Halifax branch of Boots to host GP surgery in bid to improve access
GP services are to be located in a Boots store in Halifax town centre in a bid to improve access to healthcare services for local residents. The new surgery, which will be a branch of an existing NHS medical centre, has been given the go-ahead by Boots and Calderdale Primary Care Trust.
From April, patients of Spring Hall Medical Centre will be offered a choice of locations when they ring to book an appointment. The branch surgery will offer two GP clinics a day on Monday to Friday, as well as one clinic on Saturday morning. Patients will also be able to collect repeat prescriptions from the branch surgery.
Last year a Boots store in Poole became the first of the group’s pharmacies to house GP services (PJ, 27 January 2007, p101). The arrangement in Halifax is similar — the GP surgery will lease floor space from Boots, and the pharmacy will not be involved with its day-to-day running. A spokeswoman for Boots said that the company expects close working relationships to develop between the Boots pharmacists and the surgery GPs to ensure that patients receive a high level of
care.
Rob Webster, chief executive of the PCT, said that the move was a direct result of feedback from patients to the practice. “It is a good example of how services are being developed to better meet the needs of local people as we aim to improve health and improve lives.”
Boots managing director Alex Gourlay commented: “The pharmacy is more than just a place to pick up prescriptions, and we hope that this development will help demonstrate the increasing role that pharmacy can play in people’s lives.”
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