Nurse Jocelyn (Joy) Brewin-Bland is here to make you feel at ease.  

If you’ve been putting it off, you aren’t alone. We recently heard from a patient who received 10 reminder letters before coming in. She told us:
'I don't like having them done. However, I have just had it done by Nurse Jacelyn (Joy) today and just wanted to say what a pleasant experience it was. Her manner was lovely.'

Another patient shared that after a previous uncomfortable experience and a traumatic birth, Joy made her feel 'at ease, relaxed, and the test was over so quickly.'

Cervical screening isn't a test for cancer; it’s a test to prevent it by catching early cell changes. Our team, including Joy, is here to support you with kindness and patience.

Ready to book?  Make an appointment using an online form here>>

Contact us by phone or email cranborne.reception@dorsetgp.nhs.uk.

Let us know if you're nervous—we’ll take extra time for you. 

Children under 6 are now being offered the MMRV vaccine instead of MMR as part of the NHS routine childhood vaccination programme.
This replaces the existing MMR vaccine and adds protection against chickenpox, in addition to measles, mumps, and rubella.
You don’t need to do anything — your GP will contact you when your child is due.
🔗 nhs.uk/mmrv

Let’s look out for each other.

If you have an upcoming appointment but are feeling under the weather with a cough, cold, or other respiratory symptoms, please help us protect everyone by wearing a mask when you visit the surgery.

Small actions make a big difference in protecting our staff and vulnerable patients. Thank you for helping keep our community healthy!

Flu cases are already 3 times higher than this time last year, and the season has hit the NHS over a month earlier than usual. We are currently texting eligible patients with an invite to book their flu vaccination, and we strongly encourage those who haven't yet had theirs to do so as soon as possible.

You are eligible if you are:

• Aged 65 or over
• Pregnant
• A young child (aged 2–3 or in an eligible school year)
• Living with certain long-term health conditions
• A carer

Getting vaccinated helps protect you, your loved ones, and our community — and reduces pressure on NHS services during a very busy season.

Please use the link we have sent to book your appointment, or call us on 01202 822825 or 01725 517272 and we’ll be happy to help.

Thank you for helping keep our community healthy.

The latest issue of The Doctor's Notes is now available!

Inside, you’ll find:

• Details of upcoming seasonal vaccine clinics
• Updates on the Community Garden at Lake Road Surgery
• Exciting news from our Community SWITCH programme
• Plus other useful health and wellbeing information

You can download and read a PDF copy of the full newsletter here>>

Thank you for staying connected with us and supporting our work to keep our community healthy and thriving.

The new medication Tirzepatide (also known as Mounjaro) is being made available on the NHS for eligible patients across the UK, including Dorset.

• Around 1,000 people in Dorset are expected to qualify based on national criteria.
• However, it won't be available locally until Autumn 2025, so please don’t contact the practice yet—we’re not able to help with this currently.

For the latest local updates, visit the NHS Dorset website here>>

What was once an unused patch of land outside our GP surgery has been transformed into a peaceful green space for patients and staff, and a lasting tribute created in memory of Stephen, the Practice pharmacist, who sadly passed away at a young age late last year.

This beautiful garden is the result of an incredible community effort. Volunteers of all ages came together to donate plants, materials, time, and energy.  Local businesses and organisations also pitched in, showing just how powerful community spirit can be. 

This garden is a testament to what we can achieve when we come together as a community.  From digging and planting to donating goods and cheering us on, thank you to everyone who helped bring this vision to life.

More information on the Community Garden and our kind donors can be found online here>>

If we've invited you for an NHS Health Check, it’s important to take up the offer and book your appointment.

For over 40 years, The Cranborne Practice has provided primary healthcare services to people in Cranborne, Verwood and surrounding areas. 

In Dec 1984, the family-run Doctors practice moved to purpose-built accommodation in Cranborne, which grew and led to further opening of the Lake Road site in Dec 1988.  The Practice currently serves over 12,800 patients in the area. 

Always looking to improve, in 2011, the practice introduced online services and continued to innovate with programmes such as drive-through vaccination clinics and community engagement programmes. 

To meet the needs of a growing community, the Practice has invested in three new consultation rooms and recruited additional GPs. The additional facilities will significantly increase the capacity to provide face-to-face appointments and help reduce waiting times.

Putting the patient at the centre of operations helps the practice identify and respond to the community's needs. This approach is reflected in consistently high CQC inspection results and a 96.4% patient satisfaction score.

The new consultation rooms at the Lake Road surgery site are another milestone in The Cranborne Practice's constant development. To celebrate this, the practice invited members of the Patient Participation Group to open the rooms officially.

Commenting on the new rooms, Managing Partner Jo Morris said, “We constantly look at opportunities to improve patient care. We are pleased to invest in our community and create three new consultation rooms. These will provide more face-to-face GP appointments and enable us to provide a wider range of health care services for local people.”

Chair of the Practice’s Patient Participation Group,  Julie Saunders, says of the developments, “From a patient perspective, we are pleased to see The Cranborne Practice increasing their capacity to deliver healthcare and the benefits from the additional face-to-face GP appointments available.”

The Cranborne Practice is trialling a new online consultation system that enables patients to access some of our GP online services such as requesting a fit/sick note or asking about your test results.  Members of our Patient Participation Group helped us to test the system (called SystmConnect), and it was positively received.

Follow this link to find out more about SystmConnect>>

Please note that the SystmConnect service is NOT for booking appointments or ordering repeat medications, which can be done online using a SystmOnline Services Patient Access account.  However, we invite you to try the online consultation services we are trialling through SystmConnect and let us know what you think. 

At The Cranborne Practice, we want to do all we can to help you with your well-being needs. 

Our veteran patients have free access to Togetherall - Togetherall is a safe anonymous online community where members can share what’s on their mind, take comfort reading the thoughts of others or browse the many resources available. 

Find our more on our dedicated Armed Forces Support page here>>

May we stress that people do not need to let us know about their hospital consultant letters, as details are already provided to us directly from the relevant secondary care provider. Contacting us to provide copies of consultant letters duplicates our work.

If you have registered to use SystmOnline or the NHS App, you can view your medical records to check what we have received, and only contact us if you think something important is missing. Find out more about online access to GP services on our website here>>

Thank you for your support.

For patients who use social media, please note we have Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts (@CranborneGP).  We often post breaking news on Facebook earlier than it is posted on this website, so please follow us so these posts appear in your news feed.  

As well as the ways in which you can get in touch with us published on our Contact Us page, you can also send us a message from our Facebook page.

The practice is required by the Government under the terms of the latest GP contract to allocate all patients a named accountable GP. Individual patients will be informed of their named accountable GP at the first appropriate interaction with the practice. For convenience, if you have a medical card your Accountable GP will be the named doctor you are registered with.

Patients registering over the last 2-3 years will not have received a medical card as these are no longer routinely sent when registering with a new GP. However, the practice does keep a record of your registered (accountable) GP. If you wish to be told the name of your Accountable GP, please ask the receptionists when you are next in the surgery.

Please note: there is no need to telephone the practice for this information. Where a patient expresses a preference as to which GP they have been assigned, the practice will make reasonable efforts to accommodate this request. Having a named GP does not prevent you from seeing any other doctor in the practice. Your named GP will not be available at all times and if your needs are urgent, you may need to discuss them with an alternative doctor.