The Lewisham Care Partnership

The Lewisham Care Partnership: NHS primary care in south east London

The Lewisham Care Partnership is a group of general practice (GP) surgeries providing NHS services in London. Its work is organised around five centres: St John's Medical Centre, Hilly Fields Medical Centre, Morden Hill Surgery, Belmont Hill Surgery and Honor Oak Group Practice. The organisation cares for patients at these surgeries and centralises information on services, appointments, prescriptions and health resources.

Services and patient procedures

The group's website brings together the usual services of an NHS general practice: requesting appointments, prescriptions, obtaining test results, requesting sick notes and updating contact details. It also offers health forms for annual symptom reviews when the surgery has indicated this, as well as access to self-help resources and direct referral to local and national services.

Self-help and self-referral

The group provides patients with self-help pages containing links to local and national services they can refer themselves to, along with NHS information resources for health and wellbeing. It also offers health review forms for those who have been advised by the surgery to carry out an annual review of their symptoms.

Opening hours

The general opening hours of the surgeries are Monday to Friday from 8:00 to 18:30, closed on Saturdays and Sundays. They remain closed on bank holidays. Since 1 October 2023, the national primary care contract requires services to be offered between 7:00 and 8:00 and between 18:30 and 20:00 Monday to Friday, as well as on Saturdays from 9:00 to 17:00, with some local discretion. The group offers an enhanced Saturday clinic at St John's; when booking, a suitable appointment is assigned, which may be at another site. This is not a walk-in service.

Accessibility at the centres

The various centres have accessibility measures adapted to their characteristics. St John's Medical Centre has an access ramp at the entrance and a lift to the consulting rooms on the first floor, as well as a hearing loop system for people with hearing difficulties; it has no parking. Hilly Fields Medical Centre is fully accessible for people with disabilities, with access to all patient areas, an automatic door, ramp, lift and adapted toilet, and has a designated parking space for patients with disabilities. Morden Hill Surgery has been designed for access by people with disabilities, with an access point at reception, adapted toilets and a wheelchair available; it has no parking. Belmont Hill Surgery is adapted, with an access point at reception, an adapted toilet and accessible parking outside. Honor Oak Group Practice is fully accessible, with designated parking spaces for people with disabilities near the entrance; it has no general parking. All centres have a hearing loop system.

Patient transport and emergencies

The group provides information on the patient transport service, which provides ambulances to those who need support to attend their medical appointments for clinical reasons. For potentially life-threatening emergencies, it advises calling 999 or going to hospital accident and emergency; for non-life-threatening emergencies requiring same-day attention, it recommends going to an urgent care centre; and for non-urgent enquiries, NHS 111 or its online version.

Inspection and ownership

The Care Quality Commission has inspected and rated the group's services. The website shows the possible rating categories (Outstanding, Good, Requires improvement and Inadequate), although the material analysed does not specify which applies to each centre. The group is part of the NHS South East London Integrated Care Board, based at 160 Tooley Street, London SE1 2TZ.

Sites and premises

Hilly Fields Medical Centre site: 172 Adelaide Avenue, Brockley, London SE4 1JN

St John's Medical Centre site: 56-60 Loampit Hill, Lewisham, London SE13 7SX · Telephone: 020 8692 1354

Honor Oak Group Practice site: 20 Turnham Road, Brockley, London SE4 2LA

Morden Hill Surgery site: 21-23 Morden Hill, Lewisham, London SE13 7NN

Belmont Hill Surgery site: 36 Belmont Hill, Lewisham, London SE13 5AY