Update on the Future of Windemere and Bowness Medical Practice

The Morecambe Bay Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) Primary Care Commissioning Committee in October 2020 approved a decision to undertake a procurement exercise with the aim of identifying a new provider for the Windermere & Bowness practice based at Goodly Dale as the current contract holder had given Its six month notice to end the contract which takes effect on 31^st March 2021. The CCG completed the procurement exercise and whilst there was interest from a number of experienced bidders the contract could not be awarded as the overall quality threshold criteria set for the procurement had not been met by any bidder.

The CCG remain committed to ensuring the continued high quality provision of general medical services for the population of Windermere and Bowness and the CCG Primary Care team have engaged extensively with the local Primary Care Network (PCN) and local practices/providers in relation to this outcome to identify opportunities to secure a firm future for the practice going forwards.

On Monday 15^th February the Primary Care Commissioning Committee reconsidered options for the future of the service and have approved a six month interim or ‘caretaking’ contract with Cumbria Health on Call (CHoC) who are a local Cumbria based social enterprise organisation who deliver a range of services to support patients. CHoC are knowledgeable of the local area, having provided services for over 20 years across Cumbria and are experienced in the delivery of primary medical services, including Out of Hours provision, Extended Access, Glenridding GP Practice and many daytime services. CHoC are rated outstanding by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). We are pleased that CHoC are able to mobilise services to support the patients of Windermere and Bowness Practice from 1^st April 2021.

CHoC Chief Executive Susan Blakemore says, “we are delighted to have this opportunity to provide care for the practice population of Windermere Health Centre and look forward to working alongside our partners who are also providing a range of clinical services”.

The six months caretaking period will allow the CCG time to reassess and implement a second procurement process, which with the learning and assistance from recent bidders and the local PCN, has given us confidence that we have a greater opportunity for identifying a long term solution for the patients of Windermere & Bowness.

We would like to thank the current provider, OneMedical Group, for its continued assistance during this time in ensuring a smooth transition, and to also reassure patients that there will be minimal impact on both services and staff who will be transferred over to CHoC from 1^st April 2021.

We will be writing to all registered patients to confirm that they do not need to take any action they will continue to receive care at the Goodly Dale site with no changes to patient care delivery from the 1^st April 2021 from CHoC who will have full access to their medical records