Dr Ashish Shah Locality Co-Chair Welwyn and Hatfield GP at Wrafton House Surgery, Hatfield

Vacant Locality Co-Chair Welwyn and Hatfield

During 2016/17, the nine practices in the Welwyn Hatfield locality led a number of projects to improve the health and wellbeing of their patients including:

Winter pressures
The locality committed additional funds to support local practices to provide additional capacity for patients to see or speak to clinicians during the busy winter months.

Improving services for respiratory patients
Practices have been working closely with a respiratory consultant and community respiratory to improve the identification, referral and care of patients with breathing problems in Welwyn Hatfield. One focus is to support those with long term conditions, and put a ‘personal health plan’ in place for those patients.

‘Dealing with Diabetes’ event
In March, the chair of the Welwyn Hatfield patient commissioning group hosted a successful event for people living with Type 2 Diabetes to encourage them to self-care and manage their condition. The locality practices funded this event to help support some of the 4,500 people in Welwyn Hatfield who are living with diabetes.     

Planning for the future of general practice
Recruitment into general practice is a national issue and GPs in the Welwyn Hatfield locality have participated in a training course run by the federation in order to better support GPs in training. Practice nurses have been approved as mentors, and undergraduate nurse placements in local practices have now started.