Patient update about a change of ownership to Valens Medical Partnership

PATIENT UPDATE ABOUT A CHANGE OF OWNERSHIP TO VALENS MEDICAL PARTNERSHIP

We would like to inform our patients about a change that we are planning. This is in relation to the management of our GP practice.

We are in discussion with a local NHS company, called Northumbria Primary Care (NPC). This is with the intention that Valens Medical Partnership becomes part of their company.

This is a welcome move which will allow us to continue to ensure that our practice remains sustainable. It will mean that we can deliver what is expected from primary care now and into the future. Some of these requirements include:

• improving access for patients
• increasing capacity to offer more joined-up patient care
• strengthening workforce and resilience in services
• embracing digital technologies
• making the well-being of our team and our patients a priority.

We believe that NPC and Valens Medical Partnership can achieve the above for our patients and colleagues. Both organisations have a high level of skill and expertise that can be shared.

We assure our patients that we would not be pursuing this if we did not believe that we could deliver better care. Improving access is also a top priority.

Also, at the core of our decision-making is enabling workforce stability. Making sure we can further develop, retain, and recruit the best clinical and non-clinical staff is crucial.

We are also focused on how we continue to use technology and on any estate opportunities. Both will help us to be more innovative in our approach to patient care.

Patients don’t need to do anything and there will be no immediate changes.

Patients will see no immediate change to the services provided by Valens Medical Partnership.

Neither will you see any immediate change to our current practice name, opening times or contact details. The doctors, nurses, and support staff that you see will all remain the same.  Please note, that you do not need to re-register or do anything else in relation to this.

About Northumbria Primary Care

Northumbria Primary Care was formed in 2015. It is a partnership between 10 GP surgeries – with an 11th in the process of joining. NPC is a not-for-profit, wholly-owned subsidiary of Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. The organisation was a finalist in the 2022 Health Service Journal awards last year, in the primary care provider of the year category, and performs very well in both national patient and staff experience surveys.

If all goes as planned, after we join NPC, it will employ around 500 people and care for around 135,000 patients in Northumberland and North Tyneside.

You can find out more at www.northumbriaprimarycare.co.uk and they are also on Facebook.

We are still working through the many required processes and gaining the required approvals. It is hoped that we will join NPC by January 2024. We will, of course, keep you updated as things progress.

If you have any queries regarding this change, please do not hesitate to contact nencicb-nor.valensmedical@nhs.net.

Dr Aamir Munir
Executive GP Partner