Bennetts End Surgery Team, Gatecroft, Hemel Hempstead, Herts, England

Opening Hours

Bennetts End Surgery is open five days a week, Monday to Friday (excluding Bank Holidays).

We also open on Saturday mornings to see patients with a pre-booked appointment

The surgery doors open at 8.20am and close at 6.30pm.

Please note, however, that the surgery is closed from 1.00 to 1.45pm every Thursday for the purpose of staff training.

Welcome To Bennetts End Surgery

It is the aim of the Bennetts End Surgery Team to provide its patients with the best possible standard of care.

As such, in 2001, the partners entered into a contract with Dacorum Primary Care Trust to become a PMS (Personal Medical Services) practice under the terms of which we have tailored our services to meet the specific local needs of our patients.

The practice is committed to working collaboratively and across boundaries for the delivery of quality patient services. In 1999 the practice was awarded Beacon status for the effective partnership of combined clinical and management skills; our extended Primary Health Care Team, for example, is privileged now to participate in the Macmillan Gold Standards Framework for Palliative Care.

We are also a training practice and participate in the further training of doctors who, already experienced in hospital medicine, wish to make their career in general practice. Additionally, with patient consent, we facilitate the training of medical students, nurses, managers, physician assistants, administrative staff and work experience students.

Committed to research and development, our surgery is a member of the Medical Research Council's General Practice Research Framework. When we take part in a study we may pass anonymised information from your medical records or our practice computer to the researchers co-ordinating the study.

We would like to assure our patients that confidentiality is respected at all times, with our staff being bound by the same strict code of confidentiality that governs the doctors.

Please note that smoking is not permitted on the practice premises.

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 obliges the practice to produce a publication scheme. This scheme is available from reception or, alternatively, can be downloaded from www.foi.nhs.uk

History Of The Practice

Hemel Hempstead is an old town 21 miles north west of London. In the 1950s a New Town was added to the old and the practice was set up in November 1951 by Drs Sheila and John Fletcher at Adeyfield. Soon after, the new neighbourhood of Bennetts End was being developed on a bare plateau of land. A second surgery was started from two rented rooms in a cottage at Bennetts End in 1953. At this time Dr John Jamieson joined this flourishing practice which was caring for nearly 2000 patients just five years after the start of the NHS. In 1955 a new purpose-built surgery at Bennetts End was rented from the development corporation and improvements were made to the Adeyfield Surgery. The partnership gradually expanded to five doctors at Bennetts End and four at Adeyfield with Drs Drake and Lim joining in 1974.

From the start the doctors held infant welfare and antenatal clinics in the surgeries. In the 1960s the experienced doctors became GP and medical student trainers and new services for patients, such as family planning clinics, were added. The practice also established an early interest in research. Whilst today it works in conjunction with the Medical Research Council and the University of Hertfordshire, it was involved in the RCGP Pill Study from as early as 1968!

In 1981 the two practices came together and built one new surgery building at Gatecroft opening in 1986. The new GP contract and fundholding presented new opportunities during the 1990s for the delivery of health care services. In partnership with many local people the surgery building was extended, once again, to provide additional new facilities for in-house physiotherapy, counselling, adolescent health and travel services plus a refreshment area from which the Friends of Bennetts End Surgery (FOBES) provide a warm welcome. The extended services for patients were opened in 1999 by Sir Donald Irvine, President of the General Medical Council, and Lady Sally Irvine. This development has gained national recognition with an NHS Beacon Award.