South Bar House, Oxford Road, Banbury, OX16 9AD
Caring for 42 000 patients, based in Banbury town centre
GP Training
There is a strong training ethos in the practice and a long history of GP training since the 1970s. We currently have three experienced GP Trainers: Dr Ann Sanders, Dr Sadie Ekers and Dr Raj Gupta.
We run many educational sessions in the practice alongside the regular tutorials. This includes weekly education sessions for all GPs and weekly business and clinical meetings. We are a cheerful and friendly bunch and prioritise getting together for coffee every day at 11am.
The practice also has foundation doctors in training and 4th and 5th year Oxford medical students throughout the year. There is plenty of opportunity to teach others if you are interested. We also encourage trainees to take advantage of the extra services we offer such as getting involved in implants, IUDs, joint injections etc.
There is a culture of teaching and training throughout the practice, for example with HCAs training to become nursing associates and pharmacists to become prescribers.
If you want a practice that is multidisciplinary, lively and looking to the future, then we are the place to come!
The Location
The practice cares for patients living in Banbury and the surrounding villages within a five mile radius. It was formed from the merger of Banbury Health Centre, Horsefair Surgery and West Bar Surgery in 2019/20 and is run by Principal Medical Limited. This is a local company founded by GPs in 2004 to bid for and develop innovative primary care services. There is site at South Bar House, very near the Horton Hospital and also a smaller site in the centre of Banbury. South Bar House is a purpose-built spacious premises which is shared with a retail chemist on the ground floor.
The Patients
There are over 42,000 patients registered with the practice from a mixed socio- economic profile and a relatively high level of deprivation in parts.
The practice is also unique in Oxfordshire in being its own Primary Care Network. This allows the exciting prospect of being able to develop new services and models of working for such a large practice population.
The practice is fully embracing multidisciplinary working and the GP forward view. There is an active patient participation group.
The Practice Team
The GP team are salaried and there are currently 26 GPs working at BCHC. We have developed a MDT approach to primary care with patients being directed by a trained Call Centre Team to a Pharmacist, Physiotherapist, Mental Health Practitioner, AHP, Pharmacist or GP depending upon who can best help their issue. This allows GPs to deal with more appropriate health care issues and spend time supervising and mentoring other team members. The clinical team members have a variety of specialist interests, including family planning (GPs and Nurses), women’s health, medical officers for independent schools, nursing home care, learning disability, drug dependence care, ENT, dermatology, minor surgery, joint injections (Physiotherapist and GPs), GP training and teaching medical students and foundation doctors.
Other practice staff include a Practice Manager, Call Centre Team, Pharmacy Team (Pharmacists, Technicians and Receptionists), Reception Team for front of house management, a Trainee Coordinator, Secretaries/PAs to the doctors, QOF team, Business Support Team, a Rota Manager and a Data team responsible for scanning and note summarising.
The practice has close links with community staff who are also based at the same premises such as health visitors and the integrated neighbourhood team.
Services to Patients
In addition to general medical services, offered via a traditional General Medical Services (GMS) Contract, the following services are provided on site:
Antenatal clinics, Asthma services, Baby clinics, Child health and immunization services, Contraception including IUCD fits and implants, Counselling, COPD care, Diabetic clinics, Joint injections, Midwifery services, Minor surgery, Nasal cautery, Nurse Practitioners and AHPs, Palliative care links with Katharine House Hospice, Phlebotomy, Pharmacists, Travel vaccinations and advice, Primary Care Visiting service, Community Gynaecology clinic, Cervical smears, Wound dressings and Leg ulcer clinic, Dermatology clinics, Physiotherapy
Website
The practice has a well-developed website www.banburycrosshealthcentre.co.uk
Quotes from previous trainees:
“BCHC is a brilliant place to train with lot of opportunities for learning. The team is supportive and encouraging with a wealth of experience from staff. I am grateful to have been a GP registrar here and want to stay on as a GP.”
“Group tutorials with the other trainees are such a good idea and a great learning medium.”
“Training has given me a very broad experience and I feel confident and competent to practice independently. I have been able to do coils and implants alongside my appointments and I have been able to sit in on joint injections, mole clinics and school clinics.”