Balmore Park Surgery is a modern friendly practice situated in Caversham close by the River Thames. It has a list size of approximately 14,500 patients covering a wide social spectrum. It has a long history as a training practice. The VTS in Reading was introduced by a retired Senior Partner and three of the Partners have been trainers. We are a very friendly Practice and all members of the health care team are involved teaching in some way. The registrar has their own fully equipped room and network PC with full inter and intranet access. The registrar attends a day release course on a Tuesday and has a weekly tutorial on a Wednesday morning. We have regular weekly business meetings on Monday lunchtime and monthly primary health care meetings. Registrars are encouraged to fully participate in all activities and meetings at the Practice.
We have District Nurses, Health Visitors, Physiotherapists and a Counsellor who work from the surgery as well as a Dermatology Clinic and a Weight Management Clinic operating from the surgery. We have a very positive attitude to learning and encourage the registrar to gain as much experience as possible and sit in other outpatient clinics as appropriate.
There are seven Partners (both full and part time) and two salaried GPs. We run a personal list system and are proud of the personalised care that we can offer patients.
The Trainer
Dr Samantha Potter gained her certificate in Medical Education in 2004 and has been training since 2005. She works 3/4 time (6 sessions per week) but is in surgery every day of the week and when she is not available another Partner will be delegated responsibility for supervising the registrar. We have experience with F2, ST2 and ST3 registrars in the Practice.
The training programme is developed according to the learners needs and all Partners are involved in teaching, supervising and giving tutorials.