This document aims to answer some of your questions about why changes to opening hours at Westgate Practice Shenstone Branch have been proposed.
Is the Shenstone Branch closing?
No. There is no intention to close the Shenstone Branch. The Branch surgery provides valuable space & an additional four clinical rooms during peak times for the practice. As you are aware Lichfield and surrounding areas have grown steadily due to new housing developments and the branch provides valuable space to future proof the practice.
The Westgate practice also serves three nursing homes in the area and will continue to do so. We currently support around 89 patients in nursing homes and 44 housebound patients, these services will continue.
The proposal is for a change to the number of days and hours the branch surgery is open each week.
What is the change that is being proposed?
The proposal is for the Shenstone Branch to open on three planned days each week. These being:
Monday 08.00 hrs – 17.00 hrs,
Wednesday, 08.00hrs – 13.15 hrs and
Thursday 08.00 hrs – 13.15 hrs.
The branch currently opens Monday 08.00hrs – 17.00 hrs and Tuesday to Friday 08.00 hrs – 13.15 hrs, the change would therefore mean closing only two mornings per week.
This would relieve the current situation where the branch is closing at short notice and residents are unsure of opening hours.
What is the reason the Westgate Practice is proposing to reduce hours from five days per week to three days per week?
There are several reasons why this reduction is being proposed:
- To ensure efficient use of appointments: When the surgery is open five days per week, we have a significant number of unfilled GP and nurse appointments.
- To balance staff and appointment availability with patient demand: If there is not enough demand to support a five-day service at the Shenstone Branch, opening it every day would mean using more staff and resources than needed. This would reduce availability elsewhere in the Westgate practice and risk unfairness for patients across our wider community, particularly those who experience greater health needs.
- Patients from Lichfield and surrounding areas no longer wish travel to Shenstone: This is mainly due to parking restrictions at the branch surgery and traffic flow at peak times. Greenhill has its own car park for patients and Tesco’s also provides parking close by. There is no allocated parking provision at the Branch surgery. If appointments are offered at Lichfield, then patients prefer to come to Lichfield.
- Not all services can be offered at the Shenstone Branch because they need more staff to run efficiently and safely: For example, child health clinics are held at our main site, where two nurses run a full morning clinic. If this clinic were held at Shenstone, there would not be enough appointments to keep staff fully utilised, which is not an effective use of NHS resources. Flu and Covid clinics are offered on Saturdays only at our main Lichfield site. This ensures safety of patients with supporting clinicians being available should they be required. This ensures safe health care for patients.
Why is this change being proposed now?
An internal review of our services has been carried out to investigate the following:
- How many Shenstone patients use the services of the Westgate Practice at Shenstone and Lichfield
- The overall demand for appointments at the Shenstone branch
- The average number of appointments needed for all Shenstone residents
- What services are most important to Shenstone patients
- Patient safety across the Westgate Practice
The review considered use of appointments/services for the period 1st April 2025 to 23rd December 2025 (a period of 38 weeks) by all Shenstone residents.
The review showed over a 38-week period 5848 appointments had been provided to Shenstone residents out of a total of 129,516 provided by the practice. This represented 4.5% of total practice appointments offered to patients.
In an average week this equates to only 154 appointments per week and around 19 hours of clinical appointment time at the Shenstone site.
Of these appointments approximately:
- 20% were telephone appointments
- 7% were vaccinations which are held at the main site such as flu/covid clinics
- 19% blood appointments (held at both the Greenhill and Shenstone site)
- 42% acute triaged or prebooked with a GP
In conclusion it was decided that reducing the opening hours but with planned days would mean:
- Fewer last-minute closures
- More reliable services
- Clearer information for patients on services available
- Safer care
- Resources focussed where demand is highest, including urgent or complex care at Lichfield
Why am I not being offered appointments at Shenstone Branch?
There are several reasons why appointments are not always available at Shenstone Branch:
- Shenstone is a branch site, not a main surgery. Not all services can safely or realistically be provided there. Some care is safer to deliver from the main surgery, where there are more staff on site and better clinical support.
- Patient safety comes first. At the main surgery there is full clinical cover, including support from other GPs and nurses if a patient becomes unwell. This is not always possible at a small branch site.
- There is not enough demand to run full clinics at Shenstone five days a week. There are not enough patients needing pre-bookable GP and nurse appointments to fill clinics every day, which would lead to unused appointments and wasted NHS resources.
