AboutUs

This page will introduce you to our practice and the services we offer.

You will find more information about how we provide health care though these links:

The practice team

Doctors' timetable

Nurses' timetable

Where to find our surgeries

The medical services we provide

Medicals and reports

The community nurses and therapists

Local voluntary agencies

Patient surveys

Medical training

Medical records and confidentiality

Freedom of Information Act publication

Practice Leaflet

You can download a copy of the Practice Leaflet here.

Who's Who in the practice

The practice is run by the partners: Drs Ralph Sullivan, Mairi McKirdy, Nick Howlett, Abby Astle and Emma Harding.

We usually have one or more doctors training in the practice. There is more information about medical training here.

We have four practice nurses: Sue Lumb, Meg Disberry, Rachel Clay and Wanda Lewcan They specialise in health education and preventive health care. They are the cornerstone of our management of diabetes, asthma, COPD, hypertension, ischaemic heart and cerebrovascular diseases and offer a variety of other service such as well person checks, cervical cytology, travel, family planning and smoking cessation.

Our practice manager, Shirley Macdonald, runs a very friendly and efficient team which includes two secretaries, a chief dispenser, a senior receptionist and six receptionists, most of whom have special interests such as phlebotomy, IT support or scanning. We also have a business manager, Jonathan Scott. We are fortunate to have a very low turnover of staff.

There is more information about who we are here and a summary of our services here

The Practice Area

We the practice is based in High Bentham with branch surgeries in Ingleton and Wray. We have about 7,750 patients who live in an area extending from Caton and Gressingham inthe west to Ribblehead in the north and Austwick and Eldroth in the east. Around 1,300 (20%) live in Lancashire, the rest live in North Yorkshire.

For a more information about the area click here.

Practice premises

The main practice surgery has occupied the same position on Grasmere Drive in Bentham since 1974. We carried out a £400,000 renovation and extension project in 1993 and have recently completed alterations to create two more consulting rooms and improve the facilities in the reception office . We have a major a branch surgery in Ingleton and hold weekly drop-in surgeries in Wray Village Institute.

We try to make our premises as accessible as possible for people with disabilities but if you have any difficulties please let us know.

For directions to find our surgeries click here.

Patient access

All our surgeries and clinics run by appointment, apart from the weekly drop-in surgery in Wray. If you need an urgent appointment, we will always see you on the same day though if you want to see your preferred doctor or nurse you may have to wait a few days. You can choose whether to see a doctor or a practice nurse. We regularly carry out a thorough review of our surgery arrangements and adjust our appointments to make access to us as rapid and easy as possible.

We run a series of jointly-held doctor and nurse clinics to manage many important long-lasting diseases: coronary artery disease, hypertension, heart failure, strokes and diabetes mellitus. We also run asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and child health clinics.

The practice nurses take the lead in the management of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and deal with most of the minor injuries.

Phlebotomy services are provided by receptionists specially trained to take blood and deal with urine samples.

Click here to learn more about our appointment system.

Our place in the National Health Service

The practice does not work in isolation. We work very closely with local community services provided by the Primary Care Trusts and local hospitals, mainly the Royal Lancaster Infirmary and Westmorland General Hospital

There is more about local NHS and social services here.

Records and computers

We have been computerised since 1989 when we introduced a system from EMIS Ltd, the leading company in the field in the UK. We have adopted new technology as it has become available when it can improve the care that we can offer. We believe that the quality, security and confidentiality of all the medical records that we keep is of paramount importance.

To find out more about how we use your health records and safe guard their security and confidentiality, including information about the NHS Summary Care Record click here.

Suggestions and Complaints

We constantly strive to give you the best possible care and attention. If you have any suggestions or are unhappy about any aspect of our services, please ask to see the Practice Manager. She will be happy to discuss your suggestions or criticisms at the earliest opportunity. S he will investigate all complaints promptly and thoroughly and tell you what conclusion is reached and what action is to be taken. If you are not satisfied with the outcome you can obtain further help from the North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust.

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