The team at Wellington Medical Centre have been welcoming patients of the town’s former Luson Surgery to the practice over the last two weeks.
Despite the best efforts of the team at Luson Surgery, a two-partner practice with around 6,600 patients, the practice closed on 26 September.
Luson Surgery’s 6,600 patients were automatically moved to Wellington Medical Centre from 29 September, where five more doctors are being recruited. They include Luson’s GP partners, Dr Rachel Yates and Dr Adedayo Awodiji, who are joining as salaried doctors.
Dr Sally Dimambro, GP partner at Wellington Medical Centre, said: “I’d like to thank all our patients for their support in making this process smooth and successful.
“Patient records have been moved to our system, and I know the team have enjoyed welcoming Luson patients to the practice and getting to know them.
“I’d also like to thank our practice team for their hard work and dedication throughout this period.”
The movement of the patient list – known as a list dispersal – from Luson Surgery to Wellington Medical Centre was supported by NHS Somerset, which is responsible for planning, paying for and monitoring primary care services in the county.
Extensive planning between both practices, NHS Somerset and other local partners – including care homes and community services – was undertaken to make the change as seamless as possible.
The contract notice period was six months, but local partners worked together to make the change happen faster so that the closure didn’t occur in the peak winter period, when there is the highest demand on NHS services.
