New GP alliance 'puts patients first'

The member practices of the new Wharfedale Airedale and Craven Alliance (WACA) are: Addingham Medical Centre, Addingham; Dyneley House Surgery, Skipton; Grange Park, Burley in Wharfedale; IG Medical, Ilkley and Grassington; Ilkley and Wharfedale Medical Practice, Ilkley; Ling House, Keighley; North Street Surgery, Keighley and Townhead Surgery, Settle.

A spokesperson for WACA said it was a new GP Federation which aims to develop and provide services/projects that benefit local people and always puts patients first. "Working as a collaborative builds resilience and diversification into the group, helping it to grow and to attract new talent to the member practices," said the spokesperson.

"GP Federations have generally come about since the NHS England Five Year Forward View was published in 2014 as a way for family doctor practices to move towards working “at scale” – creating efficiencies and access to a wider pool of clinical expertise in a way that benefits patients. A Federation is not a full merger or partnership, but provides a structure for the member practices to use their combined strengths to develop projects that are relevant for their local populations – GPs are close to what their patients want and need. Both the Royal College of General Practitioners and NHS England are supportive of the development of Federations.

"Many GP federations exist in the UK and each works to its own set of visions and values. WACA is led by a board whose vision for growth over the next five years is to deliver an enhanced portfolio of health and wellbeing services to people living in Wharfedale, Airedale and Craven, working closely with other service providers such as voluntary sector groups, NHS hospital trusts and local authorities.

"The role of the board is to create these opportunities through collaboration and influencing as a collective voice of primary care. The board will steer the Alliance and our communities through the challenges that lie ahead.

"The Federation’s board structure has been developed to represent the diverse patient demographic which it covers – its 72 000 patients live in an area of more than 500 square miles that includes urban Keighley practices and rural Yorkshire Dales communities. The current NHS climate is one of multiple changes and WACA is working closely with local commissioners and providers to develop innovative solutions. Current projects include developing Extended Access for patients across the Airedale, Wharfedale & Craven CCG, from 1st October 2018, in conjunction with the local GP super-partnership, AWC Modality Division."

WACA Board members are Nicholas Clarke – WACA CEO; GP Partner at IG Medical, Ilkley and Grassington; Nick Crossley – WACA Business Management Director, Business Manager, Townhead Surgery, Settle; Gurbaag Chandok – WACA Director Airedale Community, GP Partner, Ling House, Keighley; Kirsty Pettit – WACA Director Craven Community, GP Partner, Dyneley House, Skipton; Lincoln Jowett – WACA Director Wharfedale Community, GP Partner, Grange Park, Burley in Wharfedale.