News

Meningitis Vaccine Eligibility

Following the recent meningitis outbreak in Kent, there is NO national vaccine programme against Meningitis B been offered.

Who can have the MenB vaccine?

Anyone in the following groups who has been offered preventative antibiotics are being offered the MenB vaccine. At the present time, this includes:

• Close contacts of those confirmed or suspected to have meningitis
• Students at the University of Kent 
• Students at other universities in Canterbury, where there has been a case, and have been advised to take an antibiotic due to a close contact 
• Sixth form students (years 12 and 13) attending secondary school or sixth form college in Kent where there has been a confirmed or probable case of meningitis informed by local risk assessment
• Anyone who visited or was working at Club Chemistry in Canterbury between 5 March and 15 March, when the venue closed voluntarily 

 Eligible students will receive information from their school or university with details of how to access the vaccine.

The programme may be expanded further as UKHSA continues to assess the ongoing risk.  

Meningitis vaccination available on routine NHS Programme

MenB Vaccine for babies and young children was introduced in 2015, so children born after 1 May 2015 will already have received the vaccine at their 8 weeks, 12 weeks and 1-year appointments.If your child has missed any of their MenB vaccines, they can still have the MenB vaccine up to the age of 2.  

MenACWY Vaccine is routinely offered in school (year 9), anyone under 25 who has missed it can get a free catch-up dose from their GP. 

UKHSA Update: Cases of Invasive Meningococcal Disease

Cases of invasive meningococcal disease confirmed in Kent - GOV.UK

You can click on the above link to read more, which will be updated regularly.

Meningitis - Don't Ignore the signs

Meningitis is uncommon, but it is important to be aware of the symptoms and be prepared to take action promptly whenever it is suspected, as it can progress rapidly. Early treatment can be lifesaving.

According to the NHS, symptoms can include:

• High temperature
• Cold hands and feet
• Vomiting
• Confusion
• Breathing Quickly
• Muscle and Joint Pain
• Pale, Mottled or Blotchy Skin (this may be harder to see on brown or black skin)
• Spots or a Rash (this may be harder to see on brown or black skin)
• Headache
• Stiff Neck
• A Dislike of Bright Lights
• Being Very Sleepy or Difficult to Wake

For further information about the symptoms, visit the NHS website. 

The UK Health Security Agency advises that it is useful to know the symptoms as early signs can sometimes look similar to more common illnesses such as a cold, flu or even a hangover. 

Check on your friends regularly if they go to bed feeling unwell, and do not hesitate to seek medical advice if you are concerned. 

You can contact your GP or use the NHS 111 service for medical advice.

If you experience severe symptoms or believe someone may have meningitis, seek urgent medical help immediately by dialling 999.

Changes to access GP appointments

To meet the requirements of the new NHS contract, patients will be able to make requests for a routine (non urgent) GP appointment and certain administrative requests via an online consultation form called AccuRx.

This Online Consultation link will be available under the appointment system tab on the website from the 1st October 2025. 

From the 3rd November 2025 we are changing how patients should book appointments. Please follow the link for more information Changes to appointments

You and your General Practice

Please click here to see the guide which tells you what to expect from your general practice (GP) and how you can help them, so you get the best from the National Health Service (NHS). 

Considering Treatment Abroad or Privately in the UK?

If you are considering going abroad or privately in the UK, for either a consultation, operation or treatment, please be aware that we are unable to offer follow up. You will need to organise any follow up you may require with them.

ZoomPhysio

"If you have a new musculoskeletal complaint such as back pain, knee pain or tennis elbow, you can access a range of tailored online physio plans directly from our website. Just click on the link below and start your recovery without delay."

Dykes Hall Medical Centre and Deer Park Surgery uses ZoomPhysio to provide rapid, online treatment for mild musculoskeletal conditions. If you're suffering from aches or pain, you can receive a personalised online physio plan with easy to follow, easy to view exercises, put together for you by our MSK Practitioner Team.

To get started with ZoomPhysio, please click on the link below to start you free physio plan and get your recovery underway.

If you're concerned about your symptoms, please contact us and arrange a call with our Musculoskeletal Practitioner. You can also arrange a call with our Musculoskeletal Practitioner once you have completed an online physio plan and symptoms have not improved.

Start your free physio plan today

Open Letter to Sheffield Residents on behalf of CCG

You may have struggled to get in touch with your GP practice recently or had to wait for an appointment.

We understand that this can be frustrating, especially if you are feeling ill. This has sometimes led to the misperception that practices are not seeing many patients.

We want to reassure you that practices are doing all they can to get through to and see as many patients as possible. 

NHS Sheffield CCG have written an open letter to all residents to let you know about the challenges facing GP's in Sheffield and what you can do to help us, help you.

Please take a few minutes to read it in full here

Hillsborough Network

Dykes Hall Medical Centre are very excited to announce that we have collaborated with our neighbouring Hillsborough Practices; Far Lane Medical Centre, Tramways Milner and Tramways Bradley, to form the Hillsborough Network.

We will continue to operate as four separate GP practices in the main but will come together when we feel working at scale will benefit our patients. We would like to welcome on board our new in house Physiotherapist and Social Prescriber to the team.  We feel these new services will benefit our patients throughout Hillsborough.

For more information please click here