Travel clinic and travel vaccinations in North London

What a travel consultation covers

Bring your itinerary, dates, any existing vaccination record and a note of medicines you take. The doctor uses current national travel-health guidance to work out what your trip needs.

• Vaccines recommended or required for your destinations
• Malaria risk and, where needed, a private prescription for prevention tablets
• Advice on food, water, insects, altitude and sun, tailored to the trip
• Travelling with long-term conditions, pregnancy, or young children
• A written record of vaccines given for border checks and your own records

How a travel consultation works

Call the practice on 07460 466684 with your destinations, travel dates and who is travelling. Reception books an appointment long enough for everyone in the party and checks that the vaccines you are likely to need are in stock. Travel appointments are booked by phone rather than online; our how it works page explains what to expect before and after any appointment with us.

At the appointment the GP goes through your itinerary — which countries and regions, how long you are staying, city or countryside, and what you will be doing — and checks it against current national guidance from TravelHealthPro. They look at your vaccination history and your health, then explain which vaccines are recommended, which are required for entry, and which you can reasonably leave out.

Where the vaccine is in stock it is given at the same visit. If your destination carries a malaria risk, the doctor talks through the options and issues a private prescription for prevention tablets. You leave with a written record of every vaccine given, a plan for any further doses, and practical advice for the trip. If you become unwell after you return — particularly with a fever after visiting a malaria area — see a doctor promptly and say where you have been; a same-day GP appointment is the quickest route.

Who should book a travel consultation?

Anyone leaving the UK for somewhere that vaccines, malaria tablets or particular precautions are recommended — which covers more trips than people expect, including short visits to family abroad, cruises with shore excursions and work postings, not only backpacking and long-haul holidays.

• Families travelling with babies and children, who may need age-appropriate doses
• Pilgrims travelling for Hajj or Umrah, who need a meningitis ACWY certificate
• Long-haul, backpacking and gap-year travellers visiting several countries
• People visiting friends and relatives abroad, especially in areas with malaria
• Travellers with a long-term condition, a weakened immune system or in pregnancy, where the choice of vaccines and tablets needs care
• Volunteers, aid workers and anyone working with animals, who may need rabies protection

If your trip needs nothing more than routine boosters, the doctor will say so. You are not steered towards vaccines you do not need.

Travel vaccines we give

Stock changes with national supply; we confirm availability when you book. For vaccines that are not related to travel — flu, shingles, HPV or childhood catch-up doses — see our vaccinations page.

• Hepatitis A and hepatitis B
• Typhoid
• Rabies (pre-exposure course)
• Japanese encephalitis
• Tick-borne encephalitis
• Meningitis ACWY, including certificates for Hajj and Umrah
• Cholera
• Diphtheria, tetanus and polio boosters

Yellow fever

Yellow fever vaccination can only be given at a registered yellow fever vaccination centre. We are not currently registered as one; if your destination requires it, we will tell you at the consultation and direct you to a nearby centre so the rest of your travel care can still be handled here.

Timing

Some vaccines need more than one dose spaced weeks apart, and most take about two weeks to give protection, so earlier is better. If you are travelling soon, come anyway: accelerated schedules exist for some vaccines, and advice about malaria, insects and food safety is useful right up to the day you leave.

Travel health for children and families

We see babies, children and teenagers for travel advice and vaccines, always with a parent or guardian present. Many travel vaccines have lower age limits or child doses, so the doctor plans what each child needs individually rather than copying the adult list. Bring each child's red book or vaccination record: the doctor checks the routine childhood schedule is up to date first, because those vaccines matter as much abroad as at home, and then adds what the trip requires.

Families can usually be seen together in one appointment, so tell reception how many of you are travelling when you call. Malaria tablets for children are dosed by weight and some are not suitable for younger children, so the doctor advises on the right option and on bite prevention, which protects the whole family.

How much does a travel consultation cost?

The cost of the consultation and of each vaccine is quoted when you book, because it depends on which vaccines you need and how many doses each course involves. Call the practice on 07460 466684 and reception will give you the full figure before you commit, including every dose, so there are no surprises. There is no registration fee and no membership.

If you need malaria tablets, the doctor issues a private prescription. The practice charges its usual private prescription fee — shown on our prescriptions page and our pricing page — and the pharmacy charges its own price for the tablets. You pay at the practice on the day, by card or cash; there is no online payment. We provide a receipt or an itemised invoice if your employer or travel insurer needs one, there is no charge to cancel or move an appointment with the notice shown on our pricing page, and our FAQs cover fees and payment in more detail.

Where is the travel clinic?

Our travel clinic is at the rear of Grovelands Medical Centre, 1 Grovelands Rd, Palmers Green, London N13 4RJ — a short walk from Palmers Green station on the Great Northern line, with buses 121, 329 and W6 stopping nearby on Green Lanes. We are open Monday to Friday, 09:00 to 17:00, and see travellers from across Palmers Green, Winchmore Hill, Southgate, Enfield and the rest of North London. Our Palmers Green page has more about getting to us, and our contact page has a map and opening hours.

What it costs

Questions patients ask