Merger moves ahead for surgeries

TWO GP surgeries in Cornwall are due to merge, after struggling to recruit new staff in the face of more and more patients signing up.

Patients of Bodmin’s Carnewater practice and Stillmoor House medical practice were told via letter and post on April 20 that they would be merged into one. The two surgeries had already planned to join up, albeit under different circumstances.

A new building, announced just over a year ago, was set to open in 2023 and combine the two practices into a new one, Bosvena Health. These original plans were designed to increase the practice’s capacity and make use of a pot of funding given to the local council.

Now, patients have been told the new premises at Beacon Park will be at least partly open by July because of an ongoing difficulty in recruiting new staff. The two practices, however, are retaining their old buildings, using the new site for “urgent” work.

The letter to patients said: “Demand for services has been growing for some time and, as you may know from our recent engagement around our plans to build a new primary care centre for Bodmin, our plan is to formally combine our two practices to form Bosvena Health and work together in new GP surgery in Bodmin from July 1, 2022.

“Our current premises are too small to support our growing community – we need 45% more space to cope with demand. This lack of space presents challenges in providing services in a way that we know our patients want, and an efficient and productive way.

“We are looking to build new practice premises at the Beacon Technology Park in Bodmin, and our full planning application is currently live on the Cornwall Council Planning portal. We had hoped to move into our new premises first before taking steps to formally merge the two practices to create Bosvena Health, but for a variety of reasons including the Covid-19 pandemic and planning regulations it is unlikely this will happen before early 2024.”

The letter explained that the 23,500 patients covered by the two surgeries need the extra space. The letter continued that the plans would let the surgery be more “robust” and not have to cut back on pharmacy services for people who do not live nearby.

Patients have been told that they will keep their registered GP, with the existing staff not going anywhere. Continuity for patients receiving longer-term care at either practice has also ben promised. The hours for the practice will remain the same.