About Us

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Welcome to Fallodon Way Medical Centre. We hope you take your time to browse our website where you will find lots of useful information about the surgery and the services we offer.

Bristol Affinity Network

Since the NHS was created in 1948, the population has grown and people are living longer. To meet the needs of the local population, GP practices are working together in primary care networks (PCNs) covering populations of between 30,000 to 100,000 people. PCNs also work with mental health teams, community nursing services, social care, pharmacy, hospital and voluntary services.

Our practice is part of Affinity Primary Care Network, which is a group of GP practices in north Bristol that work together for the benefit of the population that they cover. An example of this is the provision of the COVID Vaccination program in our area. As part of PCN working, the practices have been able to introduce new roles to support our clinical teams- such as Social Prescribers, Pharmacists and Care Coordinators.

Bristol Affinity PCN covers approximately 50,000 patients across the following practices:

Fallodon Way Medical Centre

Greenway Community Practice

Westbury on Trym Primary Care Centre

These practices are involved in training new doctors and also form a Research collaboration.

Read more on NHS England » Network Contract DES – contract specification for 2023/24 – PCN requirements and entitlements

Medical education

We are a training practice and you may be offered an appointment with a GP registrar. These doctors are fully qualified will have had experience in several hospital specialties. They are completing their specialist training as a GP.

We also teach medical students and sometimes you may be asked to see the doctor or nurse with a student present. You will always be asked beforehand if this is acceptable and you may ask for the student to withdraw if you prefer to have your consultation in private.

Patient Feedback

We encourage patients to give us feedback on their experiences at the practice.

Research at Fallodon Way Medical Centre

The practice is actively involved in clinical research. Research helps to drive innovation in diagnosing and managing medical conditions. Ultimately, the aim of clinical research is to improve patient care.

In 2006, the Department of Health set up The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) to improve the health of the nation through Research. The NIHR Clinical Research Network (CRN) was introduced to provide the infrastructure to the NHS to allow high quality research to be set up and delivered efficiently and effectively.

In Bristol, practices work as part of the LCRN West of England Core Team for the CRN. Fallodon Way Medical Centre participates in research in collaboration with the other practices in the Affinity Primary Care Network (Westbury-on-Trym Primary Care Centre and Greenway Community Practice).

We particularly look to support research involved in:

• Promoting a healthier lifestyle
• Disease diagnosis and prevention
• Management of long-term illnesses such as diabetes and hypertension
• Prevention of future ill-health
• Treating common conditions such as tonsillitis or influenza

What are the benefits of GP practices taking part in Research?

• It offers patients access to new treatments
• It brings a new dimension to practice and added skills to those involved
• It provides national gold standard training for research

How can you help and take part?

There are various ways a patient can become involved in studies. Please note: The funding for our research activity is via the CRN so it does not come out of the Practice’s own budget and therefore doesn’t affect our patient’s services. 

• A doctor or nurse may talk to you about a particular study and ask whether you would be interested in participating
• You may be sent information through the post or via email/SMS if we feel you may be a suitable participant
• You may read information about a current study in the patient waiting room or on the surgery website and wish to take part by contacting your GP.

All clinical research carried out is thoroughly checked and approved by ethical committees thus ensuring it is appropriate and safe to perform.

Your participation is entirely voluntary and can be withdrawn by yourself at any time without an explanation required.

You are under no obligation to participate in any research project.

Your care and your relationship with your doctor or nurse will not be affected in any way if you decided not to take part in a research study.

You will always receive clear information about what taking part in a research study would involve.

You will have the opportunity to ask questions and obtain further details about a study.

If you do agree to take part in a study you will be asked to sign a consent form, this will clearly state which parts of your notes (if any) may be looked at for the purposes of the research study.

Nobody from outside this Practice will be given your contact details or have access to your medical notes without your prior consent

National Data Opt Out

The national data opt-out was introduced on 25 May 2018, enabling patients to opt out from the use of their data for research or planning purposes, in line with the recommendations of the National Data Guardian.

Patients can view or change their national data opt-out choice at any time by using the online service at www.nhs.uk/your-nhs-data-matters or by clicking on “Your Health” in the NHS App, and selecting “Choose if data from your health records is shared for research and planning”.