Case Study - The New Start Surgery (The Light, Leeds)

The Brief

The PCT wanted to establish primary care services primarily for the patients residing in the city centre.

The service was to be co-located with the new Commuter Walk in Centre for Leeds in The Light Shopping Centre. Clear protocols and patient pathways needed to be developed to ensure coordination between the two services.

There were 3,615 patients identified as in immediate need and it is anticipated that the registered population will grow to at least 7000 over the next 5 years.

Background

There has been considerable growth in residential property in Leeds city centre over the past number of years.

As at September 2005, 4,311 dwelling units were already in existence with a further 2,460 units under construction. Planning permission has also been granted for a further 11,286 dwelling units. Based on the above information, Leeds City Council's planning assumption is that if all are developed, this will result in a city centre population of approximately 27,500 people by 2012.

It is accepted that there are currently 6,800 people living within the city centre with approximately 2369 people registered with a GP. Twelve percent of residents are reported to have an alternative address elsewhere in the country. This leaves 3,615 people who are not registered to a Leeds GP but are living in central Leeds. With the planned population expansion this will increase leading to the necessity to provide general medical services in the centre of Leeds.

The city centre population is currently served by a number of different practices on the periphery of the centre. However patient choice is limited and current services will not be able to accommodate the continued population growth. This population are known to use and access the Accident & Emergency (A&E) service by default.

Service Requirements

A recent assessment of the health needs of this population indicate that the following are the key health priorities for the profile of the city centre population.
Sexual health services
Smoking cessation
Mental health
Lifestyle Management Interventions
Weight Management Interventions

Performance Delivery

Sexual Health Services
Through an innovative partnership with the Terrence Higgins Trust One Medicare now offers Tier 2 Sexual Health Services. We have recruited Nurse Practitioners and GPs with special interest in Sexual Health and have funded further training to allow in practice Implanon fitting. The practice actively works with the City-wise Sexual Health Centre on Eastgate and supports C-Swap the under 25's Chlamydia screening project.

Mental Health Services
In order to offer enhanced Mental Health services One Medicare set up a collaborative project with the University of Leeds. We have jointly funded two Lecturer posts where the holders will work towards their PhD in Primary Care whilst conducting research into the development of Mental Health Services. In addition we now have a counsellor on staff available to discuss a wide range of issues with patients.

Extended Opening Hours
In December 2007 we extended the opening hours of the surgery to include 7am-7pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays and Saturday mornings by appointment. This has proved very popular with city centre residents who are now able to access a GP before and after work. The surgery was also given the honour of being named as a successful example of enhanced access during a recent visit to Leeds by the Department of Health’s National Access Implementation Team and in particular David Colin-Thomé, National Clinical Director for Primary Care.

Completion

Dr Matt Walsh, Executive Director of Commissioning, Leeds PCT, comments: "One Medicare was selected through an extensive process of public consultation, and we believe they will provide the area with the best level of service to patients."

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