One of our commonest reasons for a request for a consultation is for a skin examination.

Often this is for a mole check when there has been no recent change.

Moles are small, coloured spots on the skin. Most people have them and they're usually
nothing to worry about unless they change size, shape or colour.

NHS - Moles

Of course it is important to regularly check your skin so as any potential skin cancers can be
caught early. A recommendation would be once a month.

Some of the more common ways in which skin cancers can appear include:

• A new, expanding, or changing growth, spot, or bump on the skin
• A sore that bleeds and/or doesn’t heal after several weeks
• A rough or scaly red patch, which might crust or bleed
• A wart-like growth
• A mole (or other spot on the skin) that’s new or changing in size, shape, or color
• A mole with an odd shape, irregular borders, or areas of different colors

Things to look for include:

• moles with uneven colouring – most moles only have one or two colours, but melanomas
• have lots of different shades
• moles with an uneven or ragged edge – moles are usually circular or oval with a smooth
• border
• bleeding, itching, red, inflamed (swollen) or crusty moles
• moles that get a lot bigger – most moles are no bigger than the width of a pencil

A helpful way to remember what to look for is to use the ABCDE method:

A – asymmetry
B – border irregularity
C – colour change
D – diameter
E – elevated (raised) or enlarged

Please contact us through our website to arrange an assessment of any skin lesions that fit the above criteria and are changing as outlined above.

However, please note we do not offer the facility for a reassurrance full skin check. If this is something you are looking for then this can be resourced privately at one of the many private clinics that offer this facility in Dorset.

Find skin cancer: How to perform a skin self-exam

Important changes at Crossroad Surgery

Many of you may be aware of the current pressures which are affecting General Practices nationwide. The overall demand for appointments has increased greatly and therefore we needed to make changes at our practice to be able to manage this demand.

From 12th June 2024 the practice is moving to a new triage system where we will ask patients to initially provide some information to enable them to be assessed correctly. This is to improve the management of patient requests and improve patient access at the surgery.

When submitting a request online, you will be taken through to a short online form which, once completed, is then assessed by a member of team who will then decide upon the appropriate course of action.

This could be a face-to-face or phone appointment with a member of our multidisciplinary clinical team, or perhaps redirection to another provider or service, such as a local pharmacist.