Read the Annual Review

At the Taurus Healthcare Annual Review meeting held online on Thursday 20 October, Taurus team members were recognised and thanked for their enormous achievements in the past year.

The evening began with an introduction from Dr Nigel Fraser, Chairman at Taurus and Chair of the Local Medical Committee (LMC). Nigel referred to the “unprecedented demand” that General Practice was under and referred to efforts being undertaken by Herefordshire General Practice, in particular the GP Leadership Team, to ensure a sustainable future for General Practice. He thanked everyone for “going above and beyond in caring for their patients.”

Taurus’ Managing Director, Dr Mike Hearne, highlighted the Federation’s key objective of ensuring the stability of practices. He provided an overview of how Herefordshire General Practice had worked together with its Federation to shape and adapt services. For example, all services are on EMIS to support continuity of care across 24/7 general practice and portfolio and flexible roles are available to staff.

One clinician was quoted as saying:

“We are blessed in Herefordshire to have an excellent service, and special thanks to you and all those who have made the system work.

Whilst another added: 

“I feel supported, I feel valued and appreciated.”

Mike also paid tribute to the HR and Training teams who have supported practices and Taurus staff as they have grown and adapted to the pressures placed upon them.

Dr Lauren Parry, Taurus’ Medical Director, followed with a presentation on Taurus’ Clinical Services. Taurus’ new ‘Herefordshire Remote Health’ (HRH) service, whereby a team of healthcare professionals support by a talented admin team are able to ‘helicopter’ support between practices, was particularly highlighted. This is an innovative service introduced in the past 12 months, which has gone from strength to strength and is expected to grow further. Lauren also presented details of the new Enhanced Access service, which was introduced from 1 October to provide significantly more evening and weekend appointments to patients via nine hubs throughout the county and one in Worcestershire.

Also recognised was the effort of all team members associated with the delivery of the Covid vaccination programme throughout the year. Hundreds of thousands of vaccinations were delivered by Herefordshire General Practice over the past year. As well as all those involved in delivery on the front line, the team was supported by the Covid Administration Hub who managed calls from 8,500 worried patients, in the process significantly relieving pressure on practices.

Nisha Sankey, Director of PCNs at Taurus, highlighted the significant progress being made in recruitment to additional roles (ARRS) within practices. Over the past 12 months she said that these ARRS roles had collectively delivered more than 95,000 appointments to patients across Herefordshire. There are plans for further expansion of ARRS roles, offering greater choice and the most appropriate care and support for patients.

Dr Sion Gibby, GP Partner at Fownhope Surgery and the newest PCN Clinical Director, was asked for his reflections on his new role and membership of the GP Leadership Team. Although Sion admitted to being reticent in picking up the Clinical Director mantle, he said that he had been able to manage his new responsibilities effectively and enjoyed the opportunity to question and debate key issues at the GP Leadership Team meetings. A key challenge he highlighted was the need to bring the whole GP body along with us in the face of the significant changes facing General Practice in the months and years ahead.

A fascinating presentation was made by Sam Beaumont, Safeguarding Care Coordinator at Wargrave, Belmont and Cantilupe (WBC) PCN. Sam provided an outline of how her role was established, the work that she undertakes and her plans for the future. Nisha commented that this really demonstrated the value that ARRS roles could bring to practices, PCNs and patients.

Nisha concluded her presentation with an overview of the community and partnership engagement work undertaken by the PCN teams. She also provided a useful reminder of the aims and objectives of the GP Leadership Team and how it fits within the ICS reporting structure.

Mike brought the evening to an end by highlighting the challenges ahead for General Practice and the importance of Herefordshire General Practice having a voice ‘at the table’ in future discussions.

He then paid tribute to Dr Silvana McCaffrey, GP at Kington Medical Practice and Clinical Director for the North and West PCN. Silvana is shortly to be moving away from Herefordshire and Mike thanked her for her exceptional leadership and drive, particularly during the Covid pandemic. Silvana said that it had been one of the privileges of her life to have had the role; one in which she really felt she could make a positive difference.

Good luck to Silvana – and thank you to everyone who attended our Annual Review meeting and/or who supports Herefordshire General Practice in any way.

If you were unable to attend the Annual Review meeting but would like to watch it, please click here.

Please also take the opportunity to read our Annual Report, which documents the main highlights and achievements of the year just gone and looks forward to the challenges ahead.