Patient Update
Next steps for the merger of St Augustine's and Temple House Surgery
Dear Patients,
We wanted to write to let you know how the merger between the two practices is progressing. Both the practice managers are doing an enormous amount of work to make this happen. There are numerous organisations which need to be informed and lots of inevitable legal work to sort out.
Although on paper the merger date is the 1st April, the planned date for our computer systems to come together is Wednesday 17th April. Luckily both surgeries use the same clinical computer system, so when we join up the patient lists, the clinical records will be available at any of our sites, which will enable you to be seen effectively at any of our locations. We are also planning for the joining of our phone systems to happen shortly after the computer systems merge, to truly allow us to come together.
For us as GP Practices, continuity of care is incredibly important. It has been shown to both improve patient’s outcomes and provide a more positive patient experience. We would therefore encourage patients not to change their ‘usual’ GP during this period of change, and to continue to see the GP they know best for routine (non urgent) care. For on the day, urgent care, you may be asked to attend any of the three sites (Chocolate Quarter, Temple House and Saltford). This will allow us best to share out demand and provide the most appropriate care to you.
We realise this is a large change for everyone (both staff and patients) and we need to remember to be kind and patient with one another as we all deal with change differently.
Please do continue to give us feedback, as this allows us to continually develop and improve,
Dr Nick Woodward, Dr Edward Fletcher, Dr Liz Reddy, Dr Gavin Jewell and Dr Caroline Rance