Meet the Team

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Definitions

M.B.Ch.B – Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery
M.R.C.G.P – Member, (by examination), of the Royal College of General Practitioners.
D.R.C.O.G – Diploma of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. 
J.C.P.G.T – Joint Committee of Post Graduate Training
M.B.B.S – Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery

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Training Practice

We have been a training practice since 1985 and so often have registrar doctors working at the practice. These are junior doctors whose previous experience has been largely confined to hospitals. They are attached to the practice for 12 months at a time

Practice Management

Linda Sulich – Manager

Charleen Scott – Admin Manager

The practice management team are involved in managing all of the business aspects of the practice, ensuring that the right systems are in place to provide high quality patient care. They are responsible for human resources, finance, patient safety, premises and information technology.

The management team support the GPs and other medical professionals with delivering patient services to the highest degree.

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Administration

The Administration team are responsible for all clerical and secretarial aspects of the surgery. They deal with the post, the referrals and clinical correspondence from secondary care. They also ensure that the patient’s clinical records are correct.

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Reception

Our reception team are our first point of call for our patients: they are responsible for making appointments and making sure the patient is seen by the correct health professional. They liaise with hospital staff, district nurses and a wide range of both our secondary care partners and our community partners. They strive to be professional, polite and helpful at all times.

Community Midwives

Midwives from the Calderdale Royal Hospital are responsible for the care of pregnant women, new mothers and babies up to the age of 14 days. They can be contacted via the Community Midwives Office 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on 01422 224417 or via Valley Medical Centre Monday to Friday 9:00 am until 5:00pm.

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Community Nurses

The District Nursing Team can be contacted via Allen House Clinic, Sowerby Bridge, Monday to Friday 9:00 until 5:00pm on 01422 832063. The out of hours number for the District Nursing Team is 0345 6050206.

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Health Visitors

Health Visitors are attached to the Practice by the Health Authority. The role of the Health Visitor is to assess the health needs of her client and plan, implement and evaluate the care she provides. Health Visitors work primarily within the homes of families who have pre-school children but can also undertake work with other age groups.

The Health Visitors can be contacted on 030 0304 5076.

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School Nurses

We also have school nurses attached to the practice, each covering different schools in the area. They are primarily concerned with the health needs of school aged children. 

The school Nurses can be contacted on 030 0304 5076.

Pennine GP Alliance employ a number of clinicians and healthcare professionals who work across four of the Primary Care Networks (PCNs) in Calderdale. This includes recruitment and induction right through to supporting them in role. We do this to help relieve pressure on GP practices and to provide care to patients across a Primary Care Network Footprint. 

Sometimes referred to as ‘additional roles’ or ‘ARRS’, these highly skilled professionals are embedded within GP practices and local communities, working alongside traditional general practice roles such as a GP, practice nurse, healthcare assistant or phlebotomist. 

AARS, which stands for Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme, is a programme in the UK designed to expand the primary care workforce by introducing additional roles in general practice, therefore enhancing the quality-of-service patients receive and supporting GPs in managing demanding caseloads.

In Calderdale, our four PCNs select the roles that will best support their demographic of patients. Across Calderdale patients could have access to: 

Care coordinators 

Care coordinators can support people to become more active in their own health and care and are skilled in assessing people’s changing needs. They are effective in bringing together multidisciplinary teams to support people’s complex health and care needs and can be an effective intervention in supporting people to stay well, particularly those with long term conditions, multiple long-term conditions, and people living with or at risk of frailty. 

Clinical Pharmacists 

Clinical pharmacists work in primary care in a patient facing role to clinically assess and treat patients using their expert knowledge of medicines. They will be prescribers, or if not, are working to complete an independent prescribing qualification following completion of an approved 18-training pathway or equivalent. They work with and alongside the general practice team, taking responsibility for patients with chronic diseases and undertaking structured medication reviews to proactively manage people with complex polypharmacy, especially for the elderly, people in care homes and those with multiple comorbidities. 

Learn more: NHS England » Clinical pharmacists 

First Contact Practitioner Physiotherapists 

First contact practitioner physiotherapists are qualified autonomous clinical practitioners who can assess, diagnose, treat, and manage musculoskeletal problems and undifferentiated conditions. Where appropriate, they are also able to discharge a person without a medical referral. First contact practitioner physiotherapists working in this role can be accessed directly by patients, or via referral from other members of staff. They can establish a rapid and accurate diagnosis and management plan to streamline pathways of care. 

