When you come to our surgery, you may not be seen by a GP, but one of our other healthcare professionals. Below is a list of those who you may receive treatment from.
Personalised care
This means patients have control and choice when it comes to the way their care is planned and delivered, considering individual needs, preferences, and circumstances. There are currently three roles that deliver personalised care: care coordinators, health and wellbeing coaches, and social prescribing link workers.
Clinical pharmacists work in primary care and clinically assess and treat patients using their expert knowledge of medicines.
First contact practitioner physiotherapists can assess, diagnose, treat, and manage musculoskeletal problems and undifferentiated conditions. Where appropriate, they are also able to discharge a person without a medical referral. First contact practitioner physiotherapists working in this role can be accessed directly by patients, or via referral from other members of staff.
Occupational therapists support people of all ages with problems resulting from physical, mental, social, or developmental difficulties.
Paramedics in primary care can provide a rapid response to deteriorating patients and patients with long-term conditions, minor injuries, and minor illness. They can also support patients who require wound care, have fallen, have musculoskeletal problems, and have urinary tract or respiratory infections.
Podiatrists have been trained to diagnose and treat foot and lower limb conditions. They provide assessment, evaluation, and foot care for a wide range of patients, which range from low risk to long-term acute conditions.
Dietitians diagnose and treat diet and nutritional problems, both at an individual patient and wider public health level. Working in a variety of settings with patients of all ages, dietitians support changes to food intake to address diabetes, food allergies, coeliac disease, and metabolic diseases.
Advanced practitioners can be nurses, pharmacists, paramedics, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, dieticians, or podiatrists.ursing associates deliver hands-on, person-centred care as part of the nursing team and support registered nurses to focus on the more complex clinical care. Nursing associate roles include performing and recording clinical observations (for example, blood pressure, temperature, respirations, and pulse), and performing clinical health checks.
Mental health practitioners support adults whose needs cannot be met by local talking therapies, but who may not need ongoing care from secondary mental health services.
Physician associates are healthcare professionals, with a generalist clinical education, who work alongside GPs to provide care as part of the multidisciplinary team. They provide care for the presenting patient from initial history taking and clinical assessment through to diagnosis, treatment, and evaluation.
General practice assistants deliver a combination of routine administrative tasks and some basic clinical duties in the general practice setting.
