Tel: 020 7228 1619 Providing care, compassion and quality

Welcome to Falcon Road Medical Centre

We are a long established NHS medical practice in the heart of North Battersea close to Clapham Junction station. We provide a professional and family friendly service to our patients in modern and well equipped premises. The surgery is situated at ground floor level with easy wheelchair access.

We offer the very best care to our patients at all times with highly skilled medical professionals and friendly helpful reception staff.

Most of our doctors, nurses and receptionists live locally and have worked in the practice for over 10 years.

We pride ourselves on providing continuity of care and getting to know our patients and their families well.

The Medical Centre will be going through renovation works starting on 27th Feb

This will help us deliver you care in a modernised building. There may be some disruption to the normal running of the practice at this time, however we will still be seeing patients as normal. Please do bear with us during this process.

Physiotherapy

If you are suffering from:

  • Back (sciatica) / neck / shoulder / knee / ankle / elbow / wrist pain
  • Muscle injuries / strains / sprains / tears
  • Arthritis
  • After surgery e.g. knee/hip replacement, shoulder surgery, postnatal problems
  • Sports injuries

A physiotherapist can help to assess and manage your condition without the need to see a GP first. There are three ways to access a physiotherapist.

At The Falcon Road Medical Centre you have access to a First Contact Physiotherapy service.

Advanced physiotherapists can provide an expert assessment of your case and go on to offer advice on exercise, referral onto more regular physiotherapy (at St John's Therapy Centre/ St. George's University Hospital), scanning or referral onto specialists (Orthopaedics etc) - to book an appointment please see below.

The getUBetter app is provided for patients registered at The Falcon Road Medical Centre. Please click here to access it directly on your phone or webpage

Your next poo could save your life

We are supporting a London-wide campaign to encourage more patients to do their free NHS bowel cancer screening home test, which checks if you could have bowel cancer.

People who are the right age are sent a free NHS FIT (Faecal Immunochemical Test) kit every two years. You use it to collect a small sample of poo and post it back to an NHS lab.

The campaign by NHS London, “Your next poo could save your life”, urges more people to use their kit – a message we wholeheartedly endorse.

Screening can help prevent bowel cancer and find it at an early stage when it’s easier to treat. People who complete their screening are 25% less likely to die of bowel cancer.

The kits are for people with no symptoms and most people get the all-clear.

If you are aged 56, 58 (on or after 16 May 2022) or 60 to 74 and we have your correct address, you will be sent a kit every 2 years. Please use it. By April 2025, bowel cancer screening kits will be for everyone aged 50 to 74 in England.

To find out more and hear from other Londoners about their experience of bowel cancer screening, visit www.healthylondon.org/bcs

If you have symptoms of bowel cancer which last for three weeks or more, please contact the practice and ask for an appointment.

Your next poo could save your life

Tablets for fear of flying: why we don’t prescribe them any more.

People sometimes ask the doctor or nurse to prescribe diazepam, or similar drugs like lorazepam temazepam or clonazepam, for fear of flying or to help sleep during flights.

Prescribing these drugs is not recommended any more for these reasons:

  • Although plane emergencies are rare, taking Diazepam reduces awareness and reaction times for patients so you risk not being able to react to save your life if you have to escape quickly. You may also put other people in danger by getting in their way or making them help you.
  • The use of these drugs can make you sleep in an unnaturally deep sleep. This means you won’t move around as much as during natural sleep so you have a bigger risk of getting a blood clot (Deep Vein Thrombosis – DVT) in the leg or lungs. Blood clots are very dangerous and can kill. This risk is bigger if your flight is longer than 4 hours.
  • They have short term bad effects on memory, co-ordination, concentration and reaction times, and are addictive if used for a long time, with withdrawal leading to fits, hallucinations, agitation and confusion. They have also become widely used drugs of abuse since they first came on the market. Diazepam in the UK is a controlled drug. The prescribing guidelines doctors have to follow say that that use to treat short-term ‘mild’ anxiety is inappropriate. They are only to be used short term for a ‘crisis in generalised anxiety’. But if you are having such a crisis you are not likely to be fit to fly. Fear of flying in isolation is not a generalised anxiety disorder.
  • Some people get agitated and aggressive after taking diazepam and similar drugs, and behave in a way that they would not normally, which can pose a risk on the plane. This affects everyone’s safety and could get you into trouble with the law. A similar effect can be seen with alcohol, which has led to people being removed from flights.
  • There is evidence use of these drugs stops the normal adjustment response that would gradually lessen anxiety over time, and may increase anxiety in the long term, especially if used repeatedly.
  • Diazepam and similar controlled drugs are illegal in a number of countriesi. They may be confiscated or you may find yourself in trouble with the police.
  • Diazepam stays in your system for some time. If your job or sport needs you to have random drug testing you may fail this having taken diazepam.
  • It is important to tell your travel insurer about your medical conditions and medications you take. If not, there is a risk of your insurer not paying if you try to make a claim.