Learn more: NHS England » First contact physiotherapists 

Health and Wellbeing Coaches 

Health and wellbeing coaches will predominately use health coaching skills to support people to develop the knowledge, skills, and confidence to become active participants in their care so that they can reach their own health and wellbeing goals. They may also provide access to self-management education, peer support and social prescribing. 

Mental Health Practitioners 

Mental health practitioners support adults whose needs cannot be met by local talking therapies, but who may not need ongoing care from secondary mental health services. The practitioner can be taken on by a wide range of clinical and non-clinical roles with mental health expertise, such as a community psychiatric nurse, clinical psychologist, mental health occupational therapist or a peer support worker. 

Nursing Associates 

Nursing associates deliver hands-on, person-centred care as part of the nursing team and support registered nurses to focus on the more complex clinical care. Nursing associate roles include performing and recording clinical observations (for example, blood pressure, temperature, respirations, and pulse), and performing clinical health checks. 

Occupational Therapists  

Occupational therapists support people of all ages with problems resulting from physical, mental, social, or developmental difficulties. Occupational therapists provide interventions that help people find ways to continue with everyday activities that are important to them. This could involve learning new ways to do things or making changes to their environment to make things easier. As patients’ needs are so varied, occupational therapists help GPs to support patients who are frail, with complex needs, live with chronic physical or mental health conditions, manage anxiety or depression, require advice to return or remain in work and need rehabilitation so they can continue with daily activities. 

Pharmacy Technicians  

Pharmacy technicians complement the work of clinical pharmacists, through utilisation of their technical skillset. Their deployment within primary care settings allows the application of their acquired pharmaceutical knowledge in tasks such as medicines reconciliation, audits, prescription management support, and where appropriate, advising patients and other members of the PCN workforce. 

Physician Associates 

Physician associates are healthcare professionals, with a generalist clinical education, who work alongside GPs to provide care as part of the multidisciplinary team. They provide care for the presenting patient from initial history taking and clinical assessment through to diagnosis, treatment, and evaluation. Whilst physician associates currently do not have prescribing rights, they can prepare prescriptions for GPs to sign. 

Paramedics  

A paramedic in primary care can provide a rapid response to deteriorating patients and patients with long-term conditions, minor injuries, and minor illness. They can also support patients who require wound care, have fallen, have musculoskeletal problems, and have urinary tract or respiratory infections. Paramedics can supply a range of medicines through patient group directions, including antibiotics and analgesics. 

Paramedics can support PCNs in responding to on the day demand by offering telephone triage or undertaking home visiting. They can also support PCNs to improve access to care by managing minor ailments and seeing patients in care homes. 

Podiatrists 

Podiatrists have been trained to diagnose and treat foot and lower limb conditions. They provide assessment, evaluation, and foot care for a wide range of patients, which range from low risk to long-term acute conditions. Many patients fall into high-risk categories such as those with diabetes, rheumatism, cerebral palsy, peripheral arterial disease, and peripheral nerve damage. 

Social Prescribing Link Workers  

Social prescribing link workers help people focus on what matters to them as identified in their care and support plan. They connect people to community groups and agencies for practical and emotional support. Link workers typically work with people over six to 12 contacts (including phone calls and meetings) over a three-month period. 

Non-patient facing roles 

We also employ non-patient facing on behalf of Primary Care Networks, who carry out important tasks that support the improvement of patient access and care. 

General Practice Assistant 

General practice assistants deliver a combination of routine administrative tasks and some basic clinical duties in the general practice setting. Their focus is on supporting GPs in their day-to-day management of patients, specifically aimed at reducing the administrative burden and making best use of consultations. Administrative support includes letters, completing forms for GPs to sign, and explaining procedures to patients prior to appointments. Examples of clinical support include referrals, arranging follow up appointments, and conducting simple clinical observations. 

Digital and Transformation Leads 

Digital and transformation leads support increased access to care for patients, through the adoption of new technology and other initiatives to improve the care offer. This enables PCN staff to work more effectively and improves the sustainability of general practice services. Digital and transformation leads can: 

• Develop strategic plans to optimise the use of clinical systems and build a robust digital infrastructure for PCNs working on a range of digital transformation projects such as the use of cloud telephony, digital triage, online signposting, social media, digital wayfinding, promotion of the NHS App. 
• Deliver broader transformation projects to: 

• improve access to care and support the adoption of population health management 
• drive operational efficiency 
• enhance staff experience 

They support the adoption of national and local initiatives, including integrated working at neighbourhood and place level to improve access to services for patients.