The NHS requires me to share this YYGP document with you by 1 October 2025. You can find it here: NHS England
At School Lane we do everything we can to provide the best possible care and support. Since the start of 2025 this has meant taking real steps to strengthen our team and improve the way we work. Some of the changes include
- Recruiting more GPs
- A new Advanced Nurse Practitioner joined the team
- Increasing our Advanced Clinical Practitioner’s hours to full time
- Expanding our nursing team and bringing in another Phlebotomist
- Supporting staff to upskill, including a Health Care Assistant training as a Nursing Associate
- A Clinical Pharmacist gaining independent prescribing rights
- Continuing with the Birthday Month Recall system for patients with long term conditions so annual reviews are easier to plan and more efficient
- Trialling new AI transcription software so clinicians can focus more on you during your consultation
- Improving back-office systems so letters and referrals are processed more quickly
- Returning to the previous appointment system in June after your feedback, to increase GP access
- Expanding nurse appointment availability
- Refurbishing the surgery to make it a more welcoming space
- Communicating more regularly through our website, Facebook, and the Surgery WhatsApp channel
- Introducing a new process to better coordinate blood tests and reduce repeat visits
- Taking on additional rooms at the HLC to increase consulting space
And, with your fantastic support, we raised over £1,800 for the local hospice!
We are not standing still. We are always looking for ways to improve access and make sure patients get the care they need when they need it.
I’ve always tried to be open and honest with you. We are not perfect, but we are doing our absolute best to keep improving. The reality is that even if we filled every available room in the building, including the boiler room, there would still be more demand than capacity. The challenge is balancing safe, high-quality care with the limits of staffing and protecting clinicians from unsafe workloads.
I am sharing this because too often in the media GPs are portrayed as unwilling to adapt or move forward. That may be true in some cases, but it is not true of School Lane. The YYGP charter is not likely to tell you anything new because keeping you updated has been a priority for us and continues to be. That is why we even write a short article in the About Thetford magazine.
There is also often talk about bringing back the family doctor. At School Lane, we never left. That is exactly what we want to provide. The difficulty lies in the scale of demand compared with the workforce available.
In 1994, the population of England was around 48 million. By 2024 it was over 62 million. That is more than 14 million extra people, many living longer with more complex conditions. At the same time, the NHS has fewer GPs. More people and fewer doctors inevitably mean greater pressure.
Despite this, general practice continues to deliver the majority of NHS care. Between July 2024 and June 2025 alone, over 383 million appointments took place in general practice in England.
At School Lane we remain committed to doing everything we can to give you the best possible care with the resources available to us.
M. Rolph
Business Manager