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Northern Echo GP Practice of the Year 2021
Leyburn Medical Practice
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  • Cancer screening
  • Bowel screening
  • Breast screening
  • Cervical screening
  • Spotting cancer early

Cancer screening

Cancer screening involves testing apparently healthy people for signs of the disease. It can save lives by finding cancers at an early stage, or even preventing them.

Screening is not the same as the tests a person may have when doctors are diagnosing or treating cancer.

The UK has three screening programmes:

Follow a manual added link

Bowel cancer screening

Offered to people aged 60–74 in England

Follow a manual added link

Breast cancer screening

Offered to women, some transgender men and some non-binary people aged 50–70 in the UK

Follow a manual added link

Cervical cancer screening

Offered to women, some transgender men and some non-binary people aged 25–64 in the UK

Screening programmes are only set up for a cancer type if they will save lives from the disease without too much risk. If there isn’t a good enough screening test, or screening would do more harm overall, then a screening programme isn’t introduced.

Screening is your choice; it is recommended you read the information that comes with your invitation and ask your GP you have any questions.

You need to be registered with a GP to get your screening invitations.

There is no screening programme for prostate cancer because the PSA test is not currently reliable enough, but men over 50 can ask their doctor about it. For more information on systems go to the prostate cancer pages on the NHS website.

Spotting cancer early saves lives

Bowel cancer screening

NHS England’s Bowel Cancer Screening Programme aims to find warning signs in people aged 60 to 74. They are invited to take a faecal immunochemical test (FIT) every two years at home. Those age 75yrs plus can request a screening kit by calling 0800 707 6060.

If there has been a problem with performing the FIT kit or returning it to the screening programme, please contact the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme on 0800 707 60 60 who will be happy to send you a further FIT kit.

You may chose not to return your FIT kit. To ensure that you are fully aware of the decision that you have made we would like to encourage you to visit the bowel cancer screening pages of the NHS website for further information and support, including information and a video on how to use the home test kit. You can also phone and book a routine telephone or face to face appointment with a GP to discuss.

It is not mandatory to participate, but as your GP practice, it is something we would highly recommend that you did participate in.

Always contact your GP if you have symptoms of bowel cancer at any age, even if you have recently completed an NHS bowel cancer screening test kit – do not wait to have a screening test.

The symptoms of bowel cancer can be subtle and do not necessarily make you feel ill. More than 90% of people with bowel cancer have one of the following combinations of symptoms:

  • a persistent change in bowel habit – pooing more often, with looser, runnier poos and sometimes tummy (abdominal) pain
  • blood in the poo without other symptoms of piles (haemorrhoids) – this makes it unlikely the cause is haemorrhoids
  • abdominal pain, discomfort or bloating always brought on by eating – sometimes resulting in a reduction in the amount of food eaten and weight loss

Breast cancer screening

The NHS Breast Screening Programme invites all women from the age of 50 to 70 for screening every 3 years. This means that some people may not have their first screening mammogram until they are 52 or 53 years.

North Yorkshire Breast Screening Service is run from York and Scarborough Teaching Hospital’s NHS Trust.

You will receive and appointment direct from the Breast Screening Service. If you have any queries or you need to re-arrange an appointment, please contact the Breast Cancer Screening Programme office on 01904 725590 or 01904 725591.

If you chose not to attend your mammogram, we would like to encourage you to either visit the breast screening pages of the Gov.uk website or phone and book a routine telephone or face to face appointment with a GP to discuss. This is so that we can ensure that you are fully aware of the decision that you have made. It is of course not mandatory to participate, but as your GP, it is something we would highly recommend that you did participate in.

Always contact your GP if you have symptoms of breast cancer at any age, even if you have recently attended a screening – do not wait to have for another invite.

You can find out more about the symptoms of breast cancer on the NHS website.

Cervical cancer screening

The NHS cervical screening programme invites women from age 25 to 64 for cervical screening. Depending on where you live and your age, you get an invite every 3 to 5 years.

Some patients do not responded invitations to have a cervical smear performed.  This may be because they have been too busy, too frightened, too embarrassed, or a combination of these, to have it performed.

Regular cervical screening is the best way to detect early changes to the cervix (neck of the womb). Early detection and treatment can prevent cancer developing in around 80% to 90% of cases.

If your difficulty is finding time to get to the practice, please phone and talk to our practice support team. There are several options available including evening and weekends appointments at Catterick.

If you have any other queries or concerns, please see the cervical screening pages of the NHS website or the Cancer Research UK site or telephone to discuss your problem with either a Practice Nurse or a GP so that we can ensure that you are fully aware of the decision that you have made.

It is, of course, not mandatory to participate in this screening programme, however as your GP, it is something we would highly recommend that you did participate in.

Always contact your GP if you have symptoms of cervical cancer, even if you have recently had a cancer screening.

For more information on the symptoms of cervical cancer visit the NHS website.

Spotting cancer early saves lives

Not all the symptoms of cancer are easy to spot. We encourage people to contact their GP practice if they experience any of the below symptoms:

Tummy trouble

such as discomfort or diarrhoea for three weeks or more

Blood in your pee

even just once

Unexplained pain

that lasts three weeks or more

A cough

for three weeks or more (that isn’t Covid-19)

An unexplained lump

Unexpected or unexplained bleeding

Other signs and symptoms to prompt contact to your GP practice if experienced for three weeks or more include:

Unexplained weight loss

Feeling tired and unwell

Heartburn or indigestion

Unusual, pale or greasy poo

Address

Leyburn Medical Practice
Leyburn Health Centre
Brentwood
Leyburn
North Yorkshire
DL8 5EP

Practice privacy notice

Contact

Phone: 01969 622391
Out of hours: 111

Patient medical related requests

Email: leyburnsurgery@nhs.net
(This mailbox is checked regularly but not continually. Anything urgent must be phoned in. Patients should only send emails if requested by a member of the team. Medical related requests should be sent by our online consultation tool.)

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Surgery hours

Monday to Friday: 8.30am–12.30pm and 1.30pm–6.00pm

Dispensary hours: 9.00am–12.30pm and 1.30pm–6.00pm Monday–Friday

Better Access – pre-booked telephone and face to face appointments available in Northallerton and Catterick.

Bank Holidays: closed

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GP Practice of the Year 2021

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