Practice History

The practice was founded in the early part of the last century at 22 Grange Road, Hartlepool (Grange House Surgery). It remained in the same family as 1 or a 2-man practice until 1980.

Dr Carter was then appointed to the single man practice at which time it became a training practice. The list size grew and in 1985 our previous partner Dr Holmes became an additional part-time partner. Dr Carter took retirement in 1990 and was replaced by Dr Alison Eaton. During this time the building was extended and upgraded.

In 1991 the practice successfully applied for a single-handed list and Dr Patrick Mc Gowan was appointed as an additional partner . They initially practised from the old premises in Brierton Lane shops. The FHSA required a branch surgery to be maintained and in 1992 Brierton Medical Centre was completed. At the same time the practice became a training practice for GP Registrars once again. We also teach medical students from Newcastle. Dr Eaton is the lead doctor for medical students within our practice. In August 1999 Dr Eaton changed her working hours to part-time due to family commitments and Dr Rachel Roberts joined our practice. In September 2004 we became a 3 partner practice again, but with some additional help from a salaried doctor from Hartlepool Primary Care Trust. Dr Al Mashharawi joined our practice in August 2006 and we are now a 4 partner practice. We also have the additional help from Dr John Sincalir as a salaried GP.

Building work has started on the new Hartlepool Community Health Centre at Park Road and we are looking forward to moving from the Grange Road site March 2010. We will continue also to work from the Brierton premesis. Hartlepool Community Health Centre Plans (pdf).

Early in 1993 there was input from management consultants under the Enterprise Initiative scheme. This led to the production of the first business plan and the continuing process of working towards goals.

In 1994 a patient nominated the practice for the "GP/Good House Keeping" Practice of the Year award. The practice won the Northern region and became eventual runners up in the National competition. In 1997 Margaret Hunt, our previous Practice Manager, was a runner up in the Practice Manager of the Year Competition in "Doctor " magazine. Michelle Martin was appointed as our practice manager in 2004.

In 1995 the practice achieved the "Investors in People" award and became the first practice in Cleveland to do so.

The practice has a keen interest in the development of the use of computers in general practice and has been part of the local pilot scheme for the "NHS net". In 1999 we took part in the "Cogent Project" in the Northern Region which aimed to look at the use of computer assisted guidelines in general practice and was involved in setting up a local Torex GP computer user group in 1999. We changed to Vision 3 clinical medical record system with the introduction of the new GP contract in April 2004 and the practice is a member of the national Vision User's Group (NVUG).

The practice is committed to providing a high standard of medical care in a friendly caring atmosphere. We are  interested in quality and evidence-based medicine and has developed in-house protocols and a regular audit cycle. The practice is also an active member of the local Hartlepool GP Audit Group.

We also are involved in the clinical management of the continuing care unit at Brierton Lodge, run by our local hospital trust.

For two years in 1997-1999 the practice was involved in Community Fundholding, but the change in government policy brought an end to fundholding with the introduction of Primary Care Groups. We did look at the possibility of going into the NHS PMS scheme but in the end decided to remain as a GMS practice. The big challenge in 2007 is trying to deal with practice based commissioning (PBC) and incoming APMS practices.

Dr Eaton obtained the Fellowship By Assessment (FBA) from the Royal College of General Practitioners in 1997 and the diploma in palliative care in 2005. Dr Mc Gowan obtained the Diploma in Advanced General Practice at Newcastle University in November 1998 and also became a GP Trainer in July 2001. Dr Roberts obtained the MRCGP with merit grade,  the Ruth Dunlop award for Cleveland GP Trainee of the year in 1999 and obtained the RCGP certificate in Drug Addiction Treatment in 2002 and diploma in palliative care in 2006. Dr Eaton and our practice nurse Sandra both obtained the diploma in diabetes care in 2004.