Dear patients

We would like to thank everyone who took the time to provide us with feedback on the proposed merger of our practice with NPC Elsdon Avenue.

Your feedback helps us understand what our patients think about the proposal and identify areas of concern we need to address.

The next step in this process is for us to submit our proposal to the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (NENC ICB). This proposal will include all the feedback that you have provided us with. Once the NENC ICB decide on the proposal, we will inform you of the outcome. Should the proposal be approved, we will let you know the next steps.

While we await this decision, we would like to take this opportunity to address some of the feedback that we have received. Please see the FAQs below:

Q. Would I be made to go to NPC Elsdon Avenue for my appointments?

A. No. Your appointments would remain at NPC Cramlington. You may also be able to access clinics like a flu vaccine drop-in or enhanced access clinics at NPC Elsdon Avenue, if it better fits your schedule. This relationship between the practices has existed informally for several years.

Q. Would NPC Elsdon Avenue patients take appointments at NPC Cramlington?

A. No. NPC Elsdon Avenue patients would continue to receive appointments at their surgery. As mentioned in the previous question, NPC Elsdon Avenue patients may choose to attend clinics like flu vaccine drop-ins or enhanced access clinics at NPC Cramlington. This would not impact NPC Cramlington patients’ ability to access care.

Q. I think that the practice merger would lead to reduced levels of staff. Is this true?

A. No. We do not intend to reduce our staff levels.  Our current workforce has worked cross-site for over 2 years, which supports resilience and better service for our patients.

Q. Would this proposed merger lead to one of the surgeries closing?

A. No. Both practices would remain open.

Q. Would practice staff be shared across both sites?

A. Staff will continue to work from NPC Cramlington. Where there is staff absence, NPC Cramlington staff may support NPC Elsdon Avenue. As both practices are operated by Northumbria Primary Care, this already happens. This increases resilience across both practices. There will also be times where NPC Elsdon Avenue staff support NPC Cramlington during periods of staff absence.  Staff have worked cross-site for over 2 years to support resilience, and our best service offer to patients.

Q. Would I still be able to speak to a human to book appointments?

A. Yes. Patients would still be able to book an appointment or make an admin request over the phone or in person. A lot of our patients use SystmConnect or the NHS App to do this, but patients will always have the option to speak to one of our team directly.