Burnham-On-Sea Medical Centre has this week formally integrated with Symphony Healthcare Services amid ongoing work to improve its services.
It comes after the centre in Burnham’s Love Lane was placed in special measures in November following an inspection by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) when “significant concerns” were identified relating to patient safety, leadership and governance.
Since last August’s inspection, Symphony Healthcare Services has been helping to run the centre, which was near to closing down.
Symphony Healthcare Services currently operates and supports 16 GP surgeries across 20 locations in Somerset and Devon to provide primary care.
Talking to Burnham-On-Sea.com this week, the centre’s Dr Harvey Sampson said: “The centre’s formal integration with Symphony Healthcare has been completed at the start of April and this will bring various benefits to patients.”
“We are now able to take advantage of sharing expertise from across the wider organisation; sharing good practice; tapping into broader knowledge; introducing closer links with Highbridge Medical Centre who are also part of Symphony; and bringing stability.”
He adds: “Under Symphony, the centre is managed by a new clinical lead. There is also good work underway with recruitment to bring in new GPs.”
“A new online platform for patients called ‘Ask My GP’, will also be coming over the next few weeks.”
