Last updated:
Monday, 20. October 2008
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The Formation of The OPTIMUS Group of practices
The Practices Involved
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Birchwood Medical Centre |
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Boultham Park Medical Centre |
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Newark Road Surgery |
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Richmond Medical Centre |
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Swallowbeck Surgery |
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City Medical Practice |
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Woodlands Medical Practice |
The Aims and Objectives of the optimus Consortium of Practices
To develop a clinical education programme to deliver better clinical involvement and co-operation between General Practitioners and hospital Consultants.
For practices to work collaboratively with each other and to benchmark clinical standards and share management good practice – for example achieving and evidencing Healthcare Commission Standards
To develop a consortium based Patient Liaison Group in order to engage with our patients to work together on shaping future services in general practice. To develop communication links with patients about the services being delivered and issues relating to the delivery and use of them; this may or may not be directed by local and national policies.
Why have the practices formed optimus
There is a need to look at what practices do and how it is delivered. Practices are in a changing environment and patients also have to adapt to different was of working; such as the changes with:
| NHS Direct |
| Choose and Book |
| Independent Sector Treatment Centres |
| Out of Hours |
OPTIMUS intends to develop the new services in line with the new NHS environment and ensure that the patients of its practices receive the best care in a quality assured environment. Ensuring evidenced based best practice and accredited quality standards.
The practices want to ensure that they maintain and build on the high quality core values of traditional general practice; such as continuity of care, family based medicines and the familiarity that patients have with their own known GP practice. This does not mean old fashioned services, it means modern and evidence based services provided with traditional patient focussed values.
OPTIMUS as they develop, will provide their patients with a ‘Kite Mark’ that reassures them of the quality of standard of care they can expect from their practice.
Future relationships with patients
OPTIMUS believes that the most important relationship is between the patient and the practice team. GPs and their staff talk regularly to their patients on an individual basis, but this is mostly about their health care. In developing the Patient Liaison Group, we want to expand this conversation onto a wider level – on a continuing basis about our services, ensuring that patient’s collective views are represented.
It is hoped that the OPTIMUS Patient Liaison Group will meet 4 times a year and during that time develop in a way which both meets the needs of, and listens to the views of the patients of the practices.
What the OPTIMUS Patient Liaison Group is not
The OPTIMUS liaison Group is not a group to deal with disease specific issues, such as Diabetes. Different groups exist for that; such as Diabetes UK. The OPTIMUS Patient Liaison Group is to ensure that the practices as a group engage with their patients and work together on future developments, which may include different services for different healthcare issues, but not about the healthcare issue itself.
Contacts about the group and its work:
The patients of the Liaison Group can contact either their own Practice Manager to discuss OPTIMUS or they can contact the Groups Executive Manager, Debbie Burley on Debra.burley@lpt.nhs.uk or by telephoning 0788 418 1802