About Us
We are made up of four GP Practices which are based in Congleton and Holmes Chapel, Primary Care Network(PCN)
Holmes Chapel Health Centre, Lawton House Surgery, Meadowside Medical Centre and Readesmoor Medical Centre, we together as a PCN have a patient list size of approximately 47,000, for whom we provide General Practice services. By working together with our local providers of care we are improving the patient experiences of primary care. We are in the Cheshire East Council geographic area. Cheshire East has a population of approximately 398,000 residents and is the third largest unitary authority in the North West.
The leadership team of CHOC PCN are:
Dr Paul Bishop- Clinical Director
Dr Vicky Buckley - Co Clinical Director
Dr Tom Rigby- Deputy Clinical Director
Juliet Thomson- PCN Operational Manager
Paul Carroll- Digital and Transformation Lead
We employ a number of roles directly, with staff working to improve patient care and these roles include Clinical Pharmacists, Pharmacy Technician, Paramedics, Advanced Nurse Practitioners, First Contact Physiotherapists, Mental Health Practitioners, Physician Associates, Social Prescribing Link Workers.
Same Day Access Service- going live Wednesday 05 November
We are pooling our resources of nursing and paramedic practitioners from Wednesday 05 November to be able to offer by appointment only a same day access service.
Please have a read of the enclosed newsletter:
Same Day Access Service for Congleton and Holmes Chapel PCN
Newsletter Number 1.
Welcome to our first newsletter which I hope explains all the queries you may have about our Primary Care Network (PCN) Same Day Access Service which is going live on Wednesday 05th November 2025.
What is a Same Day Access Service?
As the name suggests, it’s a service for people with an illness or condition that needs to be seen that day.
This is what we call acute illness. Something serious enough that we wouldn’t want you to wait to be seen but not so severe that you should go to A&E or call an ambulance.
People might have previously seen a GP for some things, but other highly skilled clinicians can handle them (Paramedic Practitioners, Advanced Nurse Practitioners).
We will be having a service based out of Readesmoor GP Practice, West Street Congleton and a service based out of Holmes Chapel Health Centre, London Road, Holmes Chapel.
With most GP Practices in our PCN undertaking a form of initial triage we consider all the options. These include signposting our patients to make effective use of the Pharmacy First support as our Community Pharmacists are now trained to consult patients with the following medical conditions:
- Sinusitis: For Patients aged 12 and over
- Sore Throat: For Patients 5 and over
- Earache (Acute otitis media): For children and young adults aged 1 to 17.
- Infected insect bite: For patients aged 1 and over.
- Impetigo: For patients aged 1 and over
- Shingles: For adults aged 18 and over
- Uncomplicated UTIs: Specifically for women aged 16 to 24.
It’s not news to anyone that demand for NHS services has never been higher – in the year to July 2025 there were 383.3 million appointments, compared to 375.7 million the year before in General Practice.
Same Day Access Service supports giving patients the right care at the right time.
Who will the appointments be with?
The Same Day Access Service pools together our PCN staff who are Paramedic Practitioners and Advanced Nurse Practitioners into one service rather than being spread thinly across the individual GP Practices so will bring together a more consistent offer of service and better cover.
The team are already used to seeing patients and the medical conditions booked into their appointments which have been reviewed by a Care Navigator at the patients’ home GP practice. This is to ensure the medical condition being reviewed is appropriate for each individual member of the Same Day Access Service clinical team.
Who are the SDAS team? (photos will be added subject to individual consent)
- Crystal Holford- Advanced Nurse Practitioner
- Simon Pannell- Advanced Nurse Practitioner
- Anna Langford- Advanced Nurse Practitioner
- Ed White- Paramedic Practitioner
- Kate Trimble- Paramedic Practitioner
- Hannah Donaldson- Paramedic Practitioner
What to expect in terms of making an appointment and what will happen?
