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Patient and public webinar – potential change of control of AT Medics Ltd

As the NHS body overseeing healthcare in Camden, NHS North Central London Integrated Care Board has received a proposal to change the control of AT Medics Ltd.

AT Medics Ltd provides general practice services to patients at this practice, as well as a number of other sites in North Central London. The practice contracts held in North Central London are:

  • St Ann’s Road Surgery, Haringey
  • Mitchison Road Surgery, Islington
  • Hanley Primary Care Centre, Islington
  • Kings Cross Surgery, Camden
  • Somers Town Medical Centre, Camden
  • Brunswick Medical Centre, Camden
  • Camden Health Improvement Practice, Camden
  • GP Extended Access Hubs at Somers Town Medical Centre and Brondesbury Medical Centre, Camden.

Whilst no change of control (a change in a company’s ownership or management) has yet taken place, NHS North Central London Integrated Care Board would like to explain the process and inform you of the steps it will be taking to assess the proposal and ensure that the proposed change, if approved, will not adversely affect the GP practices.

Webinar for registered patients and members of the public

Registered patients and members of the public are invited to attend a webinar on Thursday 29th February from 06:00 pm – 06:45 pm where NHS North Central London Integrated Care Board will:

  • provide information on the process and the steps we are taking to assess the proposed change of control (a change in a company’s ownership or management)
  • listen to views and feedback
  • seek to answer questions raised.

Register to attend by clicking here.

Feedback and questions

Registered patients, members of the public and other interested parties can also provide feedback and ask questions by clicking here.

Proposed New Ownership For Your Practice

As you may be aware, there has been some speculation recently about the future ownership of AT Medics, who manage this practice. Today’s news will provide more clarity on our future.

Our entire Group will move to new ownership under the HCRG Care Group. HCRG Care Group are UK based and owned, and is of one the UK’s largest community health and care service providers.

Any new ownership will not change the way we manage our practice. Patients will still be seen by the same doctors, nurses and administrations teams as they are now and should continue to contact and use the surgery as normal.

Although this is very much business as usual for our practice teams, it is important that our patients are aware of this proposed change of ownership and have the opportunity to ask any questions they may have about this. The local NHS integrated care board (ICB) is aware, will be running their own assurance processes and will ask for patient feedback on this change in ownership.

You can find more information about this on the ICB’s website. Your patient participation group (PPG) will also be interested to hear your views.

Thank you for your ongoing support of our practice.

Practice manager

Long Term Conditions

We are improving the way we work with patients with long-term conditions 

Patients living with certain long-term conditions will be encouraged to attend a Yearly Health Check. Long-term conditions are those that impact over a long period of time, such as diabetes and heart diseases.

Patients will receive personalised care and support from healthcare professionals from their general practice. This will cover things that patients say matter most to their health and wellbeing, from the best treatment for their condition, to wider things like employment, housing, and mental health.

Our goal is that by planning care together with care, patients will have the confidence to manage their health, reduce their risk of being admitted to hospital, and have a better quality of life.

Who is this for?

Initially, we will cover nine long-term conditions:

  • Cardiovascular disease (for example, strokes, health failure, ischaemic heart disease, and peripheral artery disease)
  • Diabetes
  • Hypertension (High blood pressure)
  • Hyperlipidaemia (High cholesterol)
  • Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
  • Atrial fibrillation
  • Chronic kidney disease
  • Asthma
  • Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

In the future, we will look to expand this to cover more long-term conditions.

What can you expect?

If you have one of the long-term conditions listed above, you will be encouraged to have at least three check-ins per year. Each stage is described below for you:

1. Attend your Check and Test Appointment

In your Check and Test Appointment, a health professional will carry out all the checks and tests you need to monitor and manage your long-term condition. You may be sent for a blood test and have other checks like a blood pressure check and weight check. We may discuss lifestyle factors such as smoking and exercise with you too.

If you need an interpreter, please let us know so we can arrange one for your appointment.

2. Receive your test results and your Care Plan

After two to four weeks, you will receive your test results (by post, text, or email, however you prefer).

We will also send a blank document called a Care Plan.

A Care Plan is an agreement between you and your healthcare professional to help manage your health and support day to day. In your Care Plan, you can record things that are important to your health and wellbeing. This can include anything from your life, like employment, housing, or mental health.

A Care Plan covers:

  • What is important to you and the goals you have
  • How to get the most out of your medication
  • The care and support you need from others

A healthcare professional will review your Care Plan with you in your Discussion Appointment. You can start filling out your Care Plan before your appointment or you can fill it during your appointment.

3. Attend your Discussion Appointment

You will then be invited to a Discussion Appointment with a healthcare professional. This may be another team member (such as a nurse, health care assistant, pharmacist, social prescriber link worker) who is best placed to support your care and can spend more time with you. This appointment will take around 30 minutes.

You can discuss your long-term conditions, test results, treatment, and anything else that is affecting your health, from housing to employment. Together we will look at what matters most to you and agree some goals. Your Care Plan will be updated with what has been agreed.

4. Attend your Follow-Up Appointment

Three to six months later, you will be invited to a Follow-Up Appointment. This will last up to 15 minutes and is an opportunity to update your Care Plan with a healthcare professional, considering what is going well and where you may need more support. You may have more than one Follow-Up Appointment in a year.

