Troubled Shropshire surgery hailed by patients
A troubled surgery has been rated above average in a patient survey – a year after undergoing major upheaval.
Nurses, doctors and reception staff at Bishop's Castle Medical Practice came in for praise from patients.
The surgery was reduced to one GP last year after the resolution of a long-running dispute ended in two doctors leaving the surgery at short notice.
Now the surgery, which is run by Dr Adrian Penney, is back up to three GPs with a fourth due to be appointed soon. It is a significant turn around for the surgery according to Nick Hutchins, chairman of the Bishop's Castle Patients Group.
The survey, by independent research company Ipsos Mori, was part of an England-wide survey conducted in the first three months of this year, as well as last autumn. In Bishop's Castle it shows 100 per cent satisfaction with nursing staff, 96 per cent for doctors – rated on things such as time spent listening to patients and explaining tests and results – and 95 per cent for reception staff.
Mr Hutchins said across more than 20 measures the Bishop's Castle surgery performed above the Shropshire average.
He said: "We are delighted to read this independent evidence of high levels of patient satisfaction. These results, combined with the uniformly very strong performance across all medical practices in south west Shropshire, reinforce the importance we attach for the region's GPs playing a leading role in a new rural urgent care centre."
Dr Penney, who had been largely absent from the surgery during a three-year row, returned to the practice at the start of 2014, buying out former colleagues Dr Adrian Fairbanks and Dr Sue Lambert, who left immediately.
The practice then ran for months with Dr Penney as the sole partner, with the help of locum doctors covering appointments and fears over whether the surgery could continue to cope with patient demand. The nature of the dispute was never revealed.
