The Future of General Practice in Hawkhurst North Ridge Medical Practice & Wish Valley Surgery
WHAT WE ARE PROPOSING TO DO • Over the years we have explored a number of options for a site for a new surgery in Hawkhurst • We have more recently explored opportunities as part of the development of the draft Tunbridge Wells Borough Council (TWBC) Local Plan • We have identified a preferred site for a new surgery in Hawkhurst and are looking to develop detailed proposals for a surgery that is fit for the future and accessible to our patients • We are planning to merge our practices and form one new practice - est. Summer 2021.
WHY DO WE NEED TO DO THIS? • We are passionate about what we do • We want to secure sustainable and resilient General Practice provision in Hawkhurst for the future • Our current premises are not suitable for the longer term • Our current premises constraints mean we can’t expand our workforce to support the future growth in patient registrations • We want to be in good position to recruit, train and retain GPs, nurses and other practice staff • We want to be able to support the implementation (and provide space for) a wider range of primary care services as part of the Weald Primary Care Network (as per NHS Long Term Plan) - for example, first contact physiotherapy, extended access and social prescribing.
HAWKHURST NEIGHBOURHOOD PLAN The Neighbourhood Plan includes the following: Policy CM3 - New Medical Centre - The replacement of the existing GP Practices with a single, larger practice with additional medical facilities and support facilities will be supported. The process of engagement used to develop the Hawkhurst Neighbourhood Plan highlighted a strong desire to retain medical and health provision within the parish. While the precise location for health services in the future was less clear, there was an express wish they remain within Hawkhurst to avoid the need for residents to travel outside the parish area to access such services. The majority feeling amongst residents through the consultation to date was that an accessible, consolidated location for health care is now required . Access to the GP practice rooms is becoming increasingly difficult for an ageing population due to the heritage nature of the buildings (e.g. steps up to the front doors, small consulting rooms etc)
OUR PREFERRED SITE • Location and access have been key considerations • Fowlers Park is our preferred site: • Enables new surgery to remain close to centre of Hawkhurst • 0.2 miles from North Ridge Medical Practice • 0.8 miles from Wish Valley Surgery • Accessible by public transport – 8 bus routes serve Rye Road • Capacity for more parking and easier drop off for patients • The draft Tunbridge Wells Borough Council Local Plan (Reg 18) identifies an allocation for a new GP practice (to replace existing two) in the policy for Land at Fowlers Park (Policy AL/HA5).
OUR PATIENT LISTS • We have circa 9800 patients registered (combined for both practices) • 61% of our registered patients live in postcodes TN18 4 and TN18 5 – Hawkhurst • Our maps show our registered populations (next slides) • The Draft TWBC Local Plan (Reg 18) details 681 to 731 new dwellings in Hawkhurst • This would be an estimated 1600 to 1750 additional patient registrations • Small amounts of growth are also proposed within other areas of our boundary.
NORTH RIDGE PATIENT LIST
WISH VALLEY PATIENT LIST
COMBINED PATIENT LISTS BY POSTCODE AREA
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS? • Sustainable and resilient General Practice provision in Hawkhurst for the future • Ability to recruit, train and retain GPs, Nurses and other practice staff within the area • Supports the implementation of a wider range of primary care services as part of the Weald Primary Care Network • New and accessible premises fit for the future • Premises capacity to support us to grow our workforce to support the growth in population.
WHAT DOES THE PRACTICE MERGER MEAN? • In simple terms a practice merger is a business decision where two or more practices join together to form a single practice and hold a single contract • We have started to look at what we need to do from a business perspective - for example aligning our systems and processes • From a patient perspective we do not anticipate there will be any significant change as a result of the merger itself. The separate proposal regarding new premises will mean a change for all patients. • Patients don’t need to take any specific action and you will remain registered with the your existing GP • The proposed merger is a couple of years away and we have given ourselves time to prepare. We will keep you updated and share any information relevant to patients as we develop our plans.
HOW CAN PATIENTS SUPPORT ? • As part of the merger plans we will work with our Patient Participation Groups (PPGs) to plan for a single PPG • We will engage our existing PPGs to provide input/feedback during the design phase of the premises project • We are keen to consider projects involving the community: • handing out flyers/posters to help reach entire practice population • involving school children, for example artwork for the new building • establishing/ reaching out to groups within the community.
ENGAGING OUR POPULATION We will : • hold two public meetings in order to discuss our proposals and invite questions and feedback • publicise our proposals and ask for feedback from patients and local stakeholders • share this overview on our website, in the surgeries and in other community areas (with agreement) • encourage people to provide feedback at the public meetings, through a survey that can be returned via a ‘feedback box’ in both surgeries or completed online • outreach to various community groups to share our proposals • attend the Tunbridge Wells Borough Council Local Plan exhibition in Hawkhurst.
KEEPING YOU UP TO DATE We will keep you up to date via a number of different routes: • Regular updates on the practice websites • PPG meetings & PPG newsletters • Practice and public notice boards • Parish magazine • Keep an up-to-date list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) and share this on our website and in our surgeries.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? • We will: • continue to share our proposals and seek feedback over the next couple of months – to the end of October 2019 • review feedback provided and produce a summary including key points that will be considered, where practical, as we progress the more detailed work • continue our discussions in relation to our preferred site and start to develop more detailed plans • At relevant points in time, we will provide updates regarding progress. The TWBC Draft Local Plan (Reg 18) will be subject to public consultation for 6 weeks from 20 September to 1 November 2019. The draft plan is now in the public domain as part of the papers to the Planning and Transportation Cabinet Advisory Board
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? • We submitted our proposal to West Kent Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) in April 2019 and have been supported to move to the next stage of planning • As our plans develop, they will need to be considered in line with CCG process and governance for new premises development.
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