Siam Surgery

18/03/2026

Many of you will be aware of a recent Meningitis outbreak in Kent which has been covered widely in the media.

We’ve had a very large number of calls from people who are unsure about their vaccination status, so we would like to share some key points relating to the vaccines:

🔴MenB vaccine:

- Protects against group B (the strain involved in the outbreak in Kent)
- Offered to babies as part of the NHS childhood immunisations programme - given at 8 weeks, 12 weeks and 1 years old (since 2015)
- Not routinely available for older children or adults on the NHS; only being offered to high-risk groups in targeted areas and therefore not available at our GP surgery for people over 2 years old
- Available at a cost from private providers such as pharmacies, please be aware there is currently a national shortage

🔴MenACWY vaccine:

- Protects against groups A, C, W, Y
- Offered to teenagers aged 13-15 years old as part of the NHS school immunisation programme. If missed at school, this is available at our GP surgery for those aged 16-25 years old

🔴Current situation (18th March 2026):

- Outbreak is localised (Kent)
- Targeted NHS vaccination campaign underway for high-risk groups in Kent
- No changes to vaccination guidance in Suffolk
- Further information from the UK Health Security Agency is available here: https://ukhsa.blog.gov.uk/2026/03/18/meningitis-b-outbreak-what-you-need-to-know/

🔴What to do:

- Be aware of the symptoms (see poster below) and seek urgent medical help if you have any concerns

🔴Checking your vaccination status:

- View your medical records online, for children you can check their 'red book', or contact the practice for your vaccination summary (preferably via email to siamsurgery.patientcontact@nhs.net)

16/03/2026

Meningitis can be very serious if not treated quickly.

The NHS website has all the information you need, including what to look out for and when to get medical help.

➡️ https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/meningitis/

25/02/2026

From 12:00 - 18:30 on Wednesday 25th February Siam Surgery will be closed for important clinical education & training purposes.

Emergency cover will be provided, please telephone 111 to access these services during these hours:

- Telephone triage
- Face to Face appointments

Repeat prescription requests will not be dealt with during these times.
Thank you for your understanding.

10/02/2026

Welcome to the Good Grief TrustAutomated translations Select LanguageAfrikaansAlbanianAmharicArabicArmenianAzerbaijaniBasqueBelarusianBengaliBosnianBulgarianCatalanCebuanoChichewaChinese (Simplified)Chinese (Traditional)CorsicanCroatianCzechDanishDutchEnglishEsperantoEstonianFilipinoFinnishFrenchFri...

04/02/2026

In the UK, nearly 1 in 2 people will get cancer in their lifetime. Today is World Cancer Day – a global day to raise awareness of cancer, and take action against it 🌍

Cancer touches so many of our lives. Tell us about your cancer experience in the comments, and share this post to help us raise awareness.

02/02/2026

West Suffolk Hospital is experiencing system issues which means their pathology laboratory is having to manually process samples by hand and their staffing resource is severely reduced.

We have been asked to step-down any non-urgent blood tests scheduled to take place on 03.02.26. This will allow the pathology laboratory to process urgent blood tests in a safe and timely manner.

If your blood test appointment at Siam Surgery is affected by this you will be contacted by one of our reception team to reschedule - you do not need to do anything. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

With this in mind, if you have had any non-urgent blood tests within the last few days then please allow at least 5 days for these results to be received and check the NHS app (if you have it) before calling the surgery for an update.

Thank you.

22/01/2026

Minor Surgery Clinics at Siam Surgery 🏥

We are pleased to announce that our minor surgery clinics will be restarting from 19th February.

Dr Ahmed and our Advanced Nurse Practitioner (ANP), Phil McKeogh, will be holding clinics with the support of our Health Care Assistant (HCA), Izzy. They will offer a range of minor surgical procedures for medically indicated skin issues, such as the assessment and treatment of lesions where there is a clinical concern. Please note that cosmetic procedures are not provided and cryotherapy is not available.

In addition:

- Joint injections and carpal tunnel injections are already being provided by Dr Ahmed, Dr Bulacz, Phil McKeogh, and our First Contact Physiotherapist, Joe.

- Dr Bulacz and our Nurse Practitioner (NP), Nicola Francis, continue to offer the insertion, change, and removal of contraceptive implants.

Important booking information:

Appointments for the minor surgery clinic cannot be booked directly. An initial assessment with Dr Ahmed or Phil McKeogh is required to ensure the procedure is appropriate - these are booked as a standard appointment.

We are currently working through a large waiting list. If you are already on the waiting list, we kindly ask that you wait for us to contact you in the coming days, rather than calling the surgery.

We hope this service will improve access and provide greater convenience for patients who require these procedures.

