There are lots of different kinds of healthcare professionals working in our Health Centre, besides your GP. They each have distinct roles and specialist skills.
When you contact the Health Centre, you will be offered an appointment with the person who is best placed to help your needs.
Medicines Management Team
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.
Pharmacy Technicians
Pharmacy Technicians complement the work of clinical pharmacists within the primary care settings by applying their acquired pharmaceutical knowledge in tasks such as medicines reconciliation, audits, prescription management support, medication reviews, new patient reviews, medication change post hospital discharge or referral.
First Contact Physiotherapists
First Contact Physiotherapists
Low back and neck pain are the greatest cause of years lost to disability in the UK, with chronic joint pain or osteoarthritis affecting more than 8.75 million people. In addition, musculoskeletal conditions also account for 30% of all GP appointments.
First Contact Physiotherapists can help patients with musculoskeletal issues such as back, neck and joint pain by:
- assessing and diagnosing issues;
- giving expert advice on how best to manage their conditions;
- referring them onto specialist services if necessary.
By making it easier for patients to access physiotherapist, patients will have quicker access to diagnosis and treatment, helping them to manage their conditions more effectively and recover faster, so they can get back to normal life quickly. They will help GPs to manage their workload more effectively, and reduce the need for onward referrals.
Social Prescribing Link Worker
Social Prescribing Link Worker
Social prescribing link workers focus on non-clinical needs, helping 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.
Primary Care Mental Health Team
Primary Care Mental Health Team
Our Mental Health team are all trained nurses who specialise in mental health. They act as bridge between primary care and secondary mental health services and can offer local Talking Therapies as well as make in depth assessments to facilitate onward referral to a range of services to meet patients’ needs.
Nursing Associate
Nursing Associate
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.
Digital and Transformation Lead
Digital and Transformation Lead
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 the health centre staff to work more effectively and improves the sustainability of general practice services.
Our Digital and Transformation Lead helps us to develop strategic plans to optimise the use of clinical systems and build a robust digital infrastructure for our health centre 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.
They support the adoption of national and local initiatives, including integrated working at neighbourhood and place level to improve access to services for patients.