Protecting General Practice (Your GP Practice)

Important Update for Patients in North Cumbria (including Brampton Medical Practice)

From 1st September 2025, some GP practices (including Brampton Medical Practice) in North Cumbria will be making changes to how certain secondary care healthcare requests are handled. (e.g. blood tests on behalf of hospital and specialist clinics). These changes aim to protect patient access and ensure the long-term sustainability of general practice services.

Patients are kindly asked not to contact the practice about these changes, unless advised otherwise. Practices will continue to support continuity of care and will provide direct information to anyone affected. North Cumbria Integrated Care will be providing secondary care tests and services for patients as part of speciality follow up hospital care from a number of community hubs, one of which is located at Brampton Community Hospital and will offer phlebotomy (bloods tests) and wound care. All appointments must be pre arranged by the hospital team under which a patient is receiving care. Patients will also be able to contact a central number for support with any queries or to book an appointment. Our practice team do not have access to this appointment system and are unable to book appointments on behalf of patients however, our team have contact details and are able to signpost patients who are under secondary care and require follow up tests or services.

If a member of our clinical team at Brampton Medical Practice requires you to have a test such as an ECG or blood test as part of your inital care (Primary Care) this will still be booked by the pratice and the appointment will be at the practice as usual.

This decision comes in response to a significant and ongoing increase in appointment requests and clinical tasks requested by other healthcare providers. While GP practices have historically absorbed these additional tasks, they now account for a high level of the daily GP workload, impacting appointment availability for core services.

These changes are designed to ensure patients still receive appropriate care—often more directly from the specialist services managing their condition—while helping practices protect appointment availability and improve access for all.

Full information, including some videos on why these changes are crucial to protecting general practice, and a list of frequently asked questions can be found at:

Improving Access in General Practice :: Primary Care North Cumbria