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Newsletter Summer 2025
Welcome to our Summer Newsletter.
As a patient and member of the Patient Engagement (PEG) Group, I continue to be both impressed and grateful to AHP for the dedication of their staff and their focus on providing excellent care despite ever increasing demands and limited resources. Do please take time to read this issue of the Newsletter to learn more about your Practice and how we can work together to provide an even better outcome for all patients.
Colin Day
Patient and PEG member
Making Sense of Adur Health Partnership
Adur Health Partnership (AHP) is a Practice formed of four legacy surgeries: Northbourne Medical Centre, Manor Practice, Shoreham Health Centre (previously known as Harbour View) and Downsway Surgery. AHP looks after over 36,300 patients.
Adur Health Partnership has ten Partners, nine of which are Clinicians and one non-clinical Managing Partner. The Partners are supported by three Executive Directors.
Adur Health Partnership’s mission statement is: ‘To support and improve the health and wellbeing of the community we serve.’ We achieve this by offering a range of services.
Adur Health Partnership currently consists of 175 staff members: Medical Receptionists, Medical Secretaries, team of Workflow and Care Co-Ordinators, Salaried GPs and trainee GPs, Nursing Team, Pharmacy Team, MSK Practitioner, Emotional Wellbeing Advisors, GP Assistants, Group Consultations Team, Patient Experience Manager, Clinical Admin and Clinical Services Team, Finance Team, IT Team, Premises Officer, Education and Training Manager, and Human Resources Team.
In May 2025 (which included two non-working bank holidays) we provided:
Total calls answered by Adur Health Partnership = 11,556 (6,281 were calls triaged via GP appointment line and 5,275 were answered by other lines.)
Total appointments offered = 11,545
5,593 GP or ANP (Advanced Nurse Practitioner) appointments (average of 1,263 per week)
- 64% Face to face appointments
- 24% Telephone appointments
- 12% Home visits
4,160 Nurse appointments (average of 939 per week)
- 89% Face to face appointments
- 11% Telephone appointments
1,792 Other appointments - appointments with our pharmacy team, MSK Practitioner, Emotional Wellbeing Service and Group Consultations.
Adur Health Partnership is a BMA (British Medical Association) Safe Working Practice and we prioritise the delivery of safe and high quality patient care within the regulatory and professional expectations of the General Medical Services Contract. This means that our GP face-to-face routine appointments have been extended to 15 minutes. This gives our patients and clinical teams extra time to build a shared understanding of their medical issues. Telephone call appointments and urgent care appointments are scheduled for 10 minutes.
Like all GP Practices in England, we have been facing challenges which are both national and local.
- Workforce recruitment and retention. The number of fully qualified GPs has reduced meaning there are fewer GPs looking after more patients.
- Financial. Did you know that the Government only provides us with £112.00 per registered patient per year for your care? This is equivalent to 33p a day – the cost of an apple from your local supermarket. This gives you access to free and unlimited attendances and care. We wish that the resources we had were equally unlimited.
- Increased demand due to a growing population in Shoreham-by-Sea and Southwick.
- Long waits for hospital treatment so patients re-present to us for care while they are waiting to see a
- specialist.
- Our community is aging (24% or our patients are over 65 years old), which is often associated with more complex medical and non-medical issues, where continuity with one or two clinicians who know patients well is clearly beneficial.
Following feedback from both patients and clinicians, we want to try and improve continuity for the patients who would benefit from it most.
From July we will be trialling a WAIT (Waiting for an Appropriate Individual or Team) list to ensure that patients are booked with a clinician who knows them well for routine or ongoing problems. This may mean that during the triage process you will not be offered a specific date for your appointment, but will be contacted by the reception team when the next routine appointment becomes available with the most appropriate GP, rather than starting your story again with somebody else.
What Can You Do to Help Us Help You?
If it is possible for you to call the GP Triage Line and use the call-back service, please do so. You can walk into your surgery and request an appointment too. You will be asked to fill in a triage form for a GP to review and we will ask you to wait at the surgery until the form is triaged. Please note you may be in for a long wait. It may be better and more convenient for you to contact us by phone.
Avoid calling in the mornings (particularly Mondays) if your problem is not urgent.
If your query is routine, consider using our online eConsult option on our website.
Try to keep the information supplied to reception as succinct as possible.
Follow the advice you are given on the phone – this has been provided by a GP, not directly by a Medical Receptionist. Please note that not all clinical issues are appropriate for management by a GP. For example – you may be referred via Pharmacy First to a local pharmacy where they can provide clinical assessment and prescriptions for a range of minor illnesses. Or you may be advised to attend A&E, for example if experiencing chest pain or after a fall. A&E has access to tests and equipment a GP surgery does not. These tests are carried out promptly and may be crucial for your treatment and recovery.
If you are asked to send photographs, please do so as promptly as possible - typically these are better quality if taken by someone else.
Attend the appointment offered to you. We have on average 89 non-attendances a week. This equates to 26 hours of clinical time every week! Please cancel your appointment in a timely fashion if you no longer need it. Please note that you can cancel your appointments via the NHS App, if you use it.
Provide feedback about your experience.
Adur Health Partnership is proud to serve you all. We understand that sometimes you may be frustrated with the Practice service, however, please be reassured that we do our best with the resources we have. We continuously review your feedback and improve the service based on your needs.
Patient Engagement Group
Don't forget that the Patient Engagement Group (PEG) meets at the Shoreham Centre between 6:15pm and 7:15pm on the fourth Wednesday of every month. Please come along to share ideas and learn more about how your local surgeries work.
For further details please contact us or visit the AHP website for more information.
Published: Jul 18, 2025