Lambourn Surgery Patient Participation Group Newsletter – May 2023

The Future of Primary Care in the Lambourn Valley

This is the first in a series of articles to help patients understand the challenges facing Lambourn Surgery, their approach to facing them and the plans for the future. It has been prepared by the PPG with the full co-operation of the Surgery leadership team.

Background

The NHS England 5 year vision and plan for the future of the service was originally spelt out in 2014 with the 5 year Forward View and updated in 2019, then came the Pandemic! The goals were not significantly changed but the environment did.

The main objectives of this Vision for Primary care (GP services) are: –

• Boost GP numbers (or maximise use of GPs time to clinical tasks)
• More convenient access to GP services for patients
• Expand Multidisciplinary primary care services.

All of this against a background of an aging population and greater demand on the service. the growth in demand can be measured in many ways but the following examples here, at Lambourn Surgery, help to illustrate this.

since 2018

• A 30% increase in Repeat Prescriptions.
• A 30% increase in Blood Tests.
• A 25% increase in medication issued.
• A significant increase in requests for new GP appointments (not including follow ups or nurse appointments), currently averaging 50 per day!

All of this is with a static patient population and the same number of GPs, who valiantly coped throughout the staff restrictions caused by the pandemic.

Progress

In line with NHS Guidance, Lambourn formed an alliance with Hungerford and Kintbury / Wooton Hill surgeries to form the West Berkshire Rural Patient Care Network (PCN). PCNs are a key way in which practices can obtain increased funding for additional roles without impacting the base budget.

As a result, there are already 9 staff members that have been employed under this regime, freeing up GP time. These include a Clinician Pharmacist, Musculo-skeletal practitioner, and a Mental Health Specialist.

Plans to provide a range of ways to access GP services were accelerated by the pandemic and the introduction of triage (preliminary assessment) forms on the surgery website were necessarily introduced hurriedly, together with telephone and on-line consultations. These received a mixed reaction at first but have now been widely accepted and often preferred by those who are comfortable using online services, with others using telephone access to use the same process via reception.

The Challenge

As we come out of the pandemic, now is the time to review the way forward, based upon patient reaction, their concerns, and the reality of providing a service that meets patient needs whilst being affordable.

The Lambourn Practice leadership team have been reviewing alternatives, consulting with staff and with patients through the PPG and are developing a plan for the foreseeable future.

Some patients often ask, “when will it return to how it used to be?”, the reality is that it won’t. Demand and cost escalation means that the service has to adapt but at the same time achieving the highest possible level of service. This will mean change and the PPG, together with the surgery team, are committed to ensuring that these changes are fully explained to patients and that support is available where necessary.

At Lambourn Surgery, 97% of patients currently rate their experience as very good (84) or good (13), this is a creditable performance, but the team are not complacent, patient feedback identifies appointment timekeeping and patient communication as the top two areas requiring improvement. These will feature highly in the plan for the future and through these newsletters and other activities, the PPG will play its part.

The surgery would like to gain a greater understanding of patient awareness of these changes and have developed an online questionnaire to help in this process. It may be foundhere. https://tinyurl.com/5d22ae3h

Next Month

We will introduce you to the directions of this plan and how the PPG plan to support patients through this change.

Please Help Keep Everyone Informed
We know there are patients who do not have access to the internet or email. Please be so kind as to help them feel involved in the community by printing a copy of this newsletter and/or its links and passing it on to them. Thank you.

You can contact the PPG via email; ppgchairpersonlambourn@gmail.com or in writing via the surgery office (Bockhampton Road, Lambourn, RG17 8PS) addressed to the Chair of the PPG.

Alan Breadmore, Chair, Lambourn Surgery PPG