Patients asked to share their views on the future of GP and healthcare services in Buckingham

Health and Social Care

Sent on behalf of The Swan Practice

The Swan Practice in Buckingham is asking patients to share their views on the future of GP and healthcare services in the Buckingham area.

As the local population may be aware, for several years the practice has been working on proposals to move its two Buckingham based surgeries – North End and Verney Close – into a new, purpose-built site at Lace Hill, near the large Tesco superstore.

The surgery at Steeple Claydon would not be affected by this plan and would remain as it is.

The aspiration for this new site is to deliver a fuller range of healthcare services in a safer, modern environment with better parking facilities. It would offer enhanced healthcare and a better experience for patients, bringing a number services they currently have to travel to hospital to access closer to home. The practice is also in discussions with other healthcare providers and community organisations who may be interested in having a presence at the proposed site. The aim would be to create a new building which would serve the healthcare needs of the growing community in and around Buckingham for many years to come.

The practice’s response to the COVID pandemic has seen a great increase in remote appointments, home visits, and more staff in place to support people in the community.  The practice plans to continue to use these methods, when appropriate, to ensure everyone is able to access general practice services whenever they need them.

Some NHS funding is available to support the Lace Hill proposal, but it can only move forward if the practice is able to develop an affordable plan, matched with the necessary finance. However, it is essential for some sort of solution to be found to the problems faced by the practice’s current surgeries in Buckingham.

The surgeries at North End and Verney Close are no longer suitable for the requirements of modern general practice. They have poor disabled access, very limited parking and are not satisfactory working environments for staff. They cannot be expanded or redeveloped to the necessary standards. The growing population in the Buckingham area means that these surgeries, which are already over capacity with patient numbers will not be able to meet demand.

Dr George Gavriel, Executive Partner at The Swan Practice, said: “Our goal as a GP Practice is simple – we want to deliver the best possible services to our patients in an environment that is safe, comfortable and fit for the purposes of a modern general practice.

“Unfortunately, that is no longer possible in our current premises in Buckingham. Our surgeries are already beyond their capacity in terms of patient numbers and our population is growing. Doing nothing is simply not an option if we want to continue to meet the needs of our patients.

“We think the proposal for a new site at Lace Hill would bring enormous benefits to the local community and let us bring a wider range of healthcare services to Buckingham. But while we hope many patients will be excited by these proposals, we know that others may have concerns. We really want to hear as many views as possible, so any future plans we make can take them into account. We would be really grateful if as many of our patients as possible could please take a few moments to give us their feedback.”

You can have your say in a 12-week consultation running from 23 August to 16 November 2021.

You can give feedback in the following ways:

  • By email to:   admin.theswanpractice@nhs.net  (please include the word ‘Premises’ in your subject header).
  • By post to: The Business Manager, The Swan Practice, Masonic House Surgery, 26 High Street, Buckingham, MK18 1NU
  • Online, via a survey on the Your Voice Bucks platform: https://yourvoicebucks.citizenspace.com/clinical-commissioning-group/buckingham/
  • You can post comments through the letterboxes of any of our surgeries.
  • We are hoping to arrange some form of ‘drop-in’ sessions during the consultation – we will update on these in due course.

More information about the proposals, including FAQs and more details about the issues faced by the current surgeries in Buckingham, can be found at www.theswanpractice.co.uk.