Peterborough GP listed amongst best in the country

Pulse magazine is a nationally recognised monthly magazine and website aimed at healthcare professionals, particularly those in primary care.

Every year Pulse lists its 50 most ‘powerful’ GPs in the UK.

However, since the pandemic changed the industry’s way of working almost overnight this year, the list recognises the grassroots GPs that have made the change possible.

Pulse said that those on the list ‘represent the outstanding work that has been done throughout the profession, helping patients, often putting themselves at risk to do so.’

One of those to make the list is Fleur, who is a GP Partner at The Abbeyview Surgery in Crowland. She was nominated by a patient for ‘treating every patient as if she has all the time in the world’ and was praised for her ‘instant adaptation to new ways of working. A credit to the profession.’

This is not the first time the surgery has been honoured. Abbeyview was awarded GP Surgery of the Year at the Lincolnshire Health Awards last year. It has also been rated as ‘Outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission and was awarded the MacMillan Excellence in Cancer Care Award in 2019.

Fleur said: “I was really surprised and taken aback. It’s nice to think that, despite all that’s going on at the moment, somebody took the time to nominate me and say such nice things.

“It’s been an incredible couple of years for the practice and the whole team strives very hard to deliver the best care to our patients.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has meant that all of us in primary care have had to drastically change how we look after our patients and manage their care.

In fact, we are now able to offer people more access to their GP than ever before. We have e-consultancies, where you can get a same day response, telephone calls and the opportunity to send a text or a picture to their doctor. All of our staff are working really hard and it’s great that we can offer same day instant access and take the pressure off from other services.

We hope that the lessons learned by the industry during these times can help to improve patient care long after the pandemic is over.”

Fleur runs the medical practice in Crowland as a GP Partner alongside Dr. Abhijit Banerjee and has done so since 2011. She first joined the practice as a GP two years earlier after training in medicine at the University of Liverpool. This represented a return home after she grew up in Peterborough and attended Jack Hunt school. She now lives in Bretton with husband Tim and two boys Cameron and Aaron.

She added: “Ever since my time in primary school I only ever envisaged myself becoming a doctor. I never really had a back-up option which I wouldn’t necessarily recommend.”

When pushed on what makes a good GP, Fleur said: “I think it’s an ability to care, show compassion and be the patient’s advocate. I think you need to have good communication skills and be adaptable, no two consultations are the same. Everybody has their own struggles but it’s important to remember that any problem can be toppled.”

John Turner, Chief Executive of the Lincolnshire Clinical Commissioning Group added: ““We are delighted that Dr England has been recognized in this way by Pulse.

“Especially at a time when primary care is working unbelievably hard to provide healthcare for all patients and demonstrate that it remains ‘open for business’.

“Dr England’s nomination is a credit to her and also to The Abbeyview Surgery, who I know will be hugely proud of her.”