What is the Alliance?

Formed in 2015, Sunderland GP Alliance is an organisation owned by the GP Practices of Sunderland, and it exists to help GPs work collaboratively for the benefit of patients and staff. Thirty six of the city’s forty GP practices are members of the organisation, and together they cover over 95% of Sunderland’s patients. The Alliance works on a not-for-profit basis, ensuring any surplus is reinvested back into better services for patients.

 

Organisations such as ours are developing all over the country to help General Practice respond to the changing needs of our health system. Many of the services we provide cannot be delivered by individual GP surgeries. The Extended Access service is a good example; only by working together can we offer patients the convenience of GP appointments until late at night every weekday and during the day on weekends. The NHS calls this federated working, and the formation of federations is being actively encouraged. The Five Year Forward View, a link to which is available on our Resources page provides further information.

 

Our Board of Directors is made up of GPs, Practice Nurses and Practice Managers all currently working at surgeries within the city. Between them, they have a vast amount of experience about how best to look after patients, and how to work with other parts of the NHS, such as the local hospital, to create integrated services that make sure patients receive the best care possible. The Board considers it essential that the views of service users are built into any service changes, and there a range of ways in which patients can make their views heard such as the Patient Participation Groups at our practices or via our Contact page. We look forward to hearing from you.