Meet Rachel, who’s been a GP for 22 years in the West of Newcastle at a practice that looks after nearly 10,000 patients including in their homes, at two care homes, & a rehab home.
“The thing I love most is continuity of care. I get to know patients and their families, get to know their lives, and I also get to know challenges of the local area and the community. So many people need an advocate as well as healthcare, and if I can be that person then I will be.
I love being a GP and every day I love my job. I’m really grateful for that.”
We filmed Rachel on a day in July 2023, and during the film we see her treat a number of patients at both Holmside practices and carrying out a home visit. 290 calls were taken the day of the film (this is around 50% of a typical day in winter) with 175 appointments fulfilled.
Rachel’s days are varied, and she sees people with a range of needs including mental health issues, musculoskeletal problems, long term illnesses like diabetes, COPD and heart disease, patients wanting support with women’s health, LARC and the menopause, and other conditions such as dementia. In addition, she is a GP trainer, teaching and supervising the next generation of GPs. She both supports doctors on placement at her practice, and trains established GPs to be GP trainers. Rachel also supports the practice team with HR and IT issues and deals with enquiries from district nurses, community pharmacists and social services.
Holmside Medical Group has two practice buildings: Chapel House in Hillhead Parkway and Armstrong Road in Benwell. They have 9,660 patients split between the two sites. The practice also looks after people in their homes – they have a high housebound population – at two care homes, a rehab home and bail hostels in the city.
The practice has 37 employed staff including GPs, a nursing team, health care assistants, a pharmacist, care coordinators, an admin and management team, reception staff, and mental health link workers. There are also additional staff not employed directly by the practice including a physio, mental health practitioners, pharmacy tech, and midwives.
There are differing support needs of patients across both sites. There are a high number of elderly patients, a Roma population and a number of Polish/Czech/Romanian/Slovak speakers: a third of patients at Armstrong Road require an interpreter.