Drs Diffley and Hodges took over the practice from a single-handed GP in February 1989. Dr Nancy Küchemann joined in August 2004 and since then Mr Shaun Heath our Nurse Practitioner, Tilly Wright our Practice Manager and Drs Gabrielle Weale, Nicola Hanson, Nedah Darabi and Joanna Cooper have all joined the partnership.
Although Dr Diffley retired in October 2017, her values still form the basis of how we think within the practice.
The practice currently has 5.2 whole time equivalent doctors and we also have two GP registrars.
The practice team is completed with three Practice Nurses, Health Care Assistant, Reception Manager and Reception Team. In addition, we have a number of specialist Counsellors, Psychologists and Health Visitors that join us every week for our clinics.
Alongside our Practice work we also hold daily clinics at a local detox centre and weekly clinics at a local community drugs project.
Further information on the team can be found on the Practice Team page.
Practice List
The practice list has grown from 1,800 patients in 1989, to 8,000 patients. Significant within the characteristics of the list is the 35% turnover, indicative of the high mobility of the population served. There is high retention of the more stable patient population living in the nearby wards of Faraday and Browning.
The practice list reveals that women and young children are particularly in evidence. 7% of the practice population is under the age of 5 years old. 46% of the population have an ethnic minority background and there are large East and West African and sizeable Turkish populations, many of whom are refugees.
Our Primary Care Network
A primary care network is a group of practices who work together to focus on local patient care. They’ve been around since 2019 and 99 per cent of practices across England now work as part of one.
With increased demand and a shortage of clinical staff, practices find they can provide greater, more personalised care for patients when they can work together on certain services or issues.