Watch the short film below to see an example of a patient’s journey through the key stages of the process and help you understand what to expect from your Yearly Health Check.

With subtitles – https://youtu.be/2uNlBbuHflY

Without subtitles – https://youtu.be/FhTbMDLpMQ0

How will I be contacted if this is for me?

We will contact you via text, phone call, or letter to organise your appointments. We will contact patients over the year so please do not worry if you do not hear from us right away. If you are concerned or have questions, please contact us.

 

Your Next Poo Could Save Your Life

We are supporting a London-wide campaign to encourage more patients to do their free NHS bowel cancer screening home test, which checks if you could have bowel cancer.
People who are the right age are sent a free NHS FIT (Faecal Immunochemical Test) kit every two years. You use it to collect a small sample of poo and post it back to an NHS lab.
The campaign by NHS London, “Your next poo could save your life”, urges more people to use their kit – a message we wholeheartedly endorse.
Screening can help prevent bowel cancer and find it at an early stage when it’s easier to treat. People who complete their screening are 25% less likely to die of bowel cancer.
The kits are for people with no symptoms and most people get the all-clear.
If you are aged 56, 58 (on or after 16 May 2022) or 60 to 74 and we have your correct address, you will be sent a kit every 2 years. Please use it. By April 2025, bowel cancer screening kits will be for everyone aged 50 to 74 in England.
To find out more and hear from other Londoners about their experience of bowel cancer screening, visit www.healthylondon.org/bcs.
If you have symptoms of bowel cancer which last for three weeks or more, please contact the practice and ask for an appointment.

Phone Lines Down – Wednesday May 2021 – 2pm

Dear Patients,

Our phone lines have been down since 2pm this afternoon and we have reported this to our telephony provider. The technical support team is looking into this and we will update you as soon as we are aware of any change.

In the meanwhile, you can continue to use online services or alternatively please visit the surgery if you need to access our services, and please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused.

Get your FREE flu vaccination: Autumn/Winter 2020-21

If you are eligible, book an appointment for your FREE flu vaccination now:

Call us on: 020 3182 4200.

 

Remember, you are eligible for a FREE flu vaccination if you are:

  • 65 years of age or over
  • suffering from a long term medical condition such as Asthma, Diabetes, Heart Disease or other long term medical conditions
  • pregnant
  • a carer
  • a child aged 2 or 3 years old

 

For more information about the Flu vaccination, access the following useful resources:

Novel Coronavirus

COVID-19 is a new illness that can affect your lungs and airways. It’s caused by a virus called coronavirus.

Ramadan and the Covid-19 vaccination

Find out more about fasting and COVID-19 Vaccinations: Q&A for Muslim communities

What’s the risk of coronavirus in the UK?

The UK Chief Medical Officers have raised the risk to the public from low to moderate.

Health professionals are working to contact anyone who has been in close contact with people who have coronavirus.

What’s the risk of coronavirus for travellers?

There are some countries and areas where there’s a higher chance of coming into contact with someone with coronavirus.

See the NHS.uk coronavirus advice for travellers.

Symptoms of coronavirus

The symptoms of coronavirus are:

  • a cough
  • a high temperature
  • shortness of breath

But these symptoms do not necessarily mean you have the illness.

The symptoms are similar to other illnesses that are much more common, such as cold and flu.

Check if you need medical help

NHS 111 has an online coronavirus service that can tell you if you need medical help and advise you what to do.

Use this service if:

  • you think you might have coronavirus
  • in the last 14 days you’ve been to a country or area with a high risk of coronavirus – see the NHS.uk coronavirus advice for travellers
  • you’ve been in close contact with someone with coronavirus
Start now

Do not go to a GP surgery, pharmacy or hospital. Call 111 if you need to speak to someone.

How to self-isolate if you’re asked to

If there’s a chance you could have coronavirus, you may be asked to stay away from other people (self-isolate).

This means you should:

  • stay at home
  • not go to work, school or public places
  • not use public transport or taxis
  • ask friends, family members or delivery services to do errands for you
  • try to avoid visitors to your home – it’s OK for friends, family or delivery drivers to drop off food

You may need to do this for up to 14 days to help reduce the possible spread of infection.

Read more coronavirus self-isolation advice.

How coronavirus is spread

Because it’s a new illness, we do not know exactly how coronavirus spreads from person to person.

Similar viruses are spread in cough droplets.

It’s very unlikely it can be spread through things like packages or food.

Do I need to avoid public places?

Most people can continue to go to work, school and other public places.

You only need to stay away from public places (self-isolate) if advised to by the 111 online coronavirus service or a medical professional.

How to avoid catching or spreading coronavirus

Do

  • wash your hands with soap and water often – do this for at least 20 seconds
  • always wash your hands when you get home or into work
  • use hand sanitiser gel if soap and water are not available
  • cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when you cough or sneeze
  • put used tissues in the bin straight away and wash your hands afterwards
  • try to avoid close contact with people who are unwell

Don’t

  • do not touch your eyes, nose or mouth if your hands are not clean

Treatment for coronavirus

There is currently no specific treatment for coronavirus.

Antibiotics do not help, as they do not work against viruses.

Treatment aims to relieve the symptoms while your body fights the illness.

You’ll need to stay in isolation away from other people until you’ve recovered.

More information

Page last reviewed: 3 March 2020