23 June 2025: From today (23 June 2025), following approval by NICE, tirzepatide (Mounjaro®) will be available in the NHS for eligible patients who meet the strict, nationally-set, criteria. 

The current criteria is that patients are those with a BMI of 40 or higher, and with four or more of the qualifying comorbidities (hypertension, dyslipidaemia, obstructive sleep apnoea, cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes) will be eligible for assessment to identify their suitability for Mounjaro. Anyone not meeting these criteria will not be eligible for assessment in the first year of the drug being available. 

Please do not contact your GP; if you are eligible to be assessed you will be contacted over the coming months and invited to attend an appointment for assessment. Those with the greatest clinical need will be contacted first.

For more information about alternative local weight management services, visit the ICS website - Local Weight Management services - Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent, ICS. 

Each year, flu can cause serious illness—especially in vulnerable groups. Getting vaccinated helps:

• Protect individuals at the highest risk
• Reduce flu-related hospitalisations and deaths
• Prevent transmission in the community
• Safeguard children and those in care homes

Flu strains change annually, so a new vaccine is needed.

Who Can Get the Flu Vaccine?

From 1st September 2025, the following groups are eligible:

• Pregnant women
• Children aged 2 or 3 on 31st August 2025
• Children aged 6 months to under 18 in clinical at-risk groups
• All primary and secondary school children (Reception to Year 11)*

*The School Immunisation Service will vaccinate school-aged children, though parents may request vaccination at the surgery if preferred.

From 1st October 2025, the following groups will also be eligible:

• All adults aged 65 and over
• Adults aged 18–64 in clinical risk groups
• Care home residents
• Carers and key care providers
• Close contacts of people who are immunocompromised
• Frontline health and social care workers

The surgery will be running clinics throughout the autumn and winter.

Invitations will be sent to eligible patients via text message, with a link for quick online booking. For those unable to book online, our team will be in touch directly to arrange appointments.

Eligible patients will be invited to book appointments for the COVID-19 booster vaccination later in the year. 

The booster programme will run from 1st October 2025.

This autumn and winter's eligible cohorts include:

• Adults aged 75 years and over
• Residents in care homes for older adults
• Individuals aged six months and over who are immunosuppressed

If you would like more information on the booster, visit the government website.

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 Mission Statement

To put patients first offering a friendly supportive service

To deliver high quality, evidence-based care, and health promotion to our patients

To deliver a safe, effective, and responsive service

To provide the right care by the right person to each patient

To support our staff to grow

For an overview of general information about the Surgery, please click the link to our practice leaflet here. 

We want to hear from our patients at Alton Surgery. Your feedback is incredibly important and will help us to better deliver care services to all our patients.

If you have any comments about the care you have received or feedback on any of our services please do let us know. You can leave a review over on the NHS website here.

If you would like to make a complaint about our practice, please look at our procedure by clicking here.