Who We Are

The North Staffordshire GP Federation was established in 2015. At the time the core purpose of the GP Federation was to provide an overarching membership/provider organisation which was representative of all the practices across North Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent. The key objectives were to support core General Practice, through projects which support sustainability and ensure a thriving future for General Practice.

At this time there were over 80 GP Practices serving the whole of North Staffordshire including Stoke on Trent, Newcastle under Lyme and Staffordshire Moorlands, providing services to over 500,000 patients. However, this has since reduced to 68 practices as at December 2021 due to mergers.

The Federation is a Private Company Limited by Guarantee without share capital, registered in England and Wales (Company number: 09685712). We have a not for profit constitution. Our Articles of Association define our reason for existing. Unlike many businesses, there are no shareholders to answer to in terms of profits so our organisation is about doing the right thing for the patients we serve and for our member practices. This means we invest time and resource into the “greater good” and not what makes profits.

The Federation’s registered office is Hanley Primary Care Access Hub, 69-71 Stafford Street, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, ST1 5LW.

The Federation has been responsible for running the Walk In Service at the Hanley Primary Care Access Hub since 1st July 2017. Operating the Front of House model which was developed based on the Luton pathway. The service provides access to GP and Advanced Nurse Practitioner appointments, 7 days per week, 365 days per year between the hours of 8am and 8pm and has the capacity to see up to just over 80 patients daily.

In addition, from September 2018, we were awarded the contract to provide Extended Access to Primary Care. The core requirements of Extended Access are:

• Commission weekday provision of access to pre-bookable and same day appointments to general practice services in evenings (after 6.30pm) – to provide an additional 1.5 hours a day.
• Commission weekend provision of access to pre-bookable and same day appointments on both Saturdays and Sundays to meet local population needs.
• Provide robust evidence, based on utilisation rates, for the proposed disposition of services throughout the week.
• Commission a minimum additional 30 minutes consultation capacity per 1000 population, rising to 45minutes per 1000 population.

The Federation delivers this service from 5 main locations (Hanley, Bradwell Hospital, Haywood Hospital, Leek Moorlands Hospital and Longton Cottage Hospital).

The Federation now employs over 30 staff, and works with a GP workforce of over 100 GPs across North Staffordshire to deliver its services. In addition to the those noted above, the Federation take an active role in other health projects and have also delivered a range of services including the City’s Care Home project and Homeless Health Service and medical support to both the Royal Stoke and County Hospital’s A&E Departments. In addition, from April 2020 to the end of June 2021 we delivered the Covid Hot Clinic for the residents of Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire – this was one of the first in the country and saw acutely ill covid positive patients to assess and manage them and ensure they only went to hospital if clinically necessary.