Planners hope to create federated GP services

Health planners hope to create a federated GP practice in Kintyre by next April. Campbeltown GP Partnership is working with senior managers of the Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP) and Kintyre Medical Group (KMG) to form a federated practice. The practice would consolidate multiple surgeries under a corporate banner, providing benefits that cannot be achieved with smaller GP surgeries. An HSCP spokesperson said: ‘We hope contractual discussions will be concluded by the end of the year and the federation formed on April 1 next year. Kintyre Medical Group partners will continue to work with existing staff and patient groups and are committed to investing in new systems and equipment to improve patient safety, practice access and services delivered in practice. Donald Watt, locality manager, Mid Argyll, Kintyre and Islay, said: ‘We appreciate this may be unsettling for some KMG patients but we want to reassure them there is no intention to reduce services. Patients will be consulted or informed about any significant changes. We had hoped to offer drop-in sessions at each of the three practice sites before the end of the year but have rescheduled these clinics for dates in the new year once all patient surveys have been submitted and the contractual discussions with the HSCP finish.’ KMG will be managed by the health board until March 31 2019 and specific queries should be emailed to Donald Watt at donald.watt@nhs.net.