THE White Horse Health Centre has offered further reassurance to the community that the centre will be able to cope with the increase in patients after the closure of Warminster’s Smallbrook Medical Centre in September.
The Westbury Group Practice, which manages both surgeries, made the decision to close Smallbrook Medical Practice after an unsuccessful recruitment drive to increase the number of GPs.
The White Horse Health Centre has already been treating many of the 4,000 Smallbrook patients since March, when the practice reduced its service.
In a statement to the White Horse News, finance and services clerk, Lewis Johnson said, “Westbury Group Practice would like to reassure patients that the closure of Smallbrook Surgery will have a minimal impact on the people of Westbury and surrounding villages.
“We have recently recruited additional staff to assist our clinical professionals, as well as our administrative departments. Measures are also in place to handle the additional demand from our patients and indeed those who wish to register with us.
“We will continue to monitor the demand for our service and make changes where necessary. We at Westbury Group Practice will always do the very best for our patients and are always looking to improve our service.
First opened in 2012, the White Horse Health Centre has continued to grow, improve and expand its services to meet the needs of the community.
Since its opening, the centre has made a number of achievements including being given the Investors in Carers gold award by Carer Support Wiltshire, acknowledging the support offered to unpaid carers. The health centre has also met 100% of the quality and outcomes framework targets set by the NHS.
In December 2016 the health centre received a ‘Good’ Care Quality Commission report, with the care offered to older people highlighted as being ‘Outstanding’.
An ‘outstanding’ Stop Smoking service is also on offer for those people wanting to kick the habit.
Other successes at the health centre include the minor surgery clinic expanding its reach to podiatry and cataract surgery, a weekly chemotherapy unit visit, a brand new state-of-the-art X-ray facility, an urgent care team triaging on-the-day appointment requests, practice paramedic and practice pharmacist offering support to the GPs and an ‘improving access to psychological therapies mental health’ service operating out of the centre.
The health centre has also amended its opening hours to offer appointments on weekday evenings and some Saturdays, for those who find it difficult to get away from work.
Looking to the future, the health centre has plans to continue to grow its services. Highlighting some of the projects that are in development, Lewis Johnson said, “We are working on subscribing to Wiltshire prescription ordering service, working to become a ‘dementia friendly’ organisation and also adding a virtual tour of our surgeries for those who are anxious or have concerns about visiting us.”
You can find out more about Westbury Group Practice and stay up to date with all their news on their Facebook page www.facebook.com/westburygp
