Badgers Crescent,
Shipston-on-Stour, Warks. CV36 4BQ
T. 01608 661845
https://shipstonmc.warwickshire.nhs.uk
Trainers: Dr Richard Levison & Dr Carolyn Barcoe.
Shipston-on-Stour is a market town in South Warwickshire with a population of around 5,500. Shipston is 10 miles from Stratford-upon-Avon, 15 miles from Warwick and Banbury and 30 miles from Oxford.
The Practice serves the town and the surrounding rural area to approximately 7 miles. There are over 11,200 patients registered and we are the only provider of primary care services in the town.
The practice population has an above average proportion of older people with 27% over the age of 65. There is a good spread of social class / affluence ranging from the very wealthy to pockets of rural deprivation.
Practice Team
There are 4 clinical Partners and the Business Manager is a partner, 4 salaried GPs, 2-3 doctors in training, 32 Practice staff, 4 ACP’s, 6 Practice Nurses, 2 Older People’s Nurses and 2 Healthcare Assistants. There is a full Primary Care Team attached to the Practice, including District Nurses, Health Visitors, Counsellors and PCN staff including pharmacists, first contact physio, social prescriber etc.
The premises were purpose built in 1969 and have been extended twice since then. It is now a two storey building with 12 consulting rooms, Reception, Dispensary, office and meeting space. More recently we have acquired a nearby domestic building, which has been converted to provide 4 more consulting rooms. We are very excited as we are hoping to move into new purpose built premises in 2023.
Services Provided
The Practice provides a very full range of primary care services, including maternity, family planning and a comprehensive chronic disease management programme. We provide almost all the enhanced services commissioned locally, such as phlebotomy, anticoagulation and minor operations.
The Practice dispenses to approximately 6000 patients in the rural area, and has worked hard to ensure the dispensary offers excellent service, including home delivery of medications, pill packing service and repeat prescription management service.
Community Hospital
The Practice works closely with the Campion Ward and provides the medical staff for the in-patient beds. Other services in the hospital include the Day Unit, X-ray, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Chiropody and Audiology; as well as visiting Consultant clinics.
Practice Records and Information Systems
The Practice manages patient information using EMIS web and Docman. IT is also used for all administration and the Practice intranet serves as a centralised information resource, containing minutes of meetings, guidelines/protocols and much more.
Organisation of work
The practice is open 8am until 6:30pm Monday to Wednesday and Friday. On a Thursday we open at 8am and close at 8pm.
We believe continuity of care is important and therefore each GP has their own list of patients, and the structure of the day allows GPs to visit their own patients when needed. On each day there is a named Duty Doctor and duty ACP, whose day is organised to ensure sufficient capacity to respond to emergency situations, to deal with urgent requirements from patients whose usual GP is not present and to manage any excess demand.
The practice aims to use its skill mix to best advantage, with the nursing team undertaking the majority of the routine chronic disease management.
Care UK/equivalent has responsibility for providing Out of Hours services between 6.30 pm to 8.00 am Monday to Friday and at weekends and Bank Holidays.
The Partnership
The current partners are Dr Paul Daniel, Dr Tim Marshall, Dr Richard Levison, Dr Emily McHale and Rachel Vial our Business Manager.
The partnership holds shared ideals and works in a cohesive and collaborative manner. The management responsibility of the organisation is shared amongst the Partnership with each partner being portfolio holder for a particular area of practice activity.
The practice’s strategic aims are reviewed annually at the Partners awayday and the weekly practice meetings provide an opportunity to review progress against the strategic aims and discuss new developments and changes affecting the practice.
Teaching
The Practice has a substantial interest in education. We are a training Practice, and routinely host specialist trainees and medical students. We have also been involved in training pre-registration nurses. All of our Doctors have some involvement in training in the Practice, with 5 Doctors being trainers. The current trainers in the practice are Dr Richard Levison, Dr Emily McHale and Dr Carolyn Barcoe.
The continuous development of all members of the team is part of our practice ethos and we therefore organise regular in-house events as well as encouraging team members in seeking opportunities for personal development.
Quality Improvement
The Practice is committed to the continued improvement of the quality of its services and there is a programme of audit and performance review. The practice has always achieved highly against all quality indicators and was recognised as being ‘Outstanding’ by the CQC in 2016.
Involvement with the Local Community
Maintaining our excellent links with our community is a high priority for the practice. We are actively involved in many local organisations such as Shipston Home Nursing, our local ‘hospice at home’ charity and Drug Action in Shipston (DASH). We have also worked in Partnership with other local organisations such as the Town Council, Sports and Social Club, the High School and the Lions.
We hold a regular Patient Meetings and have an active patient group which aids communication with the community involves patients in service development and design.
Conclusion
Working as a member of this team is challenging but very rewarding. We aim to remain at the forefront of primary care development and continue to provide an excellent service for all our patients. Hopefully we will be moving into newly built premises in 2023 – exciting times.