Your visit
Before you come.
Most appointments need nothing from you but the time. A few tests need one small thing done first: here they are, with the hours and how to find us.
Jo checks a young patient, who brought his own clock
Preparing
One small thing, by test.
We send the same instructions with your booking text. If anything's unclear, ring reception.
Some tests, such as fasting glucose and cholesterol, need an empty stomach: nothing to eat for 10 to 12 hours before. Water is fine, and so are your usual medicines unless your doctor says otherwise.
That's why the blood clinic starts at 08:00. Book an early slot, and bring breakfast for afterwards. If you feel faint when blood is taken, say so: you can lie down for it.
Come with a full bladder: drink about a litre of water in the hour before and don't empty your bladder until after the scan. Water carries ultrasound well, so a full bladder gives a clear view.
Nothing to eat for six hours before, so the gallbladder is easy to see. Sips of water are fine. Morning scans are easiest: you can sleep through most of the wait.
Wear a top that's easy to take off; ten small stickers go on your chest, wrists and ankles. Skip body lotion on the day so they stick.
For a Holter heart monitor or a 24-hour blood pressure monitor, you go home wearing it and bring it back the next day. Keep a note of what you're doing when you feel symptoms, and press the button on the recorder.
Bring the Red Book and anything that makes waiting easier: a favourite toy, a snack, a drink. Children under 16 come with a parent or guardian.
Bring a list of the medicines you take, any letters or results from elsewhere, and your questions written down. Twenty minutes goes further when the list is on paper.
Insured? Bring your policy number and the authorisation number from your insurer.
Arriving
Ten minutes early is plenty.
- 08:50
Check in with Sam at reception on the ground floor. There's water, a toilet with baby change, and a lift.
- 09:00
Your doctor comes to the waiting-room door and calls your name at the time on your text.
- 09:20
Pay at reception on the way out, by card or phone. Your summary arrives by email.
Running late? Ring us. If we're running late, we text you before you set off.
Opening hours
Six days a week.
Monday to Friday 08:00 to 19:30, Saturday 09:00 to 13:00.
Monday to Friday 08:00 to 19:30. Saturday 09:00 to 13:00. Sunday closed.
Finding us
14 Orchard Row, Kelmford.
Larch House Medical Centre
14 Orchard Row
Kelmford KM4 2LH
By train
Kelmford station is a six-minute walk: out of the main entrance, left on Station Road, second right into Orchard Row.
By bus
Routes 4 and 12 stop at Orchard Row, opposite the house.
By car
Six free spaces behind the house for patients, two of them wide. The town car park on Mill Lane is two minutes away.
Step-free
A ramp at the front door, a lift to the first floor and an accessible toilet on the ground floor.
If it's urgent
Larch House is a private clinic, not an emergency service. For a medical emergency, call 999. When we're closed and you need advice, NHS 111 can help by phone or online.