Patients of Whitley Bay GP practice are to benefit as the surgery becomes part of Northumbria Primary Care (NPC).
Park Parade Surgery, which currently has almost 5,000 patients and employs 20 members of staff, joins another seven other practices from across Northumberland and North Tyneside, who are also members of the not-for-profit organisation.
NPC, which was established in 2015 and is part of Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, provides business and clinical support services to GP practices, at scale, meaning GP practice staff can focus mainly on providing patient care in a resilient and supported way.
NPC is also continually developing how it works with and supports individual practices and Primary Care Networks (groups of surgeries working together to provide patient care). This includes a number of services such as the safe management of patient medication, allowing practice clinicians to reinvest time in other important areas of patient care development. NPC medicines hub services are available to all practices in the borough and are proven to save at least 60 minutes of GP time each day. Other offers include employment, performance, and training services and banking solutions, all of which support practices and PCNs to become more sustainable and resilient.
Park Parade Surgery is the second Whitley Bay surgery to join the partnership. 49 Marine Avenue Surgery joined four years ago and one of their GPs, Dr Justine Norman, has recently been appointed as associate medical director for NPC.
NPC interim managing director, David Hedgcock, said: “At a time when GP practices and the health system as a whole is under significant pressure, it is great that we can provide practices with the support they need to run their services in a sustainable and smarter way, enabling them to focus on patient care and to be responsive to patient needs. It is important that what we do helps to take a little bit of the strain and pressure off GP practices too.
“We are delighted to welcome Park Parade Surgery and look forward to working with them going forward. As a local resident of North Tyneside, it is a privilege to be part of an organisation that is helping to shape how patient care is delivered in local communities while ensuring practices have access to innovative solutions, in relation to technology for example, and use their resources in the most appropriate and efficient way. If there are any other practices developing their five-year strategic plans who feel they could benefit from working in partnership with us, I would encourage them to get in touch.”
Dr Chris Lee, from Park Parade Surgery, said: “I am delighted to confirm that Park Parade Surgery joined NPC in November. This is a decision Dr Smith and I have been considering for some time and the timing felt right this year. As we look to the future and make plans for the practice to ensure it can provide sustainable and high-quality care, we found the offer from NPC aligned with the Park Parade ethos and values. We are already working on a number of key workstreams with NPC to support our teams and make the challenges that we face every day in general practice more manageable. It feels really positive to be part of a wider organisation.”
Patients of Park Parade Surgery will see no change to the way they receive their care and the surgery clinical and non-clinical staff will remain the same. There will also be no change to the practice’s name.
The other six GP practices which are part of NPC include Ponteland Medical Group, Cramlington Medical Group, Spring Terrace Health Centre, The Rothbury Practice, Haydon Bridge and Allendale Medical Practice and Elsdon Avenue Surgery.
Practices who would like to find out more about NPC should email d.hedgcock@nhs.net.
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