Confirmation of our merger and new GP appointment system
We are happy to confirm that the merger of Jesmond Health Partnership and Gosforth Memorial has now been completed.
All opening times and contact details at our four sites remain unchanged. The new partnership of Dr Ben Davies, Dr Sarah Nicholson, Dr Dan Parkin, and Dr Fiona Smith will be responsible for delivering high-quality, patient-focused care.
Two ‘hubs’
The new combined practice will operate as two ‘hubs’.
The Gosforth hub will be at Gosforth Memorial on Church Road. All patients originally registered with GMMC should continue to access care there.
The Jesmond hub will cover the sites at 17 and 200 Osborne Road and 5 Osborne Avenue. Patients originally registered with JHP should access care at these sites as before.
At times, you may be offered the option of an appointment at the other hub. This will only happen if an appointment is available sooner, or if a Doctor with a relevant specialism as available at the other hub.
You can choose whether to accept an appointment at a different hub. No patients will be forced to travel from Jesmond to Gosforth, or vice versa, for routine appointments.
A new GP appointment system
As we announced in March, the askmyGP system has now been rolled out to patients in Gosforth.
The digital-first system makes it easier for you to get the help you need quickly.
With askmyGP you are in charge. You can choose which GP you would like to help you, describe the issue in your own words, and say what outcome you would like and how you would like to be contacted.
The system is easy to use, with just a few questions to answer. It’s quick, too – on average, patients get a reply within 20 minutes and a resolution in around 3 hours.
In many cases, patients can resolve their issues without needing to be seen in person. It could be a prescription, some treat-at-home advice, or being signposted to another service, like a local pharmacist. Nine in 10 patients have their issue dealt with by their preferred Doctor.
To introduce you to the new system, we’ve added some How to guides to our resources page.
Clinical System
We are now applying to merge our clinical systems. This was not possible before the contractual merger had been completed.
Until the systems have been combined, we will run a dual system at both hubs, so all patient records are available to all staff.
This shouldn’t have any impact on patients, short of it taking a little longer for staff to navigate between systems.
Similarly, when the systems are combined, it should be seamless for patients. Both practices currently use the same clinical system, so your access to your health information either through Systmonline or the NHS App will be uninterrupted.