Lessons from a pioneering practice on making neighbourhood health work

About this episode

Emma interviews Dr John Ribchester about the innovative practices at Whitstable Medical Practice and the challenges of implementing neighbourhood health services.

Emma speaks to Dr John Ribchester, a GP partner at Whitstable Medical Practice in Kent, a practice that is frequently cited as a leading example of the ‘neighbourhood NHS’ in action. The practice has spent years shifting services like diagnostics, day surgery, and urgent care out of hospital and into the community. John explains the journey his practice took to develop this model, including the financial risks involved in building GP-owned premises capable of housing consultant clinics, diagnostics and an urgent treatment centre and why he believes working as a single-practice PCN has helped them to do this. He also highlights some of the challenges the practice has faced along the way and the changes he thinks the government could introduce to make working in this way easier. And he offers some practical advice for GPs and primary care teams looking to create change from the ground up. As part of the MIMS Healthcare Network, GPonline has produced a new report for our subscribers on neighbourhood health - view the report here .. This episode was produced by Czarina Deen. MIMS Learning Live MIMS Learning Live South is returning to London on Friday 12 June 2026, and tickets are…

People in this episode

Host: Emma

Guest: Dr John Ribchester

Topics covered

• neighbourhood health
• primary care
• community services
• GP practices
• healthcare challenges

Keywords

• neighbourhood NHS
• community healthcare
• GP-owned premises
• urgent care
• healthcare innovation

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Whitstable Medical Practice, MIMS Healthcare Network, GPonline

Places: Kent

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