Rectory Meadow Surgery

• Friendly, supportive and enthusiastic team
• Superb, purpose-built premises
• Stimulating learning environment
• Opportunity to negotiate own learning programme
• Own consulting room
• Committed to excellence

Rectory Meadow is an attractive and spacious red brick and tiled building completed in 1989. It is set amongst the picturesque Chiltern Hills in the market town of Old Amersham. The practice has a list of around 9000 and operates an advanced access appointment system. Development of each team member, a congenial working environment & good team-work are key to this practice's on-going success. Rectory Meadow has been a training practice for 20 years for registrars, PRHOs and now the SHO foundation pilot scheme. We have a wealth of experience across the primary health-care team to give a registrar/SHO the necessary support for an enjoyable and successful training period. The team includes three practice nurses and a treatment room assistant who run a superbly equipped treatment room service for our patients as well as asthma, diabetes and IHD clinics. We work closely with the health visitors, district nurses, midwives, school nurse and Macmillan nurses who are also sited in the building. The CMHT for South Bucks is also based at Rectory Meadow which encourages good liaison. We use the EMIS computer system.

The Team

Dr Bryn Neal is the CPD Tutor for the Wycombe District which involves him in practice and primary care team member professional development. He is interested in psychiatry and is both Section 12 approved and the Mental Health Lead for the Chiltern and South Bucks PCT. Currently Chairman of the Thames Valley Faculty of the RCGP; he also supports an annual management course for GPs and practice managers. Dr Neal is one of three trainers in the practice and shares this responsibility with Drs Sapsford and Carter.

Dr Andy Sapsford is Chairman of the Buckinghamshire LMC which represents GPs' interests at local and national level. Consequently, Andy represents GPs' interests on many committees. As a trainer he has particular responsibility for the 2nd year foundation SHOs in a linked scheme with Wycombe Hospital. He is also a Hospital Practitioner in gastroenterology at Wycombe Hospital.

Dr Vivien Carter will be primarily responsible for registrar training in the practice and will support and coordinate the primary health care team to ensure a successful year. She is a half-time principal and has a particular interest in musculo-skeletal medicine, women's issues and alongside Dr Ferguson provides acupuncture to the practice.

Dr Neta Foote is an enthusiastic champion of appropriate care for the elderly and has been key to the development of a comprehensive one-stop assessment for our patients over 75yrs. She has initiated an exercise class; carers group and is the main liaison between the practice and patient representatives. She has been integral in the formation of the intermediate care programme in Amersham and Chesham.

Dr Muir Ferguson has recently exchanged with an Australian GP in Melbourne for a year. He has been actively involved in the development of a highly skilled team to ensure that patients with coronary heart disease and heart failure receive optimum treatment. He is the clinical governance lead at the surgery and is involved in the PCT prescribing group. Muir has already completed the first stage to approval as a trainer, is Section 12 approved and practises acupuncture.

Dr Stephane Watteeux is our youngest partner and originates from Belgium. He has been responsible for developing the diabetic care services in the practice and currently leads the IT development team. He is also a PCT appraiser and a quality and outcomes assessor. He is also involved with the curriculum planning for practice CPD within the area.

The staff at Rectory Meadow is a friendly, well-established and committed team lead by our practice manager Nikki Rouse. There are three full-time and three part-time secretaries, who book appointments, deal with patient queries, produce prescriptions, type correspondence etc. Four part -time receptionists meet and greet patients, man the switchboard, hand out prescriptions and make nurse appointments. Our computer manager deals with claims and audits related to the new GP contract and we have an efficient team who work tirelessly to ensure that record summarisation is up to date. Our three practice nurses and treatment room assistant are a great asset to the practice and share a wealth of expertise with other team members. The surgery is fortunate to have both a portable and diagnostic 12 lead ECG machine, a defib, 24hr ambulatory BP monitors, a pulse oximeter and an electronic spirometer. The staff make a huge contribution to the success of the practice in terms of the service they give to patients and the support they give to the doctors.

Care for the patients

The practice has traditionally run an individual list system but also has a system of sharing responsibility on a daily basis for various tasks such as home visits, registrar and SHO supervision, background cover etc. The arrangement for out of hours cover for registrars is currently under discussion between Harmoni and the Oxford Deanery. We run a weekly team meeting encompassing significant event analysis, audit, clinical and clinical governance topics and participate in the PCT learning times.

Contact details

Rectory Meadow Surgery
School Lane
Old Amersham
Buckinghamshire
Tel: 01494 727711
Fax: 01494 431790
Web: http://www.rectorymeadowsurgery.co.uk/