There are 6 practices in the Stort Valley and Villages locality, covering the areas of Sawbridgeworth, Bishop's Stortford and Much Hadham.  They provide care for a population of around 60,000.

Who's who

Dr Sarah Dixon Locality Co-Chair Stort Valley and Villages GP at South Street Surgery, Bishop's Stortford

During 2015/16, the six practices in the Stort Valley and Villages locality participated in and led a number of projects to improve the health and wellbeing of their patients including:

Rapid response 
In December 2015 a ‘rapid response’ service was set up within the integrated community team, to help prevent people being admitted to hospital. Over the last six months the service has had more than 90 referrals and has kept three quarters of those patients out of hospital.

In 2016/17 the team has also evolved to incorporate a case management function, which supports both an individual’s physical and mental health needs, with community psychiatric nurses, social workers and specialist support workers forming a key part of the team looking at the mental wellbeing of those with long term conditions. Since April the team has received 132 referrals. 

‘Forever Active’ 
Supported by funding from the locality, East Herts Council runs classes throughout its area for inactive people aged 50 to 75.   At least 350 people a week attend one of the classes taking place in village halls, sports clubs and churches close to their homes. These range from the well-known – exercise to music, yoga, bowls – to newer ones such as tai chi and nordic walking. By December 2016 more than 11,000 class places had been taken up.  

Community engagement 
In November, on World COPD Day, the pulmonary rehab and community respiratory services joined patient and voluntary groups to raise awareness of the help available for people with breathing difficulties. Lung function tests were carried out which resulted in several of these being advised to see their GP for follow up. Five patients also signed up to pulmonary rehab exercise classes and are now seeing their health improve through taking part in the sessions. Members of the public who attended this event were also able to find out more about the ‘My Care Record’ project and learn about how the health service is tackling the growing problem of antibiotic resistance.

Working together in a federation 
‘Stort Valley Healthcare’, the federation for Stort Valley and Villages practices, continues to thrive in spite of practice pressures. Practices worked together to provide additional appointments for patients in the locality throughout the winter months to help manage the increased demand during this busy period. A new website has been developed which now allows for all the practices and practitioners to have their say and influence decision making at the locality board.  An innovative pilot project is taking place to offer testing in practices to see if patients require antibiotics for respiratory tract infections. The federation has also helped develop links with external providers to bring about an improvement in the provision of sexual health services at Herts and Essex Hospital.