Meet the Team

Tahlia Cook is our Practice Manager and has been a part of the practice since 2016. 

Tahlia is responsible for the smooth running of the practice, the finances and that everybody works as one to ensure a high level of service. She is happy to answer any questions on the administration of the practice and non-medical matters and welcomes any feedback or suggestions that you may have on the practice.

Our three nurses; Kay, Sharon and Lisa can be seen by appointment.

Our nurses carry out a number of procedures including routine health checks, cervical smears, immunisations, blood tests, dressings, ear syringing, advice on travel, minor ailments or injuries, and blood pressure checks.

In addition to this our nurses are trained in dealing with chronic diseases and they run dedicated diabetes, asthma, COPD and coronary heart disease clinics.

Health Care Assistants

Meg and Jana are our Health Care Assistants and is available by appointment for taking blood samples, carrying out ECG’s, and hypertensions/blood pressure checks.

Meg is also one of our Smoking Cessation Advisors and is only too pleased to offer advice and support to any patient contemplating giving up smoking.

The Role of the Receptionist

Our receptionists; Alice, Cathy, Jacquelin, Lisa, Lyla, Natasha, Olivia and Sam have both an important and difficult role in a general practice, but they are essential to ensure the practice runs smoothly and efficiently. They are also the first point of contact for patients with our practice and so a vital ingredient in the success of our practice. A good receptionist is a superb advert for a practice and we are lucky to have so many good ones.

They work under guidance from the doctors and implement policies laid down by the doctors. If you are frustrated with our practice, being rude to a receptionist is unlikely to help whereas talking to the doctors may bring about some improvements.

One key policy is that our reception staff are under an absolute duty of confidentiality in the same way as a doctor or nurse is. Indeed breach of this duty would lead to immediate disciplinary action against the staff member concerned.

Reception staff are trying to arrange speedy and efficient access to services for patients. As a practice we do not always have enough appointments available for a variety of reasons. Our team will do their best to get you an appointment at a convenient time subject to the availability of appointments. If you have a problem which you think is urgent and there is not a suitable appointment free please give brief details of the problem (e.g. Child with fever, asthma getting worse) to the receptionist who can then liaise with the doctor and see if an urgent extra appointment is warranted. It may be that the Doctor will contact you by phone to obtain further details.

The reception staff also keep the doctors organised with reminders, organising prescriptions (up to 200 per day), dealing with forms, filing results and letters, dealing with our item of service fees, phoning patients or hospital departments and numerous other jobs. They have to juggle a number of different jobs at the same time and your patience is much appreciated.

Admin Support

Our admin team of Adele, Farrah, Julie and Kerry work hard behind the scenes undertaking a wide variety of tasks. This includes typing letters, processing referral requests, taking messages for doctors, entering clinical data, and doing numerous database searches required by the Health Authority and the Prescription Authorities. Their roles are varied but very important to the success of the practice.

Torbay has one of the highest number of care home beds in England and this patient group often has significant medical needs.  So in 2017, the 10 GP practices in Torbay created Torbay Care Home Visiting Service (TCHVS); a specialist multidisciplinary team supporting care home patients throughout Torbay.  The team is made up of local NHS GPs, nurses, paramedics and pharmacists.  They have expertise in Care home medicine, including frailty, dementia, medication side effects, advance care planning and palliative care.  They look after our patients in care homes alongside our practice staff.

The Wellbeing Team is here to talk about non-medical issues affecting your life and your wellbeing. This could be wanting to get out and about in the community more, wanting to be more physically active, having some signposting to help with housing and finance, or having an opportunity to make goals to address stress in your life.

We’re a small team of Health & Wellbeing Coaches, Care Co-Ordinators, and Occupational Therapists that aim to empower you to take control of your wellbeing and your health. We do this by building your confidence and motivation levels, supporting your goals, helping to integrate healthy behaviours into your routine, and providing signposting to local services to help you get the support you need longer-term. Our goal is to reduce Health Inequalities by supporting the local community and introducing more accessible, personalised, and preventative care.

While we do talk about aspects of your mental health and how it affects your wellbeing, this service is not a counselling service. Counselling addresses mental health issues in depth, while coaching helps individuals work towards specific goals. If you feel you would benefit from talking about your mental health and how it’s impacting your life in detail, there are services available to find support. Please contact TalkWorks, StepOne, Shekinah, or DPT Resources.

You do not need a GP appointment to be referred. You can contact the reception team or other staff at the practice to be referred in, or complete an e-consult on the surgery website to ask for a referral. Please be clear on what your goals are for coaching and what a successful outcome would look like for you to enable the referral form to be completed effectively.

What can you help with?
• Isolation/loneliness
• Connecting with community and peer support
• Low mood
• Lifestyle changes
• Work/life stress
• Exercise and more movement
• Learning and employment signposting
• Finances/housing/debt signposting
• Developing a healthy routine
• Goal-setting surrounding the management of long-term health conditions

What can I expect?
• A non-judgmental, flexible, and approachable service that works around you
• 4 to 6 appointments via telephone, video call, or in-person
• A chance to explore what matters to you
• Goal-setting and coaching support
• Localised knowledge and advice
• Direct email contact for information sharing
• Working in a collaborative partnership with the coach/OT you have appointments with
• Signposting and information to support your health goals after your appointments have finished

Unfortunately, this service would not be a good fit for you if:
• You are under 18 years old
• You have a diagnosed mental health condition that is severely impacting your day-to-day living
• You are already receiving support from care support workers, or a specialist mental health service
• You are house-bound
• You are on end-of-life care
• You don’t feel ready to make changes at this time – we cannot help you unless you are ready to help yourself
• You are in a mental health crisis – if you feel you need an urgent response please contact the First Response Service on 0808 196 8708, Mental Health Matters on 0800 4700 317, or NHS 111.

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