Merger of Watling Vale, Hilltops and Stony Stratford medical centre.

FAQs for patients 

1. What do I need to do as your patient?
You do not need to do anything. As a patient nothing will change for you in terms of how you access your practice. 

2. Who will I be registered with?
Although it makes no difference to your care, you will be registered with our new partnership named Watling Street Practice.
However, you will still receive your care from the same location. From 4 July, these will be called:
• Watling Street Practice @ Great Holm
• Watling Street Practice @ Kiln Farm (PCN office / non-clinical)
• Watling Street Practice @ Shenley Church End; and
• Watling Street Practice @ Stony Stratford 

3. How can I contact my GP surgery?
The new website will be  www.watlingstreetpractice.co.uk
There will be a new online Consultation Tool (AccruX). 

In time, there will be one telephone number, but for now all 3 separate numbers will be in use. Please continue to use thenumber you usually use, but from 1 July please expect your call to be answered as ‘Watling Street Practice’.

4. Will my doctor Change?
There are no planned changes to staffing so the people you are familiar with will all still be working for the new larger practice so, your Doctor will remain your Doctor.

5. What does this mean for staff?
Most importantly this is not about losing any staff or cutting any costs. 
All staff will continue to be employed, but they will now be employed by all the partners (Drs Sehar Ali, Mahmood Atab, Rebecca Bradshaw, Margaret Field, Amit Goyal, Sarah Grinyer, Manpreet Kohli, Deepali Madhotra, Sridevy Raju, Patricia Regis and John Slippe-Quartey.)
The 11 doctors have come together to work as one partnership, under one contract and with one name -Watling Street Practice.

6. Where will I go for my face-to-face appointments?
You will continue to go to the usual locations when merged, the difference being that  instead of visiting Hilltops Medical Centre, Stony Medical Centre or Watling Vale Medical Centre), your appointment will be at one of the following:
• Watling Street Practice @ Great Holm
• Watling Street Practice @ Kiln Farm (PCN office / non-clinical)
• Watling Street Practice @ Shenley Church End; and
• Watling Street Practice @ Stony Stratford 

You can ask to be seen in any of the locations. Your chosen location may be based on the speed with which you need to be seen, which clinician you need to see and/or your ability to travel. Consideration will always be given to your ability to travel when an appointment is booked.

7. Are services being cut? 
No. In fact, from 1 July some patients will see immediate improvements to their care. For instance:

• Not all of the practices are able to offer a LARC service (long acting reversable contraceptives i.e.:  COILS and Implants) but from 1 July, as one merged practice all patients will have access to a practice based LARC appointment.
• Not all the practices are able to offer our diabetic patients an insulin initiation service but from 1 July all patients will have access to a practice-based appointment instead of travelling to hospital.
• Over time there will be improvements to other services and the way they are delivered but any adaptations will be done in consultation with the team members key to the service evolution, including the Patient Participation Group (PPG).
   
• With any changes, patient choice will remain paramount and providing care close to home will remain a priority. 

8. Why is this merger a good idea?
The three practices say: 

'"Bringing the three practices together will make us safer and more secure. By having a larger partnership, all working under one NHS contract, our joined-up practice will be more robust and will be able to respond more positively to change. 

Together we will be able to work more innovatively as our knowledge base will be broader. We can work collaboratively to develop new ways of working enhancing patient care and increasing capacity and access to appointments.

Together our collective skills and experience will be combined making the whole greater than the sum of our parts.

We recognise that change can be concerning – but we believe that there are exciting times ahead of us. If you have any questions, please come and speak to a member of staff, who will be able to help you."