A DOCTOR who is helping set up a new GP practice hub has sought to reassure patients that the changes being made will provide innovative ways of working.

Dr Jonny Duffett, a GP partner at Moorfield House Surgery, is a co-chair of the Hereford Medical Group which is working on bringing five city GP practices together to work collaboratively.

Greyfriars, King Street & Bobblestock, Moorfield House, Sarum House and Quay House surgeries will merge as a single entity by April 2018.

Dr Duffett said: "We are proposing a Hub and Spoke model with a new purpose built northern hub facility somewhere close to the hospital and transport hub in the new city centre regeneration zone.

"This would be occupied by three of the current practices, Greyfriars, Moorfield House (including Aylestone Hill branch surgery) and Sarum House moving from their old legacy 19th century premises to a fit for purpose building.

"Existing premises such as Bobblestock surgery and Quay house would remain as modern facilities offering the spokes."

He said the rationale for this is to offer resilience, have advantage of economy of scale particularly for administration and to be large enough to undertake novel ways of working and projects which would be impossible for a smaller practice.

Dr Duffett said the changes are due to the extreme challenges primary care in Herefordshire is facing.

He said: "We are at a tipping point with increasing demand on services and a crisis in the availability of GPs. Patient contacts to surgeries have doubled in the last five years for the same population and people are living longer with more complex conditions."

Not only this, but they are expecting a possible loss of a third of GPs locally in the next few years from retirement due to age or quitting because of pressure or moving away to other roles.

He added: "Local recruitment is difficult, few now seem to want to come and live and work in this amazing county, preferring more metro centric lifestyles. GP training here is struggling with most places currently unfilled on a scheme that has provided locally trained GPs for local practices adequately until recently."

Dr Duffett said with the Ross branch of the Moorfield House surgery moving into the Asda walk-in centre [which is due to close in August] there could be the possibility of having a southern hub on the site offering expanded services for the south of the river.

He added: "We have already piloted locally a non GP-led visiting service and are expanding the roles of nurse practitioners, nurse specialist clinics, physicians associates, pharmacists, physiotherapists and paramedics to meet the care needs of the future with less doctors."