00Stories
Three records, told in full.
In briefWhat each person wanted, what we did, how it went and what it cost.
Next slotTue 08:40 · Dr Helen Marchettidemonstration
OpenMon–Fri 07:15–18:30Sat 08:30–13:00
Text only: we do not publish before-and-after photographs of skin.
00Graham, 58
A Sunday-night photo, a Monday check, a Wednesday excision.
TreatmentPhoto triage, same-day mole check, excision
TimelinePhoto Sunday; check Monday; excision Wednesday; result the following Tuesday
CostPhoto triage free; £95 mole check; £595 excision with histology; NHS from there
- 01WantedA mole on his shoulder his wife said had got darker. He had been on an NHS list for seven weeks and had stopped thinking about it until it bled on a towel.
- 02We didHe sent two photographs to the triage line at ten on Sunday night. Claire replied at 08:40 on Monday: today. Dr Marchetti saw it under the dermatoscope at eleven, photographed it, and booked Mr Okafor for Wednesday. The excision took twenty minutes.
- 03OutcomeHistology on the following Tuesday: a melanoma, 0.6 mm, completely excised. Referred the same day to the regional skin cancer team, who did the wider excision on the NHS a fortnight later. He is on three-monthly checks for the first year and has bought a hat.
00Lucy's daughter, 6
Three years of creams. Nobody had said how much.
TreatmentPaediatric consultation and the eczema clinic
TimelineConsultation Wednesday; nurse clinic the following week; review at six weeks
Cost£195 consultation; £85 nurse clinic; £130 review; prescriptions on the NHS via the GP letter
- 01WantedSleep. Her daughter's eczema had been treated by three GPs with four steroid creams, all used for a few days and stopped, and the family had not slept through in months.
- 02We didDr Rahman diagnosed moderate atopic eczema with a secondary infection, treated the infection, and wrote a green-amber-red action plan with the exact products and fingertip units. Claire's clinic the following week showed both parents how to apply emollient properly, how to do a wet wrap, and how to make a bleach bath that is safe.
- 03OutcomeAt the six-week review the itch was controlled and the child had slept through for a fortnight. The plan is on the fridge; the amber step has been used twice and worked both times.
00Mark, 44
The mole on his back that he could not have seen.
TreatmentFull-body mole mapping
TimelineMap Tuesday; report Thursday; shave the following Monday; re-map a year later
Cost£345 first map; £395 shave with histology; then £29 a month
- 01WantedHis father had died of melanoma. Mark had over a hundred moles, had never had them checked, and could not have said which were new.
- 02We didTotal-body photography in the booth, then Dr Marchetti's examination with dermoscopy: 112 moles recorded, six with dermoscopic images, one on the left shoulder blade that she did not like. Shave biopsy the same week.
- 03OutcomeBenign, a dysplastic naevus. The point is the year after: the re-map flagged two new moles and one changed, all examined, all fine, all now on record. He is on the Map plan and sends a photo whenever he is unsure, which Claire says is about right.
Worried about a mole?
Ring, or send a photo. Either way, you are seen.
Mole checks within 3 working days; same day if bleeding.
Front porch, Chestnut Avenue
Four spaces on the gravel drive including one blue badge; free on-street parking on Chestnut Avenue, tight on Wednesdays
Garden entrance, Chestnut Lanestep-free
Drop-off bay at the door; two spaces reserved for surgery patients on the day