2021 has been a year like no other for people around the world. For people working in primary care the challenges have been numerous – an increasing demand for services, coupled with the impact of COVID.
Dr Helen Kingston, Senior Partner at Frome Medical Practice, has been reflecting on the year and what it has meant for those working at the practice.
“Without a doubt, it has been a challenging year for everyone at the practice. But we have pulled together as a team and everyone has shown incredible commitment and team spirit in the face of our unprecedented year. I want to publicly thank the staff for everything they’ve done and for making the practice such an incredible place to work.”
Practice Manager, Karen Creffield, added, “It’s just over a year since we held our first COVID vaccination clinic. Within 6 months of that we’d given out 30,000 vaccinations and we were so delighted when Frome Town Council presented us with a Civic Award for this. But aside from COVID, there have been so many other achievements by the team.”
These achievements include:
• Recognition for three members of staff at the South West General Practice Nurse of the Year Awards
• The Royal College of General Practitioners Green Impact Award – and for the fourth year running recognised as the leading practice nationally on this
• Funding for new or evolving areas of work including the Green and Healthy Future Project, Home Visiting Team, Complex Care and Health Connections
• Over £2000 raised for We Hear You, the practice charity of the year for the last two years
• Featured in NHS England case studies and on international news sites
• Implemented new programmes of work, such as the Community Pharmacy Consultation Service (and been the leading Somerset practice on this for several months in a row) and Virtual Group Consultations
• Topped the national league tables for sign up of patients to the NHS App
• Grown our teams – including our Medicines Management Team and Data, Digital and IT Team
• Increased our patient communication further – with almost 30 news updates, increased engagement on social media, a new LinkedIn page, more and more followers on Facebook and Instagram, and a constantly evolving website
“The headlines throughout 2021 have very much been about COVID,” said Dr Kingston, “But it’s been really important for us to reflect as a practice on the many other things we’ve achieved together. We head into the New Year facing fresh challenges from COVID, but I know the team here will continue to deliver excellent day-to-day services for our community, whilst also looking at how we can keep striving to offer people in Frome innovative primary care services.
“We also want to say a big thank you to all the partners we work with across Frome and the surrounding area. The support from the many organisations and individuals across our community has been invaluable this year and will remain so, as we continue to work together to face the challenges that 2022 is likely to bring.
“And we have had enormous support from our patients this year – their words of encouragement and thanks have meant a great deal to the team and we are incredibly grateful for this. Thank you for continuing to work with us to deliver the best care that we can through this next phase of the pandemic”
