COACH HOUSE SURGERY DR JEREMY SHINDLER BRIDGEWATER HOUSE DR

Dr M Murray

Coach House Surgery

Dr Jeremy Shindler Bridgewater House

Dr Simon Hodes 7 Printers Avenue

Dr Rachel Tudberry Watford

Dr Gowri Sankaran WD18 7QR

Dr Mandip Thiara

Dr Andrew Larkworthy

Dr Mohammed Amin

Telephone: 01923 202600

Dr Kemi Elias Fax: 01923 202604

February 2018

Coach House Surgery / Park End Surgery Merger FAQs

Why are the Practices merging? There is a national drive from central government for practices to merge. This allows greater resources, a better range of services, and usually better access for patients. We believe that Coach House & Park End Surgeries will be able to meet the ever increasing demands and pressures by working together. Individually both practices have a similar ethos of traditional patient centred care and we feel it is the right time to take the opportunity to build and expand on our successes.

Will I still be able to make appointments at my usual surgery? Yes – we will try hard to ensure that this remains the same.

Will I still be able to see the doctor of my choice? We will try to ensure that you can see your health care professional of choice where possible. There are no changes planned to the way that you are able to access your preferred GP; however there will be a greater choice of doctors and nurses after 1^st April 2018.

Will I have to go to another location? No. However both surgeries have a branch site so there may be times where you might find it more convenient to take an appointment at another location but this is no different from the current service.

Will the practice boundaries change? No – both practices already have very similar boundaries. We will continue to register and provide services for patients that fall into these catchment areas.

Will any service currently offered be removed or stopped? No – As a result of the merger all previous primary care services offered by the practices will remain unaffected. All services we currently offer under the GP Contract will continue.

Will any new services be introduced? We strongly hope so. One of the benefits of being a single larger organisation will be the increased ability to bid for the provision of new services. One of the examples is in house monitoring of warfarin.

Will the arrangement with local pharmacies to deliver my medications continue in the same way? There will be no change to this.

Will the reception operate in the same way? We do not anticipate any immediate changes, however moving forward we will try to move to just one reception desk with the phones being answered on the other side to improve the patient experience.

Do I need to do anything as a patient to remain on the list of the new Practice? No – patients will automatically be transferred onto the new practice list.

Will this affect any treatment or medication I am currently receiving either at the GP practice or any Hospital? No – any patient’s current treatments/ medications or any investigation that they are undergoing at a hospital will be unaffected, by the merger.

Will this affect my referrals to hospital? No – any patient who is currently undergoing investigations or treatment at a hospital will be unaffected.

Will this affect access to other services such as District Nurses, Midwives, Hospice at Home etc? No – any patient who is currently under the care of community based services at home or within the practice will be unaffected.

Will the surgery names change? Yes. The combined practices will be called Bridgewater Surgeries, with the three sites known as:

How can I make my views on the merger known? One way is via the PPG. This is a Patient Participation Group run by patients for patients. It provides a link between the surgery and our patients and will be an important part of ensuring that information regarding the merger is communicated to patients and providing feedback from patients. Further information on the PPG is available in the Surgeries or on the websites.

Will this affect the privacy of my medical record and data sharing preferences? Your medical record will be accessible to the surgery staff of ‘Bridgewater House Surgery’. Any data sharing settings and restrictions that were applied before the merger will continue to be in place with regards to sharing outside of the surgery organisation.