Two Portsmouth GP Practices, Lake Road Practice and Sunnyside Medical Centre, are excited to announce plans to merge later in the year.
The proposed merger is to ensure the long-term sustainability of both practices by pooling clinical expertise and resources across both sites.
This will mean both sites can continue to provide primary care services and more a greater pool of staff to offer care for patients.
An application was submitted to Portsmouth Clinical Commissioning Group (PCCG), and if approved the merger is expected to take place in October 2022.
The practices, based at Lake Road Health Centre and The Pompey Centre respectively, are already connected under the Island City Primary Care Network serving 47,000 people.
Dr Jonathan Lake, of Sunnyside Medical Practice said: “As a successful practice we wanted to ensure the continuity of services for our patients.
“By merging Lake Road Practice and Sunnyside Medical Practice, we are far more certain of a bright future and this is a great thing for those we serve.
“We see this proposed merger as an opportunity to expand the range of services we can offer the people of Portsmouth. This will ensure we have a solid base of general practice in the area for years to come.
“By working closely we can sustain our services for our patients, and by pooling our clinical skills and resources will enable us to offer improved high-quality services and ultimately improve access to those services.”
Dr Joe Shimbart, of Lake Road Practice said: “We are hugely excited about the prospects for primary care provision across our area. The newly joined practices bring more talented doctors, nurses and other staff to the Lake Road Practice.
“This is great news for patients and means that we can continue to provide primary care medical services for this and future generations.”
All three sites associated with the practices will remain open, which includes the John Pounds premises, and patients will not notice any change in terms of their registration. Patients will continue to be seen at their usual location and will also be able to access services from the practice’s other sites where appropriate.