Arlesey Surgery Under New Partnership

It is several months since the Stanmore Medical Practice, Stevenage, gave no tice that they no longer wished to manage Larksf ield Surger y in Sto tfold Abou t the same time the ICB (Integrated Care Board ) decided that it was no longer f inancially viable to run Arlesey Surger y as a standalone practice and adver tised for a practice who would accept Arlesey as a branch

Larksf ield were the successful bidder for Arlesey, and the change came last No vember The new par tnership is no w called the Larksf ield & Arlesey Medical Par tnership preferring to stay as Locums. Taking on new receptionists and back-o ff ice staff also takes time, no t only f inding people who can present a good face to the public bu t also, all need training which does no t happen o vernight.

Q: The most common complaint is ho w to get an appointment?

A: The pressure on appointments remains. This has been a discussion held with MP Richard Fuller as an increase in populations does no t mean an increase in GPs‘ that can be emplo yed Currently the number o f GP sessions (a session = half a day) per week at Larksf ield remains at 37, with Arlesey 10 plus a care Home GP This is in line with the current recommended guidance for the number o f patients registered The number o f patients per GP is a complex matter and influenced by a multitude o f factors

Fu ture plans: Recruitment has been going well The number o f salaried GP’s has increased and will increase fur ther as doctors join in April and June, an additional paramedic and two nurses have been emplo yed while back o ff ice and receptionists emplo yed has been built up to almost full strength

Pressure on the telephone system remains, par ticularly on a Monday bu t the waiting time should no w be a lo t less as a bank o f receptionists deal with calls f rom early morning rather than two previously A new telephone system has been installed that allo ws more receptionists to deal with incoming calls Hopefully, this should reduce the long waits Fur ther updates will be published next month

This information has been supplied to the Arlesey News Magazine by the recently merged Larksf ield and Arlesey Patient Par ticipation Groups.

Q: What was the f irst problem you encountered?

A: Larksf ield was shor t- staffed in all depar tments, while the GP ser vice was heavily reliant on Locums Arlesey was being suppor ted by Locum GPs’ ho wever these were contracted to pro vide continuity Our aim was simple –Recruit, Recruit, Recruit From 1 Februar y 2023 a new manager was brought into the practice as a managing par tner, this secures long term retention o f management for the practice Larksf ield and Arlesey have a long - term impro vement strategy to impro ve access, patient care and staff wellbeing

Q: Ho w is recruitment going?

A: It is no t a simple process To begin with, as we all kno w, there is a nationwide shor tage o f doctors, with many