Did you know?

Over 15 million GP appointments in the UK are missed every year.  Each missed appointment costs the NHS around £30-£40, which adds up to around £600 million annually.

Your Appointment Matters

Bedminster Family Practice encountered 247 missed appointments in January 2026. This not only affects your care, but also impacts other patients and the NHS as a whole. It is important to cancel your appointment if you no longer require it, as it can be offered to others.  Further information on cancelling your appointment can be found by visiting our Appointments page and scroll to "Missed Appointments".

DNA Figures January 2026

To ensure we can provide you with the best possible care, it is important that the contact details held on your medical record are correct. This includes your phone number, email address, and home address. Having the correct information helps us keep you informed about appointment reminders, test results, and important updates. If any of your details change, please notify us as soon as possible so we can update your record. 

You can update your details via this link Change of Contact Details

Out of Area?

Before updating your addres, please check whether your new address is covered by our practice boundary 

Carers often neglect their own health as they are looking after someone else. We would like to encourage all carers to register with the surgery.  Visit our carer support page for further information.  

YOUNG CARERS need help and support too which can be provided by Carers Support to children in Bristol aged 5 - 17, their families and professionals working with young carers. 

Support for Young Carers in Bristol & South Glos

What3words is a free app that helps emergency services find you quickly and accurately in an emergency.

Instead of relying on landmarks, descriptions, or long GPS coordinates, what3words divides the world into 3-metre squares and gives each one a unique three-word address. This means you can share your exact location easily, even if you are in a rural area, on a beach, in the countryside, or somewhere unfamiliar.

In an emergency, being found quickly can make a critical difference. If you are unwell, injured, or unable to clearly explain where you are, sharing your three-word address with the 999 call handler can help emergency services locate you faster and send help directly to you.

The app is free to download for both iOS and Android and works entirely offline – making it ideal for use in areas of the UK, even with an unreliable data connection. What3words can also be used via the online map at: https://what3words.com and the technology is available in over 40 languages, as well as being accessible anywhere in the world. The app is already being used by NHS emergency services across the UK.  Patients are encouraged to download the app in advance so it is ready to use if needed. 

In an emergency:

• Open the what3words app

• Find your three-word address

• Share the three words with the 999 call handler

This simple step could help emergency services reach you sooner and support faster, safer NHS care.

We are often asked to prescribe sedative drugs, such as diazepam, for fear of flying. There are a number of good reasons why prescribing of drugs such as diazepam is not deemed safe and is no longer recommended as detailed below so we have decided that our practice will no longer discuss medication for fear of flying with patients or prescribe these drugs.

•  Diazepam is a sedative, which means it makes you sleepy and more relaxed. If there is an emergency during the flight it may impair your ability to concentrate, follow instructions and react to the situation. This could have serious safety consequences for you and those around you.
•  Sedative drugs can make you fall asleep, however when you do sleep it is an unnatural non-REM sleep. This means you won’t move around as much as during natural sleep. This can cause you to be at increased risk of developing a blood clot (DVT) in the leg or even the lung. Blood clots are very dangerous and can even prove fatal. This risk is even greater if your flight is greater than 4 hours.
• Whilst most people find benzodiazepines like diazepam sedating, a small number have paradoxical agitation and increased aggression. They can also cause disinhibition and lead you to behave in a way that you would not normally. This could impact on your safety as well as that of other passengers and could also get you into trouble with the law.
• According to the prescribing guidelines doctors follow (British National Formulary), Benzodiazepines are contraindicated (not allowed) in treating phobia. Your doctor would be taking a significant legal risk by prescribing against these guidelines. They are only licensed short term for a crisis in generalised anxiety. If this is the case, you should be getting proper care and support for your mental health and not going on a flight.
• Diazepam and similar drugs are illegal in a number of countries. They may be confiscated or you may find yourself in trouble with the police.
• Diazepam stays in your system for quite a while. If your job requires you to submit to random drug testing you may fail this having taken diazepam.

We appreciate that fear of flying is very real and very frightening. A much better approach is to tackle this properly with a Fear of Flying course run by the airlines. We have listed a number of these below.

Easy Jet:               http://www.fearlessflyer.easyjet.com

British Airways:    https://www.flyingwithconfidence.com/about

Virgin:                    https://www.flyingwithoutfear.co.uk/fear-of-flying-courses/adult-course/

Patients who still wish to take benzodiazepines for flight anxiety are advised to consult with a private GP or travel clinic.

Travel Vaccinations and advice