Introducing Symphony Healthcare Services
**Extreme weather update – 2 March 2018
We are working hard across our practices to continue providing healthcare services as much as possible. The majority of our practices are open to provide medical advice and treatment for patient’s who have urgent medical needs today.
If you do not have an urgent medical need, please contact your registered GP practice next week. It is likely that demand will be very high on Monday, so please be patient when contacting your practice.
Individual updates will be added to each practice website, if you are unsure please call your practice. If you need medical advice or support outside of opening hours please call NHS111 in the first instance.
In April 2016, we launched a brand new NHS healthcare organisation; Symphony Healthcare Services – through a unique partnership between Yeovil Hospital and GP practices in south Somerset. The purpose of this organisation is to provide ‘the right care in the right place’ for patients and to support primary care to be able to provide a sustainable way of providing high quality healthcare services both now and into the future.
South Somerset is experiencing the same challenges as much of primary care across the country, with GPs struggling to deal with increasing workloads, as well as rising numbers of GPs eligible for retirement and difficulties in filling GP training positions. Patient demand continues to grow, along with rising patient list sizes for practices and the number of patients who have increasingly complex long-term health conditions.
“Working together to deliver seamless patient centred care, to enable people to live healthy and independent lives”
Symphony Healthcare Services is managed by a team of experienced NHS managers and healthcare practitioners, lead by Managing Director, Mandy Seymour-Hanbury.
Our aim is simple – to put patients first and provide high quality, effective healthcare services to our integrated practices. We are rebuilding a healthcare system which meets the needs of today’s patients, providing them with the care and support they want and need to live healthy, independent lives.
Yeovil Health Centre, The Ilchester Surgery and Buttercross Health Centre in Somerton, joined with us in April 2016, followed by Highbridge Medical Centre, becoming our fourth practice in April 2017. Since then, Oaklands Surgery, St Lukes & Greenswood Medical Centre and Crewkerne Health Centre have also joined with Symphony Healthcare Services.
Being part of a larger organisation means we can give additional support to practices in recruiting GPs and more diverse healthcare teams, as well as back office functions such as administration and IT to help the day to day running of practices.
We are working hard to recruit and extend existing healthcare teams, as well as introducing new ways of offering healthcare services – through new models of care. This means changing the way that our patients can access the care they need and offering appointments with additional healthcare practitioners and specialists in addition to GPs – matching patient needs with the right healthcare professional.
Patients will see improvements in the way healthcare professionals and services work together to meet their needs. There will be less duplication of appointments and information, fewer delays in getting the right care, and more proactive, preventative services. Those with multiple conditions can receive extra care and support to help them manage their health, remain independent and enjoy quality of life.
As an NHS healthcare provider, we are funded in the same way as any other primary care organisation and are required to meet the same high standards for patient care, safety and quality.
Our SHS philosophy is centred around;
- Ensuring a stable and sustainable primary care service
- Encouraging innovation
- Putting patients and their care at the heart of the service
- Developing and implementing new models of care
- Promoting integration of all health and social care services
If you are a GP or healthcare practitioner – find out what recruitment opportunities are currently available in Symphony Healthcare Services by visiting our jobs page.
As part of Symphony Healthcare Services, our aim is to make a difference to both our patients and staff who work for us. We want to ensure that we can provide a sustainable and high quality health service for our communities now and in future years to come. Find out more about our ethos by reading our SHS Charter: shs-charter-22-09-16