Brief description of the project

Since 1 November 2008, Grange Medicare Limited were contracted to provide GP services for:

• New Cross Surgery in Rothwell
• Middleton Park Surgery
• Swillington Health Practice

The contract with Grange Medicare Limited ended on 31 October 2018. NHS Leeds South and East CCG were began a process to procure a provider of GP services for these practices. Grange Medicare Ltd indicated that they don’t wish to be part of this procurement process.

Who did we speak to?

We spoke to 1234 people who are registered at the three practices.

Our Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) identified that the following groups are likely to be more affected by future changes:

• People with long term conditions in Swillington.
• Older people in Swillington.
• The BME community in Middleton.
• People with mental health conditions in Middleton.
• Young parents in Middleton.
• Carers at all practices.
• Gypsy and Traveller community at Middleton.

We carried out targeted engagement with people belonging to these groups.

We also involved the Patient Participation Groups (PPGs) at each practice in the development of the engagement.

What and how did we ask?

We used a survey and six focus groups to ask the registered patients about their thoughts and experiences of using their GP practice. At the request of Swillington residents, we also held a question panel in the village hall. This was attended by 120 local residents.

What did people tell us?

People told us that:

• it is difficult to make an appointment at their practice; raising concerns that the changes to the service model could exacerbate this problem.
• they value continuity of care and that they want more consistency with their clinicians.
• the costs and time with travel to other GP practices are a concern.
• older people and those with long term conditions find the cost and physical challenges associated with travel a challenge.

People also raised concerns that if Swillington Practice were to close it would have a negative impact on the elderly population. Those with mobility issues and long term conditions would be particularly affected.

What did we do?

We shared the report with the Primary Care Commissioning Committee (PCCC) in January 2018. The PCCC used the report and other information to make a decision about the future service model the practices. Feedback from local people directly affected the CCG decision to maintain Swillington as a branch practice.

Contact

If you have any questions about this engagement please contact:

Chris Bridle (Engagement Lead) [email protected] or 0113 8435473

Victoria Annakin (Primary Care Programme Manager) [email protected] or 0113 8432114.

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