Travel is slowly on the rise again and now is a good time to set up your travel clinic and we are there to answer any questions you may have. There can be some apprehension prior to setting up a travel clinic so here are our top ten tips to make it as easy as possible:

1) Know your competition
Do your research so you know what services are already available in your area and surrounding areas and look at the prices they charge. If you charge more than them, it’s unlikely you’ll see many patients. Also, see if you can offer extra services that other clinics don’t offer such as blood tests, occupational vaccinations etc.

2) Marketing
Marketing is SO important otherwise patients won’t know your clinic is there and it’s something you may need to do on a daily or weekly basis. Also have signage out at the front of your clinic if you’re allowed to, to encourage footfall and this may help with walk-in’s etc. Here are a few suggested ideas to market your service:

• Contact local groups to display a poster and/or deliver a small talk on the service
• Contact religious, community and social groups
• Contact local GPs and their receptionists to promote the service and leave them with pricelists etc so they can give these to patients that they see in the surgery
• Initiate a travel health awareness campaign in the pharmacy incorporating the Travel Health and Vaccination Service
• Consider local and social media

3) Training
The cost of setting up a travel health service will also include training. There are a wide range of travel health PGDs that enable you to deliver vaccines and prescribe antimalarials or, alternatively, you could train as an independent prescriber. Also, you need to have travel health training with an accredited training provider before you undertake consultations. At ECG, we provide in-depth travel health training, please visit our website for more information: Blended Travel Health Training (online training and webinar) – ECG Training. You also need to be up to date with your vaccination training and Basic Life Support/anaphylaxis training which we also provide at ECG.

4) Be prepared
You can make your travel service more efficient by asking patients to fill out a questionnaire before they come in. Offering a downloadable form on your website prompts patients to start thinking about what risks they face in advance. Make sure you have the appropriate kit and equipment to run a travel clinic and a nice big map on the wall!

5) Find tools that are going to help you
Familiarise yourself with all the useful websites/articles/documents etc that are going to help you before and during your consultation, to arm not just yourself with the necessary knowledge but also to show your patient’s the relevant malaria map etc to make them aware of the risks. Some useful resources to use during the consultation are: The Green Book (Immunisation against infectious disease – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)), Nathnac (NaTHNaC | Launchpad to services), Fit For Travel (Home – Fit for Travel).

6) Stock
Ensure you stock all vaccines/anti-malarial tablets etc that you advertise on your website as you don’t want patients turning up for a vaccine to then find it’s not in stock. Also keep on top of stock levels, rotate medication to ensure nothing goes out of date and update your website if anything goes out of stock.

7) Vaccine cards
Ensure you have vaccine cards to give to patients once they have had their vaccinations so they have a record of what they’ve had and also, they can keep this and use it for future trips to check if they need booster doses etc.

8) Booking system
Ensure you have a smooth, seamless booking system for patients to book their appointments either online or by phoning the clinic. The easier it is for the patient, the more likely you are to see increased business and footfall.

9) Sell add-ons
Many patients want a ‘one stop shop’ when they visit a travel clinic and they want to not just have their vaccines etc but they also want to buy all the relevant extras that are recommended to them during a consultation such as insect repellent, mosquito nets etc. You could also offer a discount on these items if they choose to have vaccinations with you.

10) Enjoy it!
Running a travel clinic is so exciting as most of the patients are always happy and excited to be going on their trip! You learn so much about the world and meet so many interesting people so embrace it. The more patients you see, the quicker the consultation process will become and the risk assessment process will become seamless and you will see the benefits of running a successful travel clinic.