Shoreham GP practices to merge

Church View Surgery and Adur Medical Group based in Shoreham Health Centre will be merging on April 25, and will be known as Harbour View Healthcare.

The new practice will also operate from Downsway Surgery in Southwick – the current branch surgery of Adur Medical Group.

Dr Howard Bentley, GP partner at the current Church View Surgery, said primary care is facing ‘unprecendented challenges’.

“Walking into Shoreham Health Centre some people may wonder why two separate practices exist,” he said. “We have also recognised this, and a merger has been on the cards for some time.

“We have had many positive, friendly and fruitful meetings between the practices over the last year, and they have resulted in the unanimous decision to merge. We all strongly believe this to be the best way forward and know that it will secure the best possible care for all our patients.”

Partners say the move is an ‘excellent opportunity’ to develop services for patients as it will combine expertise from both practices.

Patients will still be able to use both of the current telephone numbers to contact the new practice, and the surgery opening times will remain the same.

Dr Bentley continued: “Primary care, and the NHS as a whole, is facing unprecedented challenges.

“We firmly believe that this merger will enable us to adapt and thrive within a rapidly changing NHS.

“Establishing a large, robust and resilient practice will enable us to continue to deliver personal healthcare which our patients have come to value and which meets their needs and preferences.”

Dr Simon Howard, GP partner at the current Adur Medical Group, said: “We aim to enable our patients, whenever possible, to consult with their preferred, most trusted doctor or nurse, in both face to face and telephone consultations. We find this the most valuable and satisfying use of our time and efforts as much as we believe our patients do, and this will continue.

“We will also take this opportunity to look at the way we work and how we can make it better for our patients, focusing initially on patient access, appointments and prescriptions. Working together will give us a strong foundation on which to maintain our current level of service, develop new ways of caring for our patients and expand the services we can offer.”

Dr Howard said demands on GP’s time is ‘increasing on all sides’.

He added: “In order to maximise the time we can spend with our patients face to face, when they need us most, we need to encourage safe, effective patient self-care.

“We need to ensure that those problems and requests, which don’t need a doctor to manage them, are promptly and effectively signposted to those best able to help.”

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