GP practices work together to improve care across east Dorset
GP practices across Poole, Wimborne, Ferndown, Westbourne and Crane Valley have come together to form the new East Central Dorset Neighbourhood Partnership. This includes:
Poole North PCN
Poole Central PCN
Poole Bay and Bournemouth PCN
Shore Medical
Crane Valley PCN
Wimborne and Ferndown PCN
Castleman Healthcare Ltd
The partnership has been established in response to the NHS 10-Year Plan, which encourages health and care services to work more closely together and provide more care in local communities.
Together, the partnership will support more than 280,000 people, which is around a quarter of Dorset's population.
By working together, practices will be able to share expertise, resources and services, helping them respond to local needs more effectively and support people to stay well for longer.
For patients, day-to-day care will remain unchanged. People will continue to be registered with their usual GP practice and routine appointments will continue as normal.
Dr Simon Rees, Clinical Director at Shore Medical Primary Care Network (PCN), said, "By working together as a partnership, we have a real opportunity to do more for our patients and communities. This means we can help more people stay well and make sure general practice continues to meet local needs into the future."
Jo Morris, Managing Partner at Cranborne Practice and representative for Crane Valley PCN, said, This exciting new partnership will turn forward-thinking, innovative ideas into reality for our patients.
"By combining our wealth of experience and knowledge, we will continue to drive primary care forward and deliver the highest standard of care for our patients."
The partnership builds on existing collaborative working across Dorset. Many practices already work together to provide services such as specialist nursing support, home visiting services and workforce support.
Fiona Cleary, Chief Executive Officer at Castleman Healthcare, which supports GP practices across Wimborne and Ferndown, Poole North and Crane Valley, said, "We know that working together in this way brings real benefits. For example, our teams already provide specialist nurses, home visits for patients and support for staff. We help practices manage demand and care for people more effectively.
"This partnership builds on that experience, helping practices share resources and respond to local needs more effectively."
Dr Harry Gemmell, Clinical Director at Crane Valley PCN, said, "This is about working more efficiently and in a joined-up way. It means we can look at what local people need in the community to stay well, not just medical care, and respond as a partnership."
Dr Neil Raha, Clinical Director at Poole Bay & Bournemouth PCN, added, "By closely working together at scale, we will be able to provide better personalised care for the community we serve and provide greater stability for general practice in these extremely challenging times."
The East Central Dorset Neighbourhood Partnership will continue to develop over the coming months as partners work together to improve services and support healthier communities across the area.
Ongoing updates and information about the partnership can be found on Castleman Healthcare's website.