An update from Safecare Network

Safecare Network, North Lincolnshire’s GP federation announced some changes to its team, including the arrival of:

• Nicki Chatterton (Chief Officer)
• Dr Mubark Jajja (Chair)
• Christine Buckley (Vice Chair)
• Lindsey Lappin (Business Manager)
• Dr Nadeem Akhtar (Board GP)
• Dr Rubia Usman (Board GP) and
• Dr Mutiat Salawu (Board GP)

The leadership and great efforts of Julie Killingbeck and Lucy Aisthorpe in helping the patients of North Lincolnshire during their time at Safecare, are recognised and really appreciated, as Julie and Lucy move on to new roles.

Safecare’s recently appointed Chief Officer, Nicki Chatterton, has a background in health management, including operational service management roles for Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals, general practice management and regional business management for a leading private renal dialysis business, amongst other roles.

The team also recently appointed a new Chair, Dr Mubark Jajja, who has been a director of Safecare since its inception. Dr Jajja is a GP Partner at Ancora Medical Practice, he has worked at Scunthorpe General Hospital, and is Honorary Senior Lecturer for Hull York Medical School.

In addition to Nicki and Dr Jajja’s appointments, the team has also appointed a Vice Chair, Christine Buckley, who has worked locally in Scunthorpe for a number of years, as Practice Director of Ancora Medical Practice and Director of Ancora Healthcare, amongst other roles.

Safecare Network is a not-for-profit federation of all of the 19 North Lincolnshire GP practices, covering approximately 180,000 patients.

Safecare’s vision is to provide innovative, high quality healthcare for local communities by working in partnership with others. Safecare is unique in that it is one of a small number of federations nationally that has all practices within the locality, which means we are able to truly represent the views and needs of the patient population and practices of North Lincolnshire.

Over the past three years, Safecare has grown, and has been involved in setting up key services such as the Specialist Assessment for Frail and Elderly (SAFE), First Contact Physio (FCP) services, extended access for evening and weekend appointments, out of hours, and the Urgent Treatment Centre.

Safecare has been actively involved with North Lincolnshire CCG and other health and social care providers in the local response to the Covid-19 pandemic, helping to develop services that require partnership working to ensure the protection of patients from exposure to Covid-19.

This includes but is not limited to:

• The Covid-19 isolation clinic – a primary care service for patients with moderate Covid-19 symptoms who must be triaged appropriately by a GP or Advanced Nurse Practitioner
• Shielded Visiting Service – this was a weekday, 9.30-5pm GP based visiting service, purely for shielded patients with acute medical problems.
• Community Response Team GP element (EA CV) – this is a 7 day, 8am-8pm GP role located at Global House, Scunthorpe. The GP gives advice and support to community health and social care teams.

The key objectives for Safecare in the future are to strengthen relationships with the local primary care networks to support delivery of services ‘at scale’ when appropriate, to continue our support for member practices and to ensure the sustainability and resilience of general practice across North Lincolnshire. Safecare plans to strengthen its visibility, as a key partner in driving forward the integration of health and care, and the future development of the ‘out of hospital care’ model in North Lincolnshire.

To read more about Safecare Network, please visit the website: www.safecarenetwork.co.uk