Telford doctors' surgery changes name to be more inclusive
A medical practice has been given the green light to change its name to one “more inclusive” to the areas of Telford it covers.
Stirchley Medical Practice and Sutton Hill Medical Practice merged 18 months ago, and the combined group has gone by the name of the former since then.
The county’s Primary Care Commissioning Committee approved its proposal to change its name to “Silkin Health”, to avoid excluding Sutton Hill.
Lord Silkin was a former MP, deputy House of Lords Leader and architect of the New Towns Act, and the Silkin Way – a 14-mile cycling and walking route from Coalport to Bratton – is named after him.
Minutes of the committee’s October meeting are due to be discussed by the Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin NHS Clinical Commissioning Group’s governing body on Wednesday, November 10.
Written by CCG Associate Director of Primary Care Steve Ellis, they say: “Following the merger, 18 months ago, of Stirchley and Sutton Hill Medical Practices, the practice wished to change its name to relate to all the neighbourhoods covered rather than just one, Stirchley.
“It has proposed renaming the practice to be Silkin Health as a much more inclusive name for the area.”
Mr Ellis notes that the committee supported this change.
The amalgamation was first mooted in spring 2019. A businesses case document, presented to the CCG by Stirchley managing partner Tracey Craddock and GP Michael Innes, said the practices, which had a combined 23,500 patients on their books, had “worked closely together over the last 12 months, and have a very similar ethos to delivering primary care to the population of south Telford”.
The document assured commissioners and patients that the merger would not lead to the closure of premises or compromise patient access.
“Stirchley Medical Practice, being the larger site, will offer patients of Sutton Hill more services, and economies of scale will allow investment in the way primary care is delivered,” it added.