So we will no longer be providing Diazepam or similar drugs for flight anxiety. Instead please try one of these aviation industry recommended flight anxiety courses.

Fly And Be Calm™
Fly And Be Calm™ is an instant download and comes with a money back guarantee (Guarantee does not apply to app versions).6 MP3 tracks which include instructions, the fear removal tool and two hypnotic tracks. The least expensive option, takes very little time, works on the root cause of your problem. If you are not 100% happy you can get a full refund.

Aged 18 or over? Had your 2nd dose 3 months ago or more?

Book now for your COVID-19 booster vaccine

#GetBoosted

COVID-19 booster vaccine

NHS Cervical Screening Programme

The Falcon Road Medical Centre has been selected to take part in an important study to test the use of self-sampling in the NHS Cervical Screening Programme in England. Self-sampling is a new method that is being considered for the NHS Cervical Screening Programme; this test can be completed at home and if implemented in the programme could increase access to screening for many people.

Before self-sampling can be offered as part of routine screening, it needs to be tested to ensure that the results are as accurate as the results from a sample taken by a doctor or nurse.

HPValidate is a study that is being led by Public Health England which will compare self-taken samples with samples taken by a doctor or nurse. This will help the NHS Cervical Screening Programme to decide what device/s could be used for HPV self-sampling in the future.

Over the next few weeks The Falcon Road Medical Centre will be inviting patients who are due for routine cervical screening (smear test) to take part in this study; participants will be asked to use one of the self-tests before having their sample taken by the doctor or nurse. If you receive an invitation letter with information about the study please talk to your doctor or nurse when you come in for your appointment and they will be able to provide you with further information.

NHS Digital has issued a Data Provision Notice for Planning and Research

This means we are required to share your information with them unless you tell us not to. To opt out complete the form before 23rd June 2021

Download Form

Need help with your muscle or joint problems?

NHS Wandsworth MSK app is now available to all patients. It’s a FREE, easy-to-use tool helping you to self-manage your muscle, bone, and joint (MSK) injuries and conditions.

  • No need to wait for an appointment
  • Instant access to a personalised plan
  • Safe and effective

What is getUBetter?

getUBetter is an app helping you self-manage at home, work, and on the move. It can be accessed on a Smartphone or via the Web.

It covers a range of MSK injuries and conditions, like back pain and ankle pain, and is designed to help you recover, understand when and where to seek help, and prevent further injuries.

Who is getUBetter for?

  • Anyone over 18
  • Anyone who's been advised or chose to self-manage
  • Anyone waiting for treatment

What will I get?

  • A personalised recovery plan
  • Step-by-step guidance
  • Exercises based on your condition
  • Advice to seek help, if needed
  • Referral to your local healthcare providers, treatments, and services, if needed

How do I download and use getUBetter?

  1. Follow the link to access your local health service: linklinklink
  2. With the same email, create an account on the app
  3. Follow the instructions on the app, get your recovery plan and get better!

Need more help? Get in touch: contact@getubetter.com

Request Access

Key information for patients about the coronavirus vaccine

Thank you for all your enquiries about the covid-19 vaccine. Falcon Road Medical Centre is working together with other Battersea practices to set up a Battersea Covid vaccination site at the Junction Health Centre. This is a huge project, but we are hoping that vaccinations will start in early January.

As you may be aware, from the news and government announcements, the vaccine is in limited supply and it will be offered to patients in high risk/priority groups first.

We will contact the relevant patient groups to book appointments as soon as we are able to. You do not need to contact us.

We are sure that you will appreciate that we are working very hard on this at present, and we thank you for your patience.

We will keep our website updated as we receive more details from NHS England.

In the meantime, more information about the Covid vaccine can be found here: https://www.swlstg.nhs.uk/

Over 70 and not vaccinated?

We have invited all our patients who are over 70 or Clinically Extremely Vulnerable (CEV) for a COVID-19 vaccination. If you are over 70 or in the CEV group and have not heard from us you can now book your vaccination in two ways.

Please either contact us and let us have your up to date contact details so that we can arrange an appointment for your vaccination, or alternatively to book your vaccination at another location you can now book by visiting www.nhs.uk/covid-vaccination or ringing 119 free. You no longer need a letter.

Advice for parents during coronavirus

Dear Parent/Carer We hope your child is well.  We know you want to keep them safe.  We want to reassure you that you can and should contact your GP if you have concerns about your child being unwell despite the disruption being caused by the Covid 19 pandemic. Coronavirus is unlikely to make your child seriously unwell but other illnesses or undertreating chronic problems can.  You should not delay in contacting your GP if you have concerns about your child's health.  Please trust your instincts and call your GP if you are worried.  Please call 999 in any life threatening emergency. Together we can keep your children well. The Falcon Rd Medical Centre.

Download PDF - Advice for parents during coronavirus

Armed Forces Veteran Friendly Accredited GP Practice