GP surgeries in High Wycombe celebrated the launch of a new collaboration on September 18 at Butterfly House Hospice in Totteridge.

The initiative called the Primary Care Network collaborates groups of GP practices and other community-based health services to try and aid more of the community with their physical and mental well-being.

The event celebrated the launch as well as having a raffle, where many High Wycombe based businesses donated prizes, and a ‘Bake-off’ to raise money for the Butterfly House Hospice.

Practice Manager at Kingswood Surgery, Allison McQueen-Luzar, discussed why the event was held at Butterfly House.

She said: “We’ve picked Butterfly House because it’s the most wonderful day hospice.

“It looks after people who need palliative support and have terminal illnesses, and their families.

“It’s such a wonderful facility that we have here, right in Wycombe.”

PCN clinical directors both gave talks and all staff of the surgeries had the opportunity to discuss their ideas for the future of this scheme.

Cygnet PCN is comprised of Kingswood, Priory, Tower House, Desborough and Hazlemere surgeries.

Allison added: “We are really excited about what the Cygnet PCN means for our patients and are proud of the hard work our staff has put in to make it a reality.

“Together our practices will be able to offer a wider range of services to the community and we are working alongside some exceptional local charitable organisations to ensure we deliver the best health outcomes possible for our patients.”

The initiative sees many community services working together for the first time to utilise all the help available to the public.

Allison added: “We want to make sure we don’t miss those people who can fall down the cracks in the system, and mental health is a big area where people need that extra support.

“We need to make sure we don’t have vulnerable people who are isolated.”

For more information visit www.buckinghamshireccg.nhs.uk/public/about-us/who-we-are/our-localities-and-member-practices/buckinghamshires-primary-care-networks/.