- Services are planned to use NHS staff and resources properly. By providing more services at the main surgery, the practice can offer safer care, more appointment availability overall, and better use of clinical staff time.
- Local care does not always mean every service at every site. The NHS aims to provide care locally where possible, but services must also be safe, well-staffed, and efficient.
- Face-to-face appointments are still available to everyone who needs one. When appointments are released, patients receive an email with a booking link. The message clearly explains that if you would prefer an appointment at Shenstone Branch, you can contact the practice and request this.
How is my appointment request triaged?
All of our staff try to offer an appropriate appointment location dependent upon patients address and the service required. Not all services can safely be provided at branch sites.
A booking link is provided which is text to patients. This does also state if you require a Shenstone based appointment to please call the surgery and a receptionist can book this, where appropriate.
What would I do if I was ill and the Branch surgery was closed?
You would still have practice provision at the Lichfield site where you are registered as a patient. The main Lichfield site is open 08.00 hrs – 18.30 hrs each day Monday to Friday.
What services will still be provided at Shenstone Branch?
On the planned opening days, patients will still be able to access many important services, including:
- GP pre bookable appointments
- Advance Nurse Practitioner pre bookable appointments
- Blood Test appointments
- Diabetic Health checks (annual reviews)
- B12 injections
- Help with forms and general enquiries
- Sample collections
These services can be safely provided at the branch.
Why can’t I have urgent or same-day GP appointments at Shenstone Branch?
Urgent GP appointments require:
- More doctors to be available on site
- More clinical support
- Faster access to emergency services
At smaller branch sites, this is not always possible. If a patient becomes very unwell, there may be delays if an ambulance is needed or if extra clinical help is required. Currently, ambulance wait times can be up to 8 hours and this is not safe if there is only one GP on site.
For safety reasons, urgent appointments are provided at the main Lichfield practice, where there are more staff and facilities.
What happens if I want to see a specific or named GP?
The practice has over 20 GPs who provide continuity of care. If you prefer to see a specific GP, you can choose to do so.
However:
- GPs work across both Shenstone and Lichfield, and their rota varies week to week.
- We cannot guarantee that the same GP will always be at Shenstone on the same day.
- You can still book with your preferred GP when they have clinics, either at Shenstone or at Lichfield.
This ensures you can continued care with a GP you know, while keeping appointments safe and available.
How does this fit with the NHS plan for care in the community?
The NHS aims to provide care:
- Close to home
- In the safest way
- Using staff and resources wisely
This proposal supports that by:
- Keeping Shenstone Branch open for planned care
- Reducing cancelled clinics
- Making sure urgent care is delivered where it is safest
This is about improving reliability and safety, not reducing care.
The NHS Long Term Plan aims to provide care as close to patients’ homes as possible. However, this does not mean that every service can be offered at every location. GP practices must also make sure that care is provided safely and that NHS staff and resources are used effectively. In some cases, this means providing certain services at our main site rather than at a smaller branch surgery, so that patients can receive the best possible care. The national NHS 10-year plan does not give a strict or legal definition of “local” in terms of distance or convenience (e.g., a set number of minutes travel time or a specific clinic).
What if I don’t have transport to Lichfield?
We understand that travel can be difficult for some patients. The practice covers a large geographical area, and many patients travel from surrounding areas of Lichfield such as Longdon, Fradley, Whittington as well as Shenstone.
We are looking at:
- Using telephone or online appointments where suitable
- Grouping appointments together where possible
- Helping patients find local transport or support options.
Have patients been asked for their views?
Yes, we have:
- Shared an initial survey with Shenstone patients
- Issued a longer survey at both Shenstone and Lichfield practices
- Listened to feedback from residents and community representatives
Your feedback is important and will help shape next steps.
- What are the benefits of this proposal?
- More predictable opening days for patients in Shenstone
- Fewer sudden closures
- Safer care
- Better use of staff
- Clearer communication
Will you review the opening hours if demand in Shenstone increases
Yes, appointment provision and services are reviewed on a regular basis.
What happens next?
No final decision has been made.
We will:
- Review survey feedback
- Continue discussions with residents, local councillors and MP
- Share clear updates before any changes happen
If you have questions or want to share your views, please contact the practice.