Patients will ask for an appointment as normal. Some of our GP Practices in Congleton and Holmes Chapel promote this via a triage form, others via a route of telephone or walk in. Whatever is the existing practice will remain unchanged.
The request will be assessed and if suitable for Same Day Access Service a booking will be made and the patient advised of the appointment time, being asked to arrive 10 minutes before the appointment booking time.
Patients will be called in verbally by the team (so not using the patient call in board at Readesmoor Medical Practice).
The Same Day Access Service team has access to our practice clinical system of all the four GP Practices in Congleton and Holmes Chapel and will be aware of any long-term conditions, allergies, and medications.
Once they have assessed the patient, they will discuss what is best to do next.
Some team members are prescribers, so if the patient needs medication, they can arrange for it to be sent to the patients’ regular pharmacist for collection.
Because the Same Day Access Service team have full access to GP clinical systems, the record of their appointment and any medicine or other follow-up will also be put onto the patients notes, so ensuring continuity of care for the next time the patient needs either advice or to be seen.
What are the opening times of the Same Day Access Service
Appointments will commence at 10am and finish at 6:30PM.
Can I walk in and have an appointment without a booking?
Booking is via the usual method, at your usual GP Practice. This is NOT a walk in service.
Does this mean I will no longer be seen by my usual GP Practice at Congleton?
We recognise that for patients of Lawton House Surgery and Meadowside Medical Centre this is quite a change. For Readesmoor patients too, seeing the Same Day Access Service team may feel different. Be assured that the Same Day Acess Service team have access to local records and the patient consultation will still be held in the own GP record at the patient’s own GP Practice. Most of the staff employed by the PCN have been seeing patients from these three GP Practices for many months and are familiar individuals with patients, so in effect this change is about grouping the PCN staff together in one location so they can give a better service and focus on medical conditions needed for the same day.
When bookings are made your local GP Practice will assess the suitability of the medical condition and the patient to ensure that we account for individual circumstances, as it may be more appropriate to have the appointment at your usual GP Practice.
What happens if there are more requests for service than the appointments availability for the Same Day Access Service team?
The team will have finite number of available booking slots and so once filled the usual GP Practice will continue to manage the request as they normally would before. This could include advice, offering a routine appointment in the future, a review by the Duty Doctor, or if appropriate signposting to other clinical services.
Is this a permanent change to the way our GP Practices work?
This is a pilot period and will be subject to review including patient surveys as to the effectiveness of the Same Day Access Service.
Holmes Chapel Health Centre already has a service offering same day support and so the staff working to assist Holmes Chapel Health Centre are well known to patients and able to offer the extra support welcomed.
The service is new to Congleton and offers extra support to our patients by pooling the PCN staff in the clinical roles or Paramedic Practitioner and Advanced Nurse Practitioner so offering a consistency of service.
Is the change supported by the GP Partners?
The PCN has been reviewing the options to try a pilot of our Same Day Access Service for some months. The biggest change is to the Congleton GP Practices. The GP Partners of the four GP Practices which make up Congleton and Holmes Chapel PCN have supported the changes. We have consulted with Patient Participation Groups.
The pilot will be closely monitored and overseen by the GP Partners in each of the four practices.
Can patients book themselves directly into the Same Day Access Service via the NHS APP?
Not initially. We need to review that the medical conditions being booked into the team are appropriate for their clinical skills and so the bookings will be made by the Care Navigators at each individual GP Practice of the PCN.
Could feedback be offered after going live, which would improve the Same Day Access Service?
Yes, feedback is welcomed. Contact details for CHOC PCN can be found on our website.
Many thanks for reading
Congleton & Holmes Chapel Primary Care Network.
Location of the Same Day Access Service:
Congleton Same Day Access Service from 05 November 2025
This is NOT a walk in service, it is via appointments only.
Located at Readesmoor Medical Centre:
Readesmoor Medical Centre
29/29a/31 West Street
Congleton
Cheshire
CW12 1JP
