

Vale Of Neath Patients Living In Powys

If you have never seen a Podiatrist/Chiropodist in Powys before or if you have not been seen by a Powys Podiatrist/Chiropodist within the last 2 years - you can self refer to the Powys Podiatry/Chiropody service.

The self referral form can be found here, if in any doubt whether you need to complete this form you can call the Contact Centre team on 01686 613200.

Requests from Private Service Providers

Policy regarding requests from private service providers to take blood tests

The Vale or Neath Practice adheres to the following guidance regarding requests for blood tests to be done by a private consultant or other clinician operating on a private basis. 

If a patient has chosen to pay for private healthcare because:

1. their treatment is not available on the NHS    or

2. they do not wish to be treated on the NHS     or

3. they have an insurance policy which covers private treatment.

then the patient is responsible for paying all associated costs (including blood tests), and the private service provider is responsible for managing every aspect of their healthcare. This policy will remain in place, unless the patient decides to transfer back to the NHS at a later date to continue their treatment.

For this reason, private service providers should not be asking GP's to arrange any blood tests that they deem necessary, and intend to use, to make a clinical diagnosis and/or recommend a course of treatment with.

It is the private service provider's responsibility to arrange blood tests for patients whose care they are managing, and the patient's responsibility to pay for such tests.

Policy regarding requests from private service providers to start or take over prescribing medication

In addition to the above policy, The Vale Of Neath Practice cannot prescribe medications on behalf of private service providers, nor continue to supply prescriptions which have previously been supplied by the private service provider. We are not permitted to have shared care protocols with private service providers.

Private consultants wishing to transfer patients to NHS care should directly refer their patient to the appropriate NHS service who will reassess and, if appropriate, take over the patients treatment. At the point where the patients care has been taken over by an NHS service, a request may be made by the NHS service to share prescribing responsibility with the practice.