GP surgery signs up to partnership

A GP surgery has become the seventh in the north east to join a pioneering partnership.
Members of the team at Elsdon Avenue Surgery in Seaton Delaval which has joined Northumbria Primary Care.Members of the team at Elsdon Avenue Surgery in Seaton Delaval which has joined Northumbria Primary Care.
Members of the team at Elsdon Avenue Surgery in Seaton Delaval which has joined Northumbria Primary Care.

Eldson Avenue Surgery in Seaton Delaval is the latest to join Northumbria Primary Care (NPC), a partnership between Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and local GPs.

The practice, which was rated ‘good’ by the Care Quality Commission in 2017, currently has around 3,700 patients and three GP partners, as well as a full nursing and administration team.

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Dr Karen Finch, one of the GP partners in the practice, said: “We’re very proud of the first class service we provide and of what our team has achieved to date.

“As a small practice we are able to offer an intimate, personalised service to our patients and that won’t change.

“However, we recognise that, in order to sustain both our unique ethos and the need to provide the best care to our patients, we must be innovative.

“The business support we will receive from joining Northumbria Primary Care will enable my colleagues and I to really focus our time and expertise where it matters most – providing and developing high quality clinical services for our patients, while maintaining overall control of the practice.”

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She added: “Being part of a larger organisation will also enable us to draw on more resources, and our patients will be able to benefit from a wider pool of clinical staff in the future.

“We’re hugely looking forward to this new chapter for the practice.”

Julie Danskin, managing director of NPC, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Elsdon to the NPC family and we look forward to working with Drs Karen Finch, Kathleen Mackie, Lucy Fisher and their team as they continue to deliver the personal care which is their hallmark.

“Running a GP practice is resource intensive in today’s NHS. We hope that by providing many of the professional support functions which are needed to deliver an effective service, it will help ease this burden and let them get on with what they do best.”

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Set up in 2015, NPC now manages seven GP practices, with more than 40,000 registered patients in Northumberland and North Tyneside.

It provides everyday support to deliver corporate functions, enabling family doctors to focus on providing care to patients.