MP ‘pleased’ with progress at troubled Stotfold and Arlesey GP practice

North Bedfordshire MP Richard Fuller said he was pleased with the progress a GP surgery had made after a troubled few months.

The Larksfield and Arlesey Medical Partnership has recruited three new GPs and a nurse practitioner in the past few weeks.

Mr Fuller said he had meetings with the practice earlier this year after he had been contacted by a number of concerned residents in Stotfold and Arlesey about the availability of primary care in the area.

The surgery had also attracted national attention after it was revealed that just 36% of the patients who responded to the 2023 GP patient survey rated the practice as good. Meanwhile, just 5% said they found it easy to get through to the practice by phone and 12% describe their experience of making an appointment as good.

However, 77% said the healthcare professional they saw or spoke to was good at treating them with care and concern during their last appointment and 89% said they had confidence in the healthcare professional they saw and felt their needs were met during the appointment.

Mr Fuller met with the surgery again last week to discuss its progress.

The surgery has now recruited new staff and rolled out its new online triage service last month, which dealt with more than 2,500 patient enquiries in its first two weeks. The surgery now has seven GPs (equivalent to five full time GPs) as well as a number of other clinical staff such as paramedics and nurses.

The new patient triage being used for online consultation means if patients have a non urgent admin or medical query, they can contact the practice online at its sites at Arlesey Road in Stotfold or The High Street in Arlesey.

Following the meeting, Mr Fuller said: “It was good to hear more about the expansion of the clinical team at Larksfield. The addition of new GPs and other clinical staff, combined with the successful roll-out of the online tri-age system is making a difference to the delivery of primary care services in Stotfold and Arlesey.

“After a difficult few months, I was pleased to learn more about these developments and to see the progress being made.”