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With approximately 10,000 patients, the current six medical
partners (two full time and two part time) have previously used a
personal list system designed to provide maximum continuity of
care. However, moving with the times and acknowledging skill mix
and patient choice, the practice has in recent years encouraged
patients to see the doctor of their choice or to see the clinician
with appropriate skills for their problem. Surgeries are by
appointment and telephone consultations are an established part
the way the practice works. The practice provides patient care to
residents of St Ives and a number of surrounding villages with the
village population representing approximately one third of the
total patient complement.

The practice is accommodated in its own purpose built
premises, which over the years have been extended and adapted to
suit the changing needs of the practice patients and the extensive
range of services offered.
The practice team, headed by the Managing Partner Debra
Wheatley, consists of
a full range of reception and administrative staff and a full
complement of nursing and clinical staff.
The practice is committed to regular meetings, which it
believes provides the necessary foundation for effective planning,
teamwork and ongoing practice development.
History
The practice was founded by John Oubridge in 1969 during boom
development of St Ives. This grew so rapidly that John took a
partner Michael Hart in 1970. The first phase of the existing
surgery was built and opened in June 1971.
John and Michael were joined by George Smerdon in 1973 and by
Rosemary Lane in 1982. In 1984 Michael left to start a private
homeopathy and acupuncture practice from his home in Houghton, and
was replaced by Dennis Cox who left at the end of 2007 to continue
his managerial role at the Cambridgeshire PCT. Jessica Bray joined
us in 1992.
The Spinney has been a teaching practice since 1978, and became
a Fundholding Practice in 1993. Having previously been part of an
out-of-hours rota with other practices in St Ives, The Spinney
joined the co-operative HuntsDoc when it began in July 1995.
Sean Culloty joined the practice in
April 1998 after John Oubridge retired. Sean is an active member
of the Local Medical Committee.
From April 1st 1999, the practice became part of the
Huntingdonshire Primary Care Group (PCG). This has now become a
Trust and covers the 25 practices of old Huntingdonshire with a
population of 145,000. George Smerdon and
Debra Wheatley were on
the steering group for the PCG until the formal elections when
George became a board member. He was Clinical Governance Lead and
also responsible for negotiating secondary care prescribing issues
with the Trust.
Unfortunately Jessica had to leave at Easter 1999 when her
husband was appointed to a consultant post at Norfolk & Norwich
Hospital. The Spinney Team however were delighted to appoint
Mark Sanderson, a Huntingdon
Vocational Training Scheme Registrar with Public Health
experience, as her successor in October 1999. Mark is now a
trainer and Chairman of HuntsComm, the local practice based
commissioning consortium for Huntingdonshire. We invited
Clare Henderson to join the
Partnership in October 2000, having spent the previous year as a
GP Retainer in the practice. In April 1999,
Debra Wheatley, the Practice
Manager was invited to join the partnership as Managing Partner.
In 2003, we were subsequently joined by
Janie Anderson as a salaried
doctor who is an honorary senior lecturer at University of East
Anglia and also a trainer.
March 2008 saw George Smerdon retire from general practice to
spend more time with his family and persuing his hobbies and
interests. We were lucky to attract three super new GPs to take up
positions at the Surgery. In March 2008 Dr. Deborah Gilbert joined
us having trained in Cambridge. In July 2008, Dr. Andrew Borman
finished his year as a registrar with us, and joined the team
permanently on the 1st August. Dr. Amit
Sethi had been training at the Acorn Surgery in Huntingdon and
joined our team on 1st August also. They join
Janie Anderson as Associate GPs.
Location: St Ives, Cambridgeshire
St Ives is a delightful place in which to live and work. It is
a typical small market town but is remarkable for a number of
features: its quaint riverside setting with ancient bridge and
chapel, its most attractive traditional market square with 'local
man' Oliver Cromwell’s statue taking pride of place and its
proximity to the University City of Cambridge. Rail links from
Huntingdon will get you almost anywhere. London in an hour,
Edinburgh in four and so close to motorways that Birmingham is
under two hours away.
St Ives has an excellent range of local facilities including
shops, both outdoor and indoor sports complexes catering for most
sports, churches and schools - particularly infant and junior. St
Ives also has an excellent Community Comprehensive school - St Ivo.
There are others in Huntingdon (Hinchingbrooke and St Peter's) and
Ramsey (Ramsey Abbey). There are also a number of independent
schools nearby in Cambridge, Kimbolton, Ely, Peterborough and
Bedford.
Local Trusts
The area is well provided for in terms of hospitals.
Hinchingbrooke Healthcare NHS Trust is about 7 miles away and
provides a full range of services including community services.
85% of referrals go to this hospital. Referrals are also made to
Addenbrookes, Peterborough and Bedford Hospitals with tertiary referrals
being made to Addenbrookes and
Papworth. The practice is
now within the area of Cambridgeshire Primary Care Trust.
I.T. & Systems
The Practice is extensively computerised with the In Practice
system (Vision) for all clinical requirements and of course the usual
plethora of other software and hardware now deemed necessary to
efficiently run a complex medical practice.
The Surgery is an “early adopter” of the latest “Choose and Book”
initiative which will enable hospital appointments to be made on
line or by telephone directly with the Hospital for certain
specialities.
Clinically we use the computer for:
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All prescribing and repeat prescribing of
medication.
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Dispensing of medication.
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Pathology results.
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Summaries.
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Smear and immunisation data.
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Health promotion data.
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Registration, items of service and links.
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Generating reports essential for audit of
all types.
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Appointments system.
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Referral letters and communications with
other organisations.
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Choose and Book.
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Docman - document management system.
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