These changes will not affect any current registered patients (or their families registered at the same address).
Where are we at?
We have become victims of our own success with a biggest growth of any practice in Bracknell.
Why has this happened?
Some of the list size increase has arisen due to recent large local developments. The majority of the increase in list size is due to other factors- a result of retention of existing patients, local newspaper and social media reviews, and word of mouth prompting new patients to join. As you may be aware, there is a severe and chronic lack of staff in General Practice. We are keen to increase team and are working towards it.
What examples can you give of areas of good care?
Although we have grown tremendously, we have done our utmost not to compromise the very best level of care that we can offer via the NHS. This has been demonstrated in a many quality areas like, Regionally we have some of the lowest A&E attendance rates, Low 111 utilisation, Low rates of hospital admissions, We have some of the highest levels of face-to-face appointments and GP appointments, High levels of staff retention and Highest smears rates locally.
How will this affect me?
The changes would, if anything, have a positive impact on the care provided to existing patients, enabling us to avoid a transition to the sub-optimal system and enabling us to maintain the level of service and care provided to date. The changes would mean that some prospective patients on the peripheries of the current catchment area, currently able to register would not be able to.In effect the changes are to help us maintain our current high standard of service provision and prevent, through necessity, the introduction of processes that reduce patient choice and reduce the safest modality of consulting i.e. face to face. There will only be a small minority of prospective new patients affected, primarily those who are mainly housebound or those requiring more complex local care services as such as domiciliary care provided by the district nurses. Obviously, the secondary effects of these changes may disincentive new patients to register and in doing so slow the growth.
How can I feedback any concerns I may have regarding the changes directly to the practice management?
We welcome any feedback, and you can do this completing the feedback form on our website or if you prefer you can do this via post or you can drop a physical letter to reception.
Thank you for your continued support and understanding.
Crownwood Medical Centre
