That is correct - if plans go ahead the six practices would relocate to the hub and would work alongside other health and wellbeing services.

Each practice has its own reason for wanting to relocate to the hub, but the main issues are around lack of space to expand, facilities that are no longer fit for purpose for their patients, as well as rent and maintenance charges from private landlords.

The six practices would retain their independence and their identity within the hub and as such would continue to look after the patients registered within their practice. Patients can also see the same GP should they wish.

At present, Mytton Oak surgery has expressed their desire to extend their services into the hub to support their current patients. This will not include the GPs moving to the hub.

We believe the hub would support the health and wellbeing of our residents in addition to treating illness. We also believe the hub would free up our GPs time to concentrate on patient care rather than the maintenance of their practice buildings.

The benefits of co-location would also include healthcare professionals being able to work multi-disciplinary teams, learning from each other and offering more joined-up, holistic care to patients, as well as a nicer place to work and visit for our workforce, patients and the local community.

The catchment area for the hub will encompass the catchment areas presently occupied by the GP practices involved in the programme. Residents will be able to choose which practice they wish to be registered at.

Six practices have chosen to move fully into the Health and Wellbeing Hub and others have chosen only to move certain services into the hub.

The practices that continue their involvement in the Shrewsbury Health and Wellbeing Hub project are:

• The Beeches Medical Practice
• Belvidere Medical Practice
• Claremont Bank Surgery
• Marden Medical Practice
• Marysville Medical Practice
• South Hermitage Surgery

Mytton Oak Surgery and Radbrook Green Surgery remain involved in the project and may wish to deliver some of their services from the hub.

This doesn’t mean that your practice is going to close - even if it has decided to offer all its services from the hub. It just means that its services will be available from a different building, along with a wider range of services.

Based on the feedback we received through our first phase of engagement in September 2021 with the public and practice staff, and by looking at which services patients use most and are likely to need in the future, we continue to develop our proposals about which services might be included in the new hub.

Dorrington Surgery will remain as it is because it is not facing issues like its sister practice at The Beeches. Dorrington can therefore continue to provide its services effectively and safely to its patients and does not need to consider moving to the hub.

This funding cannot be used to extend and enhance current GP buildings. The national funding is solely available for the development of an integrated hub providing joined-up health and social care along with voluntary and community groups. This investment has been made available by NHS England and NHS Improvement because of the pressures faced in General Practice both nationally and locally, as outlined in the Case for Change document which can found on our website at: www.shropshiretelfordandwrekin.nhs.uk/get-involved/current-conversations/shrewsbury-health-and-wellbeing-hub/

The proposed hub would bring multiple services under one roof and the size and scale of this would be too large to extend an existing practice building. There is currently no alternative source of funding available to the Integrated Care Board (ICB) to significantly extend or rebuild current practice buildings.

No, GP practices are not being forced to move into the hub. All GP practices are independent businesses who can decide individually where they deliver their services from. The opportunity to deliver services from the hub was offered to all eight of the practices that operate in the south of Shrewsbury. Six of those practices have taken the decision to move to the hub to overcome issues that they are experiencing at their existing locations. The GP practices can choose whether to move fully into the hub, offer extended services within the hub, or not to be part of the programme in any way, it is entirely up to them. Six GP practices have taken the decision themselves to move fully into the proposed hub and two have chosen to offer extended services.

Please see the following questions for further information about the practices moving fully into the hub and those extending services:

Does this mean that my GP practice is going to close?

Would GPs at Mytton Oak be moving to the hub