Clinic opens menopause support service

A Stockton healthcare clinic has launched a dedicated menopause service to support women across Teesside with complex symptoms and wider wellbeing needs.

Consultants Choice Clinic, based at Surtees Business Park, has introduced the service to help bridge the gap between NHS provision and private healthcare costs.

The clinic will be led by Dr Jahnavi Veeramasuneni, a GP with specialist qualifications in menopause care and a longstanding interest in women’s health.

She will support women experiencing menopause and perimenopause symptoms, including those whose symptoms have been worsened by cancer treatment, surgery or chemotherapy.

Dr Veeramasuneni has worked with women through Maggie’s Cancer Centre, formerly Trinity Holistic Centre, at the James Cook University Hospital site in Middlesbrough.

She said: “Until now, women in Teesside with complex menopause problems – women whose symptoms require specialist menopause assessment beyond routine primary care – have had to travel as far afield as Durham, York or Newcastle to see a qualified menopause specialist.

“Women with more complex menopause needs – for example after breast cancer, with a history of blood clots or stroke, premature menopause, surgical menopause, endometriosis, or persistent symptoms despite treatment – may benefit from assessment by a clinician with advanced training in menopause care, which is now a recognised area of specialist practice across both primary care and gynaecology.

“Women from Teesside have been referred as far as Newcastle and sometimes, Newcastle practitioners won’t see women from our area, so the care women receive in relation to menopause has been a bit patchy.”

The new service will take a holistic approach, looking at symptoms collectively rather than in isolation, particularly for women who may have attended several GP appointments for related issues.

Support can include advice around hormone replacement therapy, nutrition, exercise, lifestyle changes and treatment options for heavy periods, including contraceptive coils where appropriate.

Dr Veeramasuneni says around one in 20 women may need a multidisciplinary approach to manage menopause symptoms, particularly when needs are more complex.

She added: “I look at the whole picture – symptoms, medical history, lifestyle and individual goals – to develop a personalised treatment plan, which may include lifestyle changes, hormone therapy where appropriate, or non-hormonal options.”

Dr Veeramasuneni’s clinic is open to any woman over 40 who recognises something is changing and they are confused about what’s happening to them.

She added: “It could be that they are waking up at 3am anxious, experiencing sudden heat waves, sometimes at night but also during the day, or they may have new joint aches and pains they didn’t have before.

“They might suddenly experience performance problems at work and can’t understand why they suddenly can’t take the pressure.

“If someone puts all these things together like the pieces of a jigsaw, I can support them holistically, looking at their overall lifestyle and sleep patterns and they may not need HRT at all.

“Nobody should be put off from using HRT if it is providing benefits.

“I would say, if you are feeling differently in your body to how you did a couple of years ago, you should seek help and be supported to address all your symptoms at once.

“That is where a menopause specialist like me can really help, whether you need testosterone for your libido which we can prescribe at the right quantity for women or if you require a holistic approach to your overall lifestyle and healthcare.”

Consultants Choice Clinic will also host its first ladies-only menopause morning on Wednesday, July 1, from 9.30am to 11.30am.

The event will include refreshments, networking and an opportunity to meet Dr Veeramasuneni.

To book a place, click here.

Want your business, product or service to be seen regionally and nationally? Bdaily helps you get your story in front of the right audience, every day. Find out how Bdaily can help →

Join more than 55,000 subscribers by signing up to our daily bulletin each morning here.