Boost for patients as practices merge

Patients at GP practices in Smethwick will get to see their doctors late into the evening after centres merged.

Rood End Medical Centre, based at Tat Bank Road since the early 1990s and led by Dr Gopi Menon, has joined the Smethwick Medical Centre Group that already operates Smethwick Medical Centre in Regent Street and Hollybush Medical Centre on Hagley Road West. They have almost 12,000 patients in Smethwick and the surrounding areas. Dr Menon said: "Both our existing and prospective patients, will receive the highest level of personal attention and medical care.

"But by combining forces with the Smethwick Medical Centre Group – whose work in specialist areas is acknowledged nationally – we will be able to offer a greater range of services."

New services to be introduced at Rood End Medical Centre will include same day appointments, extended opening from 8am to 8pm, specialist nursing, and more female doctors and nurses. There will also be multi-lingual staff. The majority of Dr Menon's patients live in and around the Langley and Rood End area. Dee Kyne, business development director for the Smethwick Medical Centre Group, said the intention was to invest heavily at the Rood End Medical Centre.

She said: "There will be a steady but increasing transition as the facilities are improved and new services introduced. The aim of this is to ensure that the patients registered at our practices receive the best possible medical attention."