G.P. Registrar
For many years we have been employing GP Registrars.
Our list is more or less static around 6500. If anything it is edging up. The practice is truly rural with there being no large centre of population. We cover an area of at least 250 square miles. Although half of this is in Worcestershire, only one third of our patients live in this county but they tend to be patients over retirement age. We have a good mix of social classes on our list with middle class patients predominating. Less and less are involved in agriculture but smallholdings, stud farming, horticulture and optical enterprises still employ a significant number of our patients. There is no heavy industry in the area. Most people commute to light engineering jobs in Gloucester or Cheltenham or work in the booming computer, commercial and banking world there. More again work at GCHQ or the Land Registry in Gloucester. There is a large fruit factory in Ledbury and RSRE in Malvern is a big employer. There is a large agricultural college specializing in equine studies at Hartpury. Approximately 900 are residents and therefore patients of the practice.
We send the majority of our patients to Gloucestershire Royal Infirmary but also use Cheltenham General Hospital, often through Tewkesbury Hospital. We rarely use Hereford and Worcester Hospitals. Because of our geographical situation we do not deliberately become involve in intrapartum obstetrics but there seems to be a small, growing pressure for home deliveries.
We are an established teaching practice and have been taking trainee GPs since 1979. We like to have a trainee in post throughout the year as we believe it improves the quality of care we deliver.
Registrars are seen very much as a part of the practice team and are accepted very well by staff and patients alike. At the same time however the practice is not dependent on a registrar and functions very well independently of a registrar. Holidays and time out are therefore not seen as a problem to the general day-to-day working.
All our surgeries are now by appointment only and the majority of our patients are seen in the morning. However, the surgery is busy all day with preventative health checks, meetings and clinic-based services and we offer 8 booked appointments in the late afternoon as well as an emergencies only evening surgery.
Ours is a dispensing practice and 98% of patients choose to receive their medicines from us. We have a practice formulary. Age/Sex and Disease Registers are now fully computerized. The computer we use primarily for prescribing and dispensing and for generating the statistics and statistical returns required by the health authority. We have all the usual medical equipment one expects to find in a modern practice plus probably more resuscitation equipment including a defibrillator, than one might expect to see. There is adequate space in the building and the working atmosphere pleasant.
With effect from January 2005 the out-of-hours service will be provided by the Gloucestershire Primary Care Trust.
You will find your time at Staunton a rewarding, personal educational experience. We believe we have a lot to offer you and look forward to sharing our views of GP with you and helping you equip yourself for the real world of GP in the 21st century.
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