Planning to travel abroad?
If you think you may need vaccinations for an upcoming trip, please do not request a travel vaccination appointment or assessment with the Practice.
Due to very limited nursing capacity for travel health work, we are unable to provide the initial pre-travel health assessment. You will first need to arrange a pre-travel assessment with a private travel clinic.
Once you have completed this assessment, we may be able to provide any vaccinations recommended by the travel clinic that are available through the NHS.
What you need to do
1. Arrange a pre-travel assessment
Please arrange a travel health assessment with a private travel clinic as early as possible when you know you are travelling.
The Practice cannot recommend a particular private provider, but services available include:
- MASTA Travel Clinics – appointments can be booked through MASTA or by calling 0330 100 4106.
- Boots Travel Clinics – available at some larger Boots stores, including Eastbourne Beacon and Eastbourne Crumbles.
Please be aware that private clinics are likely to charge a fee for their assessment.
2. Ask for a copy of your travel assessment
Following your assessment, please obtain written documentation from the travel clinic showing:
- the destinations you have discussed;
- the travel health assessment undertaken; and
- the vaccinations recommended for your trip.
3. Send the assessment to us – at least 3 months before travel
Please send the completed documentation from the travel clinic to the Practice as early as possible and no later than 3 months before your planned departure date.
4. We will review the recommendations
Our nursing team will review the information provided by the travel clinic.
We will establish:
- which of the recommended vaccinations are available through the NHS;
- which vaccinations would need to be obtained privately;
- the length of appointment you require.
5. We will contact you
Once the clinical review has been completed, we will contact you to let you know whether we can provide the NHS vaccinations recommended and, where appropriate, arrange an appointment.
The Practice is unable to provide private travel vaccinations. Any vaccinations that are not available through the NHS will need to be arranged directly with a private travel clinic.
Please plan as early as possible
Travel vaccinations often need to be planned well in advance. We therefore ask patients to arrange their private travel assessment as soon as possible once their travel plans are known.
Your completed assessment and vaccination recommendations must be received by the Practice a minimum of 3 months before your departure date.
Our travel vaccination capacity is limited because only a small number of our nursing team are appropriately trained to provide this service, alongside the essential clinical services we must provide to our patients.
If there are fewer than 3 months before you travel, we cannot guarantee that we will have sufficient capacity or time to safely provide the NHS vaccinations recommended for your trip. You may therefore need to arrange all of your travel vaccinations through a private travel clinic.
