Cumbria Health on Call has been awarded the management contract for Upper Eden Medical Practice due to an inability to recruit enough doctors.
The management responsibilities of Upper Eden Medical Practice, based in Kirkby Stephen and also covers Brough and Tebay, will be provided by the social enterprise to ensure continuity of care for patients.
CHoC has been awarded a one-year contract to allow the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB) to carry out a longer-term search or new GPs, following the decision made by the existing partners at the practice to return their contract due to ongoing recruitment issues.
CHoC said it was working closely with the management team at the practice to ensure a smooth transition for staff and successful mobilisation of the new contract and patients have now been informed of this update.
CHoC manages other GP practices in the area and currently hold contracts for Alston, Glenridding and Windermere and Bowness practices.
Susan Blakemore, chief executive of CHoC, said: “We are happy to support the Upper Eden Medical Practice team with this contract. This is a further opportunity to work in partnership with another practice team in North Cumbria to continue to provide our community with outstanding primary care services. The challenges faced in general practice are close to our heart as a provider of primary care services across Cumbria.”
Dr Neil O’Brien, medical director for the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board, said: “Across the region we have a range of initiatives in place to attract and retain more GPs to the area – including north Cumbria.
“When it comes to attracting the next generation of doctors to the region we have our Find Your Place campaign which encourages medical trainees to choose our region for their GP training. We also have the new medical school at the University of Sunderland which has a particular focus on general practice.
“We are also looking at innovative ways of working which includes developing new specialist roles within primary care teams which in turn frees up the time of GPs and ensures patients get the timely access to care from other specialists. As well as North Cumbria Workforce Bank which enables our GP workforce to work more flexibly and remotely. Whilst we recognise GP recruitment is both a national and local challenge, we would like to reassure people this continues to be a key priority and focus for us.”
Ed Tallis, director of Place for North Cumbria, added: “We would like to thank all our patients for their ongoing support and understanding at this challenging time for primary care. CHoC are incredibly experienced so this a good match for the practice at this time. GP recruitment continues to be one of our main priorities in North Cumbria and we will always ensure that continuity of patient care is at the forefront of any decisions made to support practices.”
