About Us

Herefordshire General Practice (HGP) is a collaboration of GP providers who work together to enable a stronger, independent General Practice for the future.

HGP comprises 19 GP surgeries based in five Primary Care Networks, the Local Medical Committee and the GP Federation, Taurus Healthcare Ltd. Together we provide high-quality care to over 190,000 people across Herefordshire.

Taurus Healthcare (the GP Federation of which all 19 Herefordshire practices and Tenbury Wells Surgery are members) was established in 2012. Taurus Healthcare is a limited company but we don’t pay dividends to our shareholders (who are the GP practices). Any surplus is reinvested into providing improved healthcare for the people of Herefordshire, now and for the future.

HGP aims to offer 24/7 patient care in the right place with the right professional at the right time. We do this through traditional in-hours GP surgery-led care together with additional services provided by the Federation, For example,  scheduled weekend and evening appointments at 10 hubs located throughout the county, an innovative remote consultation service called Herefordshire Remote Health and the GP Out of Hours service. Taurus also supports practices with additional clinical services, for example Covid-19 vaccinations and boosters and a specialist Acute Respiratory Infection Hub (winter 2022-23).

We are also keen to support patients' health and wellbeing, including through our Talk Wellbeing hubs and drop in centres. You can find out more about this work on the Health and Wellbeing section of this website. 

We use an electronic patient record service called EMIS throughout Herefordshire General Practice. This enables continuity of care as all health practitioners can access and update your records. 

Herefordshire General Practice is an exciting and innovative place to be. We are passionate about General Practice and are dedicated to working together with system partners (the local hospital, local authority, NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire, community and voluntary sector organisations). This ensures a joined up approach to health and care in the county with the aim of providing the best possible service for our patients.

Frequently Asked Questions

Our Aims

To support local practices 

 

By supporting management functions including HR, recruitment, business intelligence and workforce that underpins resilience of each of our member practices.

To provide clinical services

On behalf of local practices to ensure patients receive high quality and resilient services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

To work with local health and social care organisations

We help represent the views of General Practice across local health and care to ensure care is shaped around the needs of our local population.

Our Vision & Values

We believe that General Practice is the cornerstone of our health and care system, providing holistic care to individuals and families to live independent, healthy, fulfilled lives.

Taurus GP Federation was created by all Herefordshire GP practices to support this ethos, to collaborate and maximise the time that GPs and their teams have to focus on patient care. 

Working together allows us to support various back office and management functions. It also enables us to deliver some clinical services that require scale in order to provide general practice services across 24 hours, 7 days a week.

GP practices retain their individual leadership and responsibilities, but are supported by a wider leadership team underpinned by the Federation. This enables us to partner with local health and social care organisations, to help coordinate prevention and early intervention and maximise opportunities for more ‘joined up’ care.

So, our Vision is: To be recognised as trusted experts, delivering high quality General Practice for the people of Herefordshire.

Underpinned by our Values: Collaborative working. To always care and be compassionate to our patients and teams.

Taurus healthcare AGM reports

Our AGM

Read the Taurus Healthcare Annual General Reports to learn more about what we do.

2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22

2022/23

Our Timeline

2012
  • Taurus Healthcare Ltd was formed, initially employing around five staff and based in a small office at Wargrave House Surgery.
  • Herefordshire Musculoskeletal Service (MSK) commences (delivered by Taurus Healthcare).This was the first service to be offered by Taurus Healthcare (for a period of 20 months). It offered a specialist assessment and treatment service for musculoskeletal conditions (those involving bones, muscles, tendons, joints and nerves). 
2013
  • MSK Any Qualified Provider Service: The aim of this service was to provide a comprehensive, easily accessible patient-centred lower back and neck pain service in the community.
    It delivered high quality treatment and an efficient service to patients, using local, well-established therapists.
2014
  • 7 Day Pilot (Prime Ministers Challenge Fund): The first Taurus-run Improved Access Services. A number of different initiatives were piloted, including an Adolescent Outreach Service that provided clinics in schools and colleges.

  • Integrated Care Practitioner Service: A service that was run with nurses and Occupational Therapists whereby patients were supported through their discharge by telephone to ensure they had the medication they needed and to help with transition back into the community. 

  • NHS Health Checks: These are targeted at adults in England, aged 40-74, and are designed to spot the early signs of stroke, kidney disease, heart disease, type 2 diabetes or dementia. Taurus Healthcare continues to support NHS Health Checks in all 20 Herefordshire GP practices.
2015
  • 7 Day Service: Business as Usual

  • Taurus given MOU to represent all Practices: Taurus was asked to represent  General Practice in discussions around the development of Integrated Care Systems.

  • Herefordshire and Worcestershire Training Hub launched. The Hub provides a central portal to a wide range of training and personal development opportunities targeted at the healthcare sector. For further information, please visit the dedicated website.
2016
  • Taurus represents practices at STP and One Herefordshire to provide one voice for all 20 Herefordshire General Practices.

  • Zero Tolerance launched. Through this service, we supply routine and urgent care to a very small number of patients who have been removed from their practice’s list. We look to support engagement and then returning to a practice’s usual list as soon as possible.

