Aldersbrook Medical Centre (AMC) “Save Our Surgery” Campaign – organised by AMC Patient Participation Group.

After five years of being the recipients of continually improving GP service at Aldersbrook

Medical Centre E12, the patients are losing their current providers because the NE London Integrated Care Board (NEL ICB), can’t or won’t provide a budget that their GPs consider viable for a renewed contract.

Despite AMC meeting all clinical targets and gaining Care Quality Commission overall rating of GOOD in 2022* and recognition of ‘exceptional’ transforming practice by NEL ICB, the current providers were initially offered a continuation of their contract. This was offered at 6% less funding than the current contract. Then, with a contractual change to an ‘in perpetuity’ contract a whopping 10% less was offered. To compound the insult, despite being told that the new contract would be renewed without needing to go through another round of competitive processing, this was reneged on.

The current providers have been running the practice on a break even basis. For them there is no room for manoeuvre without severely compromising the current standard of clinical provision for a practice with particular and complex medical needs. For those reasons they have reluctantly given notice that they have to withdraw from the contract as it is no longer financially viable for them to remain.

AMC’s Patient Participation Group has closely watched the negotiations. It enjoys a particularly strong relationship with the GP providers from the award winning Richmond Road (RR) in Hackney, based on openness, civility and mutual respect. Since RR took over 5 years ago the PPG has witnessed the complete transformation of the practice. From a practice languishing in the doldrums following a succession of failed contract holders who threw in the towel, AMC is now thriving with an expanding patient list.

At AMC you can get GP appointments, receive blood tests and vaccinations on site, access yoga, participate in a gardening club, enjoy coffee mornings and other social events eg. Father Christmas’s grotto and fun activities with the kids at the Winter Festival. AMC is now part of the community again instead of a grey cold surgery with locum doctors doing their best, with no ambitious professional vision or love.

When faced with losing all the progress that has been gained the Patient Participation Group took this issue back to the patient community in order to lobby, protest, pressure

The excellent service we receive at the Aldersbrook Medical Centre is in danger of getting worse as the current provider – Richmond Road Partnership – say they need to leave the practice as the NHS is cutting what they pay them and they cannot keep providing the same services for less money.

Whoever runs Aldersbrook Medical Centre must provide an adequate standard of healthcare but have much leeway in how they do it, For example, the surgery needs to be open for so many hours per day but that doesn’t mean GPs will necessarily be available for these times – maybe there will be fewer appointments, some may need to go to an associated practice to be seen or for some appointments, there could sometimes be Physician Associate, not doctors.

Extra services may no longer take place at Aldersbrook Medical Centre. The current provider introduced a phlebotomy (blood-taking service) at the practice. There would be no obligation for that to continue there. It could be that a new provider will just offer such at another practice or people will have to travel towards South Woodford to a clinic there as used to be the case. The extended hours for the nurse that the current provider has introduced may not be maintained.

Says Paul Wildish from the Aldersbrook Medical Centre (AMC) Patient Participation Group (PPG):

“We are fighting to keep Richmond Road Practice that has for the last 5 years brought the Aldersbrook Medical Centre into the 21st Century, providing holistic clinical services that for a GP practice of our size are more than exceptional.

“As members of the PPG, we are opposed to the replacement of our present great team of doctors and staff and we believe that what is presently being talked up by NE London Primary Care as the solution will be a much poorer service than we receive now with a budget that will be 6.5% to 10% less than present.

“The PPG is campaigning against the loss of our practice providers and we demand that there will be no diminishing of GP coverage and service. We know many out there are already campaigning like us and we would like you to contact us so we can all coordinate our efforts.”

Local resident and Aldersbrook Medical Centre patient Glynis Ford adds:

“What really frustrates me the most is they are cutting the budget here only to have to increase it elsewhere or create wait times. Aldersbrook Medical Centre should be seen as the gold standard of what can be achieved with the right management team. You can always get an appointment, you do not have to hang about in the surgery for hours, receptionists are helpful and supportive and their holistic approach helps support people who would otherwise slip through the cracks. The level of care keeps patients away from A&E saving money, helps avoid mental health crisis and also saves money and helps diagnose long-term problems at early stages. In the years I have lived here I have seen the practice go from bad to worse and to the best around and will do whatever I can to fight for it.”

