APMS Caretaking Services for Ivel Medical Centre, Biggleswade

Ivel Medical Centre is situated in the pleasant market town of Biggleswade in Central Bedfordshire. Following the Covid pandemic, the practice has experienced challenges relating to access, patient demand and expectation which has led to some negative publicity<br/>in the local area about the practice and in part has impacted on recruitment and retention, particularly of GPs. The main issues have related to concerns about access, patients not being able to book appointments in person at the practice, the telephone system, and staff turnover. No concerns have been raised about the quality of patient clinical care.<br/><br/>The caretaker provider will need to demonstrate how they will ensure adequate clinical staffing is in place to meet the needs of the practice population and have a clear plan for how they will address the individual operational concerns, listed above, as well as positively promote the practice in the local area. Bidders will be required to demonstrate how they will deal with and overcome the issues in their responses to the technical questions published with this tender pack.<br/><br/>Given the issues listed above and the urgent need to stabilise the services provided at Ivel Medical Centre, the ICB has decided the most appropriate way to achieve this aim is to offer the caretaking services only to current GMS or APMS providers who are already delivering primary medical care services in the BLMK area as they will already be familiar with the local systems, pathways, processes, and have established links with local system stakeholders.<br/><br/>The caretaker provider will need to use their knowledge of delivery of primary care medical services within BLMK to mobilise quickly and bring stability to the practice’s staff and patients while building resilience and providing reassurance to the local community. This will enable the ICB to ensure a safe and sustainable GP service is delivered while they work with local system partners to develop, consider and implement longer term plans for meeting the ongoing general practice needs of patients.