Travel Clinic

This service is now provided by NHS Tayside.

• Patients can access information on what vaccinations are required, together with malarial and safe travel advice at Home – Fit for Travel.  
• Four Travel Vaccines are available on the NHS (Typhoid, Hepatitis A, DPT and Cholera) at no direct cost to the patient. 

Please remember to allow at least 6-8 weeks to arrange your vaccination appointment before departure.

Healthy Travel Leaflet

You may find the following leaflet helpful when making your travel arrangements.

Advice on Malaria will be given.

Please download and print our useful guide below about Mosquito advice.

Hepatitis immunisation

Immunisation against infectious Hepatitis (Hepatitis A) is available free of charge on the NHS in connection with travel abroad. However Hepatitis B is not routinely available free of charge and therefore you may be charged for this vaccination when requested in connection with travel abroad.

Excess quantities of regular repeat prescriptions

Under NHS legislation, the NHS ceases to have responsibility for people when they leave the United Kingdom. However, to ensure good patient care the following guidance is offered. People travelling to Europe should be advised to apply for a Global Health Insurance Card.

Medication required for a pre-existing condition should be provided in sufficient quantity to cover the journey and to allow the patient to obtain medical attention abroad. If the patient is returning within the timescale of their usual prescription, then this should be issued (the maximum duration of a prescription is recommended by the Care Trust to be two months, although it is recognised that prescription quantities are sometimes greater than this). Patients are entitled to carry prescribed medicines, even if originally classed as controlled drugs, for example, morphine sulphate tablets.

For longer visits abroad, the patient should be advised to register with a local doctor for continuing medication (this may need to be paid for by the patient).

General practitioners are not responsible for prescriptions of items required for conditions which may arise while travelling, for example travel sickness or diarrhoea. Patients should be advised to purchase these items from community pharmacies prior to travel.

Sedative Prescribing for Fear of Flying

Ardblair Medical practice does NOT prescribe sedatives for fear of flying. This policy decision has been made by the GP Partners and is adhered to by all prescribers working in the practice. The reasons for this include:

1. Diazepam is a sedative, which means it makes you sleepy and more relaxed. If there is an emergency during the flight it may impair your ability to concentrate, follow instructions and react to the situation. This could have serious safety consequences for you and those around you.
2. Sedative drugs can make you fall asleep, however when you do sleep it is an unnatural non-REM sleep. This means you won’t move around as much as during natural sleep. This can cause you to be at increased risk of developing a blood clot (DVT) in the leg or even the lung. Blood clots are very dangerous and can even prove fatal. This risk is even greater if your flight is greater than four hours.
3. Whilst most people find benzodiazepines like diazepam sedating, a small number of people experience agitation and even aggression. They can also cause disinhibition and lead you to behave in a way that you would not normally. This could impact on your safety as well as that of other passengers and could also get you into trouble with the law.
4. According to the prescribing guidelines doctors are required to follow (BNF), Benzodiazepines are contraindicated (not allowed) for phobia (fear). Your doctor is taking a significant legal risk by prescribing against these guidelines.
5. Diazepam and similar drugs are illegal in a number of countries. They may be confiscated, or you may find yourself in trouble with the police.
6. Diazepam stays in your system for quite a while. If your job requires you to submit to random drug testing you may fail this having taken diazepam.

We appreciate that fear of flying is very real and very frightening. A much better approach is to tackle this properly with a Fear of Flying course run by the airlines and we have listed a number of these below.

Easy Jet –  www.fearlessflyer.easyjet.com – Tel.  0203 8131644
British Airways –  www.flyingwithconfidence.com –  Tel.  01252 793250
Virgin –  Flying without Fear –  Tel.  01423 714900

Useful Links