PML launches new GP practice in Banbury

Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group and Principal Medical Ltd (PML) are delighted to announce the launch of the new Banbury Cross Health Centre. This is the result of the merger of Banbury Health Centre and West Bar Surgery on Monday 16 September.

West Bar Surgery and Banbury Health Centre are coming together, a move which will enable a greater range of patient services and more opportunities for expansion, while at the same time improving efficiency by consolidating back office and support functions. The new practice will operate from the existing sites and existing staff will be retained.

Andrew Elphick, PML Chief Executive, said: “We are really pleased to be bringing West Bar Surgery together with Banbury Health Centre, to make a new combined practice: Banbury Cross Health Centre, and to have done it in a way that offers the most sustainable outcome possible for local patients.

“The new practice that will come out of this merger will be one business operating on multiple sites, which is not uncommon in primary care these days. We have a lot to do in the coming weeks and months to make sure that the new combined service has all the necessary processes in place, and we will continue to work closely with patient groups to gain input.”

Julie Dandridge, Head of Primary Care at Oxfordshire CCG, said: “The launch of Banbury Cross Health Centre demonstrates how a new way of working in primary care is being delivered in the north of Oxfordshire. We have developed a more sustainable service in the town which can meet the challenges facing the health service in the years to come.

“Primary care in Oxfordshire, in line with the rest of the country remains under pressure from a shortage of GPs, more demand on services from an increasing population with fewer funding resources. To meet these challenges we are commissioning health services that are run at scale. This allows clinicians like GPs and other health professionals such as nurses, pharmacists and social prescribers to provide a wider range of services to a bigger patient population to improve care.”

Dr Stephen Haynes, Lead GP at Banbury Cross Health Centre, said: “As a practice, we put patient care at the centre of everything we do. However, it is a challenging time for primary care and GPs are being encouraged to improve efficiency, which can be really difficult to do when you are running a single GP practice, because you still need much of the same support as a larger business.

“By coming together with Banbury Health Centre as a new entity, we will be able to integrate our services to further improve the quality of our care for our patients and provide a safe supportive environment for our staff to work.”

Visit the new website here: www.banburycrosshealthcentre.co.uk