
BEST PRACTICE SPONSOR 2020
THE PARLIAMENTARY REVIEW
Highlighting best practice
34 | THE GP SURGERY
We believe that for each person who
decides to pay for alternative care,
space is freed up within the NHS for
another patient who may not be
able to afford alternative provision.
This relieves worry and frustration for
patients and reduces the pressure on
local NHS services.
Bridging the gap
The first challenge we faced was
how to bridge the gap between
NHS provision and existing private
provision, only attractive to people
with considerable disposable income.
The average cost of a private GP
consultation in London was around
£100 and often required an additional
registration fee.
We wanted to make private care
less of a luxury and more affordable
for more people but did not want
to compromise on quality for the
sake of cost. We ruled out the online
consultation as we believe in order to
provide comprehensive, personalised,
compassionate and safe care, face-to-
face interaction is required.
Co-location
Commercial rents in London are high
and it is not easy to acquire premises
with required planning consents. We
decided that the ideal solution would
be to co-locate with a pharmacy. This
would provide convenience to patients,
who could see a GP and pick up
prescriptions in the same location. The
decision would also reduce potential
property overheads, allowing us to
spend any savings on enhancing the
service itself.
We found a space within an existing
pharmacy store, which we could
sublet. Although this offered a small
number of consulting rooms, through
opening for extended hours we were
able to rotate services, making sure
that each room is utilised to the full,
with no space wasted.
We worked through the CQC
registration process and obtained the
relevant planning permission from the
local council. On December 1, 2014
The GP Surgery opened its doors,
offering services in Wimbledon, seven
days a week, including evenings
andweekends.
Allowing patients to inform
provision
Over the course of our first year we
gathered patient feedback and revised
our business model to meet their
preferences, altering opening times
and adding services that they were
struggling to access elsewhere.
As well as seven GPs and four nurses
providing services such as general
consultations, blood tests, vaccinations
and sexual health, we also host many
other clinicians. These include a plastic
surgeon who provides skin surgery,
a consultant radiologist who offers
cortisone joint injections and an
ultrasonography team offering a range
of ultrasound scans. We continue
Providing services in
response to patient
feedback
We believe
that for each
person who
decides to pay
for alternative
care, space is
freed up
within the NHS
for another
patient who
may not be
able to afford
alternative
provision
“
“
35THE GP SURGERY |
to listen to patient feedback and try
to fill the gap in available provision
wherever we can, while keeping prices
as affordable as possible.
Overcoming obstacles
We have faced frustration along the
way, including the need to apply our
own interpretation to some often
unclear regulatory guidelines. This can
create uncertainty as to the best course
of action to take when planningservices.
A further challenge occurred in late
2018 when Google changed their
algorithms, resulting in a worrying
lack of visibility of our website, crucial
to attracting patients to the service.
After a major website redesign and
considerable web-based advertising
at additional costs, we managed to
ensure that people could once again
see our services when searching online.
It has also been a turbulent time
for staffing with the uncertainty
over Brexit impacting on some of
our non-UK national reception and
administration staff whose future in
the UK seems uncertain.
Recent high increases in GP indemnity
costs have also had to be absorbed
while trying to maintain affordability
for patients.
In spite of these challenges, however,
The GP Surgery in Wimbledon is now
operating at full capacity, with over
23,000 patients having used our
services in the past five years and this
figure rising daily.
The future
We are now in an expansion
phase, having been cautious not
to overextend ourselves until we
were certain that we had our model
absolutely right. Our second site
has been secured and we hope to
open in early 2020, with further sites
anticipated later in the year.
Our ambition is to offer top-quality
and affordable services to more
patients who are happy and able to
seek an alternative to the NHS in order
to have control over what, where
and when they receive the care that
theyrequire.
The GP Surgery
in Wimbledon is
now operating
at full capacity,
with over
23,000 patients
having used our
services in the
past five years
and this figure
rising daily
“
“
Healthcare available
at times convenient to
patients