General Practice

Professor David Colin-Thomé

General Practice

A General Practitioner from 1971 at Castlefields Health Centre, Runcorn, retired in March 2007.

Initially a Principal of the practice, he became Managing Partner in 1987. In 1994 his other commitments left him with only part-time hours, though he retained his role as Managing Partner until 2006.

The practice has been leading edge nationally over the last 15 years or so, pioneering systematic management of long-term conditions employing managed care techniques. These have been adopted by the Improvement Foundation as their ‘Unique care’ programme.

The Practice was a first wave fundholding practice and a pioneer Total Purchasing Site. The Practice has been and is involved in many innovations: in Social Care, with the Youth Service, in employing a Public Health Nurse and in working with Nurse Practitioners, a self-managed Primary Health Care Team, Clinical Governance and a Managed Care model of Primary Care. It is currently a first wave PMS pilot and was a Beacon site.

The Practice achieved significant improved outcomes of patients suffering from ischaemic heart disease. This work was rolled out to the whole of Runcorn and the outcomes achieved are currently used by the Primary Care Collaborative (now Improvement Foundation) as their target for ischaemic heart disease sufferers.

Additionally through working with practice based case managers all from a nursing background, the practice model demonstrated an improved quality of patient’s lives, and in 3 years over £2.5m pounds of potential ‘savings’ on hospital expenditure for 3 groups of patients-the elderly, mentally ill and cancer sufferers.

In addition, from 2005-2007 David was adviser on primary and integrated care to University Hospital of Central Manchester. He also went on many overseas advisory visits specialising in primary care development and published regularly on primary care reform.