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The Health Centre was opened in 1970. and was purchased by the partners from the West Berkshire Health Authority in 1993. Located in a semi-rural area, we look after a population of some 8,000 within a six-mile radius and have some special arrangements for those in Binfield Heath and Shiplake. We dispense to about a third of our patients (eligible because they live more than a mile from the local pharmacy 'as the crow flies').

We were a 'fourth wave' fund-holding practice and are now members of the South East Oxon Primary Care Trust. PCTs have replaced fund-holding and consist of several practices joining together to improve patient care. Our group serves a population of about 100,000. The PCT is run by a Board whose members include doctors, nurses, social workers, Health Authority members and a lay person. 

Staff

Primary care

Primary Care at the Health Centre is currently provided by a team of four
partners, three salaried GPs, and a registrar, four practice nurses, two
district nurses, two community staff nurses and a health visitor. We are a
very close-knit group and our record of team-work goes back to the
mid-sixties when we published an article in the British Medical Journal
describing the use of nurses in general practice

Since 1997, complementary practitioners have worked in the practice: two chiropractors, an acupuncturist , a private physiotherapist and a healer. Referrals are also made to many of the complementary practitioners

Doctors

	Dr Andrew Burnett MB ChB (Dund) 1981 MRCGP DRCOG The senior partner. In addition to his four and a half days in the practice, he works one half day in the allergy clinic at Amersham Hospital. He is also an Assessor of doctors in training. His particular interests are in allergy, dermatology and cycling. He is married with three children.
	Dr Ralph Drury MB BS (Lond) 1992 MRCGP DFFP joined us in 1999. He is a full-time partner and has a keen interest in weight loss management and diabetes. Ralph is married and he and his wife have two children, Lottie and Hazel.
	Dr Kim Emerson MB ChB (Sheff) 1991 DCH DFFP MRCGP joined the practice in 1995 after her year here as registrar. She now works at the Health Centre on three days a week. She has a special interest in paediatrics, obstetrics and family planning. She also oversees the practice staff and finances, and is an experienced GP trainer. She is married with three young children.
	Dr Tess Harris MB BS (Lond) MRCGP DRCOG DCH DGM MSc, who qualified in 1988, joined the practice in June 2001 as a part time GP. Dr Harris also works part time at St Georges Hospital Medical School doing research and teaching medical students.  She is married with two children and lives in Reading.
	Dr Ellen Kruidenier ('call me Dr Ellen - it's easier') was our registrar in 2003/04. Born in the Netherlands in 1967 she graduated from Medical School in Groningen in 1992. After house jobs and research, she came to London in 1995.and for some 5 years worked in paediatrics at Kings College Hospital. Ellen now lives in Oxford. with her husband and children; Nicky (8) and Oliver (5)
	Dr Sue Ronay MB ChB (Man) 1985 DCH DRCOG MRCGP has been with the practice since 1997, having trained here in the 80s. She consults in the practice two days per week and spends a further day a week as one of two course organisers for the Reading Vocational Training Scheme. She is a GP trainer and a GP appraiser. She considers herself a 'generalist' in that she is interested in all aspects of general medicine.  Dr Ronay is married with two young children.
	Dr Simon Morris MB ChB (Birm)1989 MRCGP DRCOG joined the practice team in 2004 as a part time GP. He has special interests in medicine, dermatology & diabetes. He is also actively involved in teaching and is a GP appraiser.  He is married with two children and lives in the village.
Registrars
	Dr Alison Malcolm BMBS DCH DRCOG who qualified in 2003 in Nottingham, spent the last 3 years in Reading working in a variety of different departments in the Royal Berkshire Hospital where her special interest was children's health. Her trainer is Dr Emerson.  Dr Malcolm  is a member of Carey Baptist Church in Reading and she particularly enjoys helping at a youth club for local teenagers. In the rest of her time off she likes to enjoy the local countryside, ski-ing (in the not so local countryside!) and is learning to SCUBA dive.
	Dr Ameet Sahni MBBS (Lond) MRCP qualified in 2002 from Guys Kings & St Thomas Medical School.  She has spent the last five years covering many medical specialities, including A&E, cardiology, diabetes & palliative care, in hospitals in London & Kent. Dr Sahni, who has spent all her life in London, recently decided to experience medicine in the community and chose Sonning Common as the place to do it!  Her trainer is Dr Ronay. Dr Sahni was married in July and lives in Harrow.  Her hobbies include travelling, climbing and salsa dancing.

Health Care and Administrative staff

We have some 20 administrative staff who play various roles in supporting the Primary Health Care Team, together with a wide range of attached health workers, including midwife, speech therapist, chiropodist, dietician, physiotherapists, and two community psychiatric nurses.

dnservice

The District Nursing Service

The District Nursing team provides a comprehensive service for patients who are housebound.  A leaflet is available at the Health Centre and also online - click here for the detailed information about the team and what they can provide. There is also a useful list of contact telephone numbers for local providers of a variety of health care services.

                          
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The Building and Facilities

In 1993, when the building was bought by the partners, a programme of modifications and improvements was started. That year substantial parts of the layout were re-designed and a staff common room was added; in Spring 1995 the treatment room was enlarged and modified; in 1998 there was a major re-building programme involving the addition of a second storey.

While the building would probably not win any architectural awards for its external appearance, it wins our appreciation because it has proved well suited to our needs. The developments have also been well-received by patients, and access has been improved for those with a physical disability.

Where are we?

If you don't know the Health Centre and its location, just click here for full details. There's more about the district on the Oxfordshire County Council website too.

What we Provide

Our work covers three broad areas:

• diagnosis and treatment of illness

• services and procedures to continue your recovery and keep you well 

• strategies and the means to improve your health and fitness

plus

• GP/nurse training. 

For full details of what we can offer to doctors looking for a position as registrar in general practice, please click here.

That is the active, involved side of our work. We also believe we have a responsibility to provide information, both about health/medical matters and the services available, and to be open and responsive to feedback from our patients.

Our long-established printed information/means of communication - brochure, leaflets, newsletter, library of tapes and videos, displays are now complemented by this website which opens up many exciting new possibilities.

Best Buys too

We also sell some items of medical equipment and books. Patients have made suggestions and requests over the years, so we have researched what we feel are the 'best buys'. We now offer them for sale in the hope of saving patients time in tracking them down. Just ask at reception, to discover what's available.

Services we have to charge for

Although the NHS is still a basically free service, like most practices we need to make a charge for some certificates and, for example, letters for outside organisations, private health care claim forms and passport forms.

For the list of charges, click here. The list is also displayed at reception and staff can give further advice and help.

Registration - how you join the Health Centre

Registration with the Health Centre is easy and you now have an online alternative.

You can either come to reception bringing your NHS medical card if possible. We will ask you to fill in a questionnaire about your current health. Or you fill in the pre-registration form online (just press here or the registration button) and take it from there. We offer all new patients a health check.

You will register with one doctor for routine consultations. However, in the case of sudden illness or emergency, another of our doctors will always be happy to see you if your own doctor is not available.

Children under five are additionally registered with Dr Ralph Drury or Dr Kim Emerson for developmental checks.

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© 2004 Sonning Common Health Centre