  • Sexual Health Service in partnership with Worcestershire Health and Care Trust. Taurus Healthcare worked in partnership with Worcestershire Health and Care Trust under the banner of ‘Herefordshire Health Partnership’ to provide a specialist sexual health service for the county.
2017
  • Primary Care Home across Integrated Care Alliance. Primary Care Homes were the predecessors for Primary Care Networks. Taurus signed up to the National Association of Primary Care to build on the work it was already undertaking.  The Alliance included colleagues from Wye Valley Trust and the Clinical Commissioning Group working together to discuss how to develop our Primary Care Home. This included four key elements: delivering personalised care with improvements in population health outcomes; delivering to a defined, registered population of between 30-50,000; aligned clinical and financial drivers; and an integrated workforce.  
2018
  • Out of Hours Service: Taurus Healthcare provides the face-to-face and home visiting elements of the GP Out of Hours service. The service provides urgent medical advice and treatment to Herefordshire residents and visitors to the county when GP surgeries are closed.

  • Ledbury Market Surgery: Taurus Healthcare ran Ledbury Market Surgery until 2020 to provide the resilience that ensured the practice didn’t close.

  • A+E Streaming Pilot: This pilot project placed General Practice at the front door of A&E and was trialling different pathways into the A&E service.

  • TeamNet established, providing a ‘one stop’ source of information for General Practice, including information from Taurus Healthcare, the CCG and other partners.

  • DATEX and Quality: an integrated incident reporting tool that was made available to all practices
2019
  • Primary Care Networks came into being.

  • Launched Recruitment Service, assisting General Practice to source the staff they need, including to Additional Roles (ARRS) such as Clinical Pharmacists, Social Prescribers and First Response Physios.

  • GP Provider Board established - now known as the GP Provider Forum. The Forum provides a vehicle for General Practice across the two counties of Herefordshire and Worcestershire to come together.

 

2020
  • Covid Management Service established. This was a dedicated telephone line that took referrals of COVID positive patients from GP practices, NHS111, care homes, Wye Valley NHS Trust and other healthcare practitioners. Once referred, patients were contacted daily by Taurus Healthcare clinical team members who checked on their progress and recovery, offered advice and reassurance and discharged them once they were better.

  • Weekend Care Home Service set up. This service provided additional weekend support to care homes for residents who were unwell or who had a non-emergency and non-COVID related medical need.

  • Amber hubs set up – for patients for queried covid infection. These were separate, COVID-safe facilities to provide face-to-face medical support for patients with queried COVID infection.

  • Super Green Service set up - for vulnerable and ‘shielding’ patient care and support. Nurse-led clinics set up for vulnerable and ‘shielding’ patient to receive essential medical care and support. The service went on to receive an award from The Nursing Times (2020) under the Infection Prevention and Control category. 
2021
  • Herefordshire General Practice Leadership Team established. The Team comprises Clinical Directors from each of Herefordshire’s five PCNs, members of the Taurus Executive team, Herefordshire’s GP Federation Leader, the Local Medical Committee’s Secretary and the Director of Primary Care from Herefordshire and Worcestershire’s Clinical Commissioning Group. Its role is to support General Practice sustainability and resilience and to provide coordinated leadership and the voice of General Practice at Place and ICS level.

  • Worked extensively with partners across the system to plan and deliver the covid booster vaccination programme, including mobile units to take vaccinations to 'harder to reach' communities.

  • Flexible Workforce Pool launched, offering support and providing extra resilience to Herefordshire General Practice.

  • Piloted Herefordshire Remote Health Service, offering daytime telephone or video support to patients who feel their care can be managed remotely and which doesn't require their usual practice team. 

  • Successfully bid to continue to manage the Herefordshire & Worcestershire Training Hub contract for another five years.

  • Launched the new 'Herefordshire General Practice' website providing a wide range of useful information for patient and clinical audiences.

2022
  • Launched Herefordshire Remote Health Service, available to patients who feel their concern can be managed over the phone. An average of 750 urgent appointments are now offered every week.
  • Expanded the Enhanced Access (evening and weekend appointments) offer from 6 to 8 hubs across the county: Hereford City, Ledbury, Ross-on-Wye, Bromyard, Kington, Leominster, Weobley and Much Birch.
  • Continued to deliver Covid vaccinations across the county - in all weathers and in locations from market towns, to supermarket car parks and community centres..
  • Winner of the Regional Parliamentary Award for Health Inequalities (part of a Herefordshire and Worcestershire team).
  • Continued to strengthen and coordinate the voice of Herefordshire General Practice through the GP Leadership Team and represented General Practice in our Integrated Care System.
  • Celebrated our 10th Anniversary in April 2022. 
2023
  • Herefordshire Remote Health expanded to support all practices, providing additional capacity to meet patient demand and improve access to care.
  • First 'All Practice' event attended by representatives from each of Herefordshire's 19 GP surgeries.
  • Spring and autumn covid vaccination delivery programmes undertaken to support Herefordshire General Practice.
  • New workforce service developed, bringing together a range of professional skills into a single service to support workforce development and portfolio working.
  • Development of a new video with Wye Valley NHS Trust to support improved working across primary and secondary care. Now used as part of the induction programme for all new doctors joining the hospital. 
  • Expansion of virtual GP service with Wye Valley NHS Trust Community Integrated Response Hub to include face to face GP.
  • Relaunch of Herefordshire General Practice nurses' forum.
  • New model of working for Herefordshire General Practice approved. New Non-executive Directors appointed to bring a range of new skills and experience to Herefordshire General Practice. 
  • Launch of Herefordshire General Practice Practice Manager forum.
  • New Talk Wellbeing service launched targeting under-served communities in the county. 
  • Primary Care Analytics established as a subsidiary business of Taurus Healthcare Ltd.

Our Board

You can meet our Board Members here.

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