A petition against the proposed changes states:

The current operator, Richmond Road Partnership, has put in huge amounts of work to provide a massively improved service in recent years.

Even as it stands, with the number of appointments available and extended opening hours, the practice is at capacity. All extra demand pushes people to out-of-hours services much further away and puts further strain on NHS resources.

Many amongst the group have shared their concern, especially at the possible loss of the services of Dr Karan Bhatt and Dr Uzmah Chaudhary. Both doctors are held in incredibly high regard amongst patients and have built up a huge amount of trust and respect with the people they have treated. This loss of trust and familiarity could be disruptive and cause anxiety for individuals who rely heavily on their current medical support system and those who are partway through treatments.

Any change to the current service, be it a reduction in personnel, hours or provision, will directly impact local residents to a huge detriment.

Dr G Mehta, GP Partner at Alderbrook Medical Centre says:

“Given the time and energy that we have put in to transform the Practice over the past 5 years, we are deeply saddened about this outcome. We would like to emphasize that this is not a decision we have taken lightly but unfortunately, we were left with no other feasible option.

“We encourage patients to share any concerns they may have with the Commissioners directly.”

Model letter

Dear (Recipient Name),

I am writing as a patient and resident who will be directly affected, to express my deep dismay at the recent announcements from Aldersbrook Medical Centre (65 Aldersbrook Road London E12) which see the current provider pushed out due to funding cuts.

For decades, Aldersbrook Medical Centre has been one of the services at the heart of the Aldersbrook Estate and community. The service provided is an absolute necessity, particularly for the older and more vulnerable members of the community.

The current provider, Richmond Road Partnership, has put in huge amounts of work to provide a massively improved service in the last 5 years. Care Quality Commission (CQC) rate the services under Richmond Road Partnership as GOOD, having previously been rated as INADEQUATE when they took over in 2019.

The practice has a very active Patient Participation Group (PPG) who have worked with the current Richmond Road Partnership with various cooperative social value patient initiatives being undertaken. There has been an increase of over 1000 new patients in the last 5 years, reversing the trend of patients leaving the list due to disappointing and inaccessible services.

Richmond Road Partnership have been described by NEL Primary Care as “…exceptional and has developed the practice and its service delivery to an excellent standard”. Surely you would agree this should be commended as a standard to strive for as a minimum, not seen as an opportunity to slash or downgrade services?

Even as it stands, with the number of appointments available and extended opening hours, the practice is at capacity. All extra demand pushes people to out of hours services and puts further strain on NHS resources which I find unacceptable.

The Richmond Road Partnership have evidence that their model of service delivery has reduced 111 calls and A&E attendances, again making local savings to the wider health economy.

Many of my friends, neighbours and residents’ groups have shared their concern, especially at the possible loss of the services of Dr Karan Bhatt and Dr Uzzah Chaudhary, who will leave Aldersbrook Medical Centre on 30 June 2024 along with the rest of Richmond Road Partnership team. Both doctors are held in incredibly high regard amongst patients and have built up a huge amount of trust and respect with the people they have treated. This loss of trust and familiarity will be disruptive and lead to a lot of anxiety for me and others who rely heavily on their current medical support system and for those undergoing treatments for cancer or another life-threatening diagnosis.

Any change resulting in a reduction of personnel, hours, or service provision, will be extremely detrimental to the residents and put pressure on other services including Accident and Emergency department and hospital admissions.

I urge you to do everything within your power to support me, the registered patients, and the PPG to retain Richmond Road Partnership as the provider. So, we can secure the future of the Aldersbrook Medical Centre and work with us to find a solution that ensures continued access to high-quality healthcare for me and all members of my community.

I seek a discussion with all interested parties who would like to join a collective conversation on these issues. I warmly welcome the opportunity to discuss this directly and hope that, by working together, we can find an alternative solution and outcome which works for all.

Yours sincerely,

Your Name

Copy to Aldersbrook Medical Centre PPG by email at ppg.aldersbrookmedicalcentre@nhs.net