Visit to Parliament and No.10 Downing Street - 7th July 2026

Visit to Parliament and No.10 Downing Street

 

Before heading to Downing Street, we had the opportunity to meet Dr Ben Spencer MP at his Parliamentary office in Portcullis House.

Dr Spencer was keen to hear about our invitation to No. 10 and the work taking place at Crouch Oak. We discussed general practice, the challenges facing primary care and the opportunities to improve patient services.

We had a photo taken which he has put on his Facebook page, which helps to highlight the fantastic work being recognised at Crouch Oak. It was a lovely way to start the afternoon and gave us the chance to further raise the profile of our practice before heading to our meeting at No. 10.

 

We were incredibly proud to represent Crouch Oak and, more importantly, the fantastic work that every member of our team does every day.

 

Our No. 10 Downing Street Visit

We were fortunate to receive a private tour of No. 10 before the meeting. We saw some fascinating parts of the building, including Winston Churchill's reading chair, artwork by Turner and even a section of the ceiling that still shows repairs following the IRA bombing in 1991.

(sorry, didn’t get a photo, due to security, of Dr Kanag doing the “Love Actually” PM shimmy down the famous staircase – what a delight to behold ……)

 

We were also told that Crouch Oak was the only GP practice being met at that time as part of this work. Previous meetings had been with secondary care organisations, so this really was a privilege.

 

What they wanted to understand

The No. 10 Delivery Unit, DHSC and NHS England wanted to hear about:

• What is driving demand for elective referrals.
• How referrals are managed in primary care.
• The patient journey after referral.
• Advice & Guidance, community diagnostics and the interface between primary and secondary care.
• What works well and what national changes would improve patient care.
• How neighbourhood teams are developing.

 

What we shared about Crouch Oak

We explained that one of our greatest strengths is our team (Susan, our Practice Manager, was very passionate about this!)

We talked about:

• Our mature triage hub and the way clinicians and administrators work together.
• Our focus on continuity of care, particularly for patients with complex needs.
• The flexibility of our appointment system, allowing longer consultations where needed.
• Our daily team debriefs, which support learning, wellbeing and collaborative decision-making.
• Our willingness to embrace change and continually improve how we work.

We also discussed the pressures of increasing complexity, an ageing population and the benefits of our PCN home visiting service.

 

The patient journey

A major part of the discussion centred on the patient journey.

We explained that although referrals are made appropriately, patients and practices often lose visibility once they enter secondary care. We highlighted:

• Variable Advice & Guidance services.
• Long waits and referrals rejected for administrative reasons.
• The challenges faced by frail and digitally excluded patients.
• Difficulties navigating multiple appointment systems.
• The need for greater access to community diagnostics.
• The invaluable work undertaken by our pharmacy team in ensuring safe prescribing and managing complex discharge information.

 

Tara, our Referrals Administrator, gave insight into the reality of managing referrals every day, the frustrations experienced by both patients and staff, and the lack of transparency once referrals leave primary care.

Clive, our PPG Chair, provided the patient perspective, highlighting how confusing the current systems can be and how difficult it is for patients to understand what happens after they have been referred.

 

Working with secondary care

Whilst we discussed many of the challenges at the primary and secondary care interface, we also wanted to acknowledge the local Trust Medical Director, who is proactive, approachable and genuinely committed to working with general practice to improve patient pathways and tackle many of the challenges we all face.

 

Neighbourhood Teams

We were also asked about the development of neighbourhood teams.

We were honest in saying that, from our perspective, there has been very little engagement locally to date. Whilst we fully support the principle of integrated neighbourhood working, we have yet to see this translate into meaningful collaboration or tangible benefits for practices or patients.

 

The outcome

The feedback from the No. 10 team was extremely positive. They told us our discussions had been invaluable, and we invited them to come and visit Crouch Oak to see first-hand how we work.

This invitation was recognition of all of the Team at Crouch Oak. We were simply the people around the table, but we were representing the commitment, teamwork and innovation that happens across the whole practice every day.

 

To Everyone …..

Tuesday wasn't about five people attending a meeting—it was about showcasing the incredible work of the whole Crouch Oak team. Every receptionist, administrator, care coordinator, secretary, HCA, nurse, pharmacist, pharmacy tech, paramedic, APP, ANP, GP, manager and member of our support team contributed to the story we told. Thank you all for making Crouch Oak a Practice that is recognised nationally. We couldn't have done it without our incredible Team.

 

Oh and as a final golden snippet – always, always remember to put a spare pair of shoes in your bag if you are going to an important meeting!

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Published on 9 July 2026