Recommendation on the future of North Tawton Surgery
NHS England is recommending that the surgery at North Tawton be commissioned as the branch of a larger practice from next April, rather than left to stand on its own.
People at a public meeting in the town on 30 July were told this would help ensure that the service remained sustainable for the long term as well as meeting the needs of the community, as gleaned from the responses to a survey in June.
North Tawton Surgery Recommendation
will now go for a formal decision by NHS England in the South West during early August.
Survey which ran from 1 Jun 2015 to 30 Jun 2015.
As a part of a public engagement programme, survey forms were sent out to all registered patients, as well as being made available to people who go to other surgeries. In addition it was made available to online.
A total of 419 survey forms were completed, showing that:
- Most people lived very close to the current surgery, with almost 65% having a journey time of 10 minutes or less and with approximately 47% of people travelling to the surgery on foot.
- There was a moderate level of demand for extended-hours appointments, particularly for early weekday mornings and evenings and for Saturday mornings.
- Most people were interested in traditional methods of consulting a GP or practice nurse, particularly face-to-face or telephone appointments; there was little interest in using email or Skype for consulting a health professional.
- Access to a GP or practice nurse was seen as important and there was support for an increase in the number of nursing appointments available; there was less of an interest in having the ability to consult other professionals, such as health visitors, or pharmacists.
- Access to the same team was seen as very important for people with complex or long-term health problems; regular reviews and specialist knowledge was also seen as important.
- Access to same-day appointments was seen as very important to people with complex or long-term health problems.
There were also many broader comments about the need to retain a service in North Tawton.
Download latest North Tawton bulletin issue 5:
North-Tawton-Bulletin-Issue-5-NHS-England.pdf
which provides full details of North Tawton surgery recommendation and timeline for invitation to tender.
New service to go live 1st April 2016.
NHS England’ contract manager Caroline Stead contact details available in North Tawton Bulletin.
Related GP Services Information: