GP practice merger to provide patients with access to wider range of services

Patients registered at two GP practices in Bath and North East Somerset will soon have access to a wider range of services as a merger between the surgeries nears completion.

Somerton House Surgery is set to become a branch surgery of nearby St Chads Surgery from Monday 1 April, as part of a planned arrangement brought on by the retirement of an existing GP partner.

Mergers between neighbouring GP practices have become commonplace in recent times, with several having already taken place across the Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire in the last few years alone.

When practices formally come together through a merger process, it enables both clinical and non-clinical teams to share resources and cut duplication, while also creating more choice and availability for patients.

Caron Tremaine-Tucker, Practice Manager at Somerton House Surgery, said: “This new way of working is a positive development for our local area.

“Not only will residents soon be able to receive care and treatment from a wider range of clinical experts, but our teams working at both practices will be able to tap into the knowledge and expertise of their colleagues in a much more streamlined way.

“All of our staff are very much looking forward to this next chapter, and I would like to reassure both sets of patients that the faces they have become familiar with over the years will be continuing in their roles as before.”

While the merger will officially complete on Monday 1 April, teams at both St Chads and Somerton House have been working together behind the scenes on the logistics of the new arrangement for some time.

Many patients have already been informed about the plans as the practices have used their respective newsletters, along with an in-person engagement event, to help spread the news.

The merger will not affect how patients communicate with their registered practice, with people advised to continue contacting their surgery in the usual way.

Although no such plans are currently in place, should contact details for either practice change in the future, patients will be communicated with at the very earliest opportunity.

More information about the merger can be found through the practices’ respective websites, while further details about primary care in general is available at www.bsw.icb.nhs.uk.