21/01/2026

REDUCED CAPACITY FOR SAME DAY APPOINTMENTS - 21st JANUARY

One of our GPs is unwell which has a significant impact on the number of same-day appointments we can offer today. Our team have pulled together and we are working hard to minimise the impact this has on our service but we would like you to be aware.

Please consider all of your options when choosing your medical care – you can use the NHS Health A-Z online https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/ for details on how to safely manage your symptoms at home or when and who to contact for help and advice, including your local pharmacy.

If you have an appointment that you no longer need, PLEASE, email siamsurgery.patientcontact@nhs.net or call 01787 322420 to cancel.

Most importantly, please remember this is not within the control of our reception team. No matter how frustrating this is (for all involved), they deserve to be treated with kindness and respect at all times.

Thank you for your understanding.

08/01/2026

With severe weather warnings in place for this weekend now is a good time to sign up to the Priority Services Register with UK Power Networks.

You can register if you or someone in your household:

- relies on medical equipment
- have refrigerated medicines
- have a serious or chronic illness
- have a disability
- is living with dementia
- are of pensionable age
- have children under five in your household
- have mental health difficulties

Follow the link to sign up: https://www.ukpowernetworks.co.uk/power-cut/priority-services/about-the-priority-services-register

05/01/2026

Please be aware the car park at Sudbury Community Health Centre has not been gritted. If you are attending for any reason today please take care.

We have reported this to our landlord and hope to have it sorted soon.

If you have a face to face appointment with us and you would like to change it to a telephone consultation please email us as soon as possible at siamsurgery.patientcontact@nhs.net.

Thank you.

31/12/2025

Reflecting on 2025 and looking ahead to 2026 🗯️

As we come to the end of 2025, we want to say a huge thank you to our patients for your continued support, patience, and kindness. It's been another busy year and our whole team has been working incredibly hard throughout.

What we’ve achieved in 2025 ☑️

We've focused on increasing our space, strengthening our team, and improving the way we work so we can better support our growing community. This has included:

• Welcoming new GPs and our very first Health Care Assistant as well as additional reception staff and adding more hours into our workflow, care coordinator, and secretarial teams.

• Bex our Nurse Associate graduated from university in October, Phil our Advanced Nurse Practitioner became an Advanced Practice Supervisor and Domestic Violence Champion, Dr Giusca became a GP Trainer, Sini our Nurse Practitioner started her journey at university to become an Advanced Nurse Practitioner.

• Gaining accreditation as a Learning Organisation meaning we can take medical students and actively support the next generation of doctors.

• Gaining two new consulting rooms and an additional admin office.

• Gaining approval for a new cooling system to improve comfort for patients and staff (this took us years, and it is finally in place!).

• Introducing a new online consultation system.

• Being rated 'GOOD' in all areas by the CQC after a full inspection.

Most importantly, we’ve supported our patients and their families as best we possibly can. We've been pleased to see many good outcomes along the way and have learned a great deal which will help us to provide the best possible care for all of our patients into 2026 and beyond.

What’s coming in 2026 ✨

Next year is shaping up to be very exciting. Our plans include:

• A new GP joining us in July.

• Recruiting new care coordinators.

• Increasing our first contact physiotherapy capacity (appointments on Tuesdays as well as Fridays from mid-Jan).

• Our first trainee GP.

• Restarting minor surgery clinics – those on our waiting list will be contacted soon.

• More admin space so we can further increase the size of our non-clinical team who are absolutely vital in the smooth running of the practice.

• Continued work to streamline our systems so they work better for patients and staff.

We will work hard to:
• Increase our capacity
• Reduce call waiting times
• Expand the scope of services we offer
• Continue with our current system where patients can call and book any appointment (be it urgent or routine) but also increase the number of appointments available to book directly online

How you can help:
You can support us by using the most appropriate service for your needs. Utilising local pharmacies and self-care at home can be all you need to manage many common problems, and in doing this you allow us to focus on what only general practice can provide. This helps ensure appointments are available for those who need them most.

Please feel free to let us know in the comments (or via email to siamsurgery.noreply@nhs.net) what you think has gone well, and what you would like to see improved next year.

Happy New Year from all at Siam Surgery!

17/12/2025

With Christmas and New Year fast approaching it is important that you think ahead and order any repeat prescriptions that you will need over this period. As always, please allow a minimum of 2 working days for us to process your request.

We will be closed on the usual bank holidays which are:

🔴Thursday 25th December
🔴Friday 26th December
🔴Thursday 1st January

💊No prescription requests will be processed on these days.

Be aware your nominated pharmacy might also have different opening times throughout this period. The NHS find a pharmacy website is regularly updated:

Find an open pharmacy near you on the NHS website. Check your local pharmacy's opening times, and find your nearest late night, 24-hour or out-of-hours chemist.