Broadmead Medical Centre gets extra space and new doctors!

When first commissioned in 2009, BMC was designed for a list growing to 6000 registered patients. In 2013 it was obvious we were growing beyond this so we asked Boots for more space. It has taken 2 years of negotiations but finally we have the much needed extra rooms. BMC now has circa 7,500 patients on the list and with the new student year, 30 more a week joining – so this has come just in time!

Originally, BMC had 4 consulting rooms, 2 nursing treatment rooms and associated administration spaces. Then the Walk-in service moved from Citygate three years ago resulting in BMC receiving 3 extra treatment rooms. Now we have an extra 2 consulting rooms and 2 more admin rooms.

This extra space now provides the capacity for growing the list further and so additional doctors have been recruited. We welcome Drs David Munson, Hannah Amin and Will Kenny-Levick to the team.

At the same time as providing face to face consultations BMC is piloting internet-based consultations known as e-Consulting through webGP. The new doctors’ room provides additional terminals outside the consulting space for this virtual access to GPs. Registered patients can go on-line and follow a questionnaire which rules out emergency problems then they leave their enquiry. This is picked up from the website by BMC staff and the GPs manage it from there on.

Meanwhile, Amanda Murray as Practice Nurse Lead and her team are still going out to the local homeless hostels like The Foyer to encourage their residents to register with BMC as part of our Outreach programme. The new consulting rooms and doctors at BMC means we can continue growing our service to these vulnerable patients, and hopefully encourage them to access appropriate urgent care services.