Local MP meets with Biggest GP Practice in Penistone

Marie Tidball, Member of Parliament for Penistone and Stocksbridge, met with local GP and Penistone Group Practice (PGP) Partner, Dr Matthew Teesdale, as well as their Business Manager, Donna Parker, to discuss GP healthcare in the Penistone area, provided by the practice. Dr Tidball raised her constituents’ views on healthcare provision in the local area, including access for rural villages.

Marie heard about how the new total triage system has improved access to appointments, ending the 8am telephone scramble and freeing up urgent same-day appointments. Dr Tidball praised the way PGP has kept GP appointment access, for digitally excluded and elderly residents, available by continuing to allow appointments to be booked in-person or via the telephone.

In its most recent CQC inspection, PGP achieved a rating of ‘Good’, with an ‘Outstanding’ rating in the ‘Effective Care’ category. The National Patient Survey found that 83% of patients rated the service as good overall, whilst in their month-on-month Friends and Family feedback, 97% responded that PGP was either good or very good. These represent the best results PGP have ever had.

Marie Tidball, Member of Parliament for Penistone and Stocksbridge, said:

“As a child, Penistone Group Practice was my local GP – and I was often there, sat playing in the kids’ waiting area with Rupert the Bear, who I was very pleased to see is still going strong all these years later!

“Rural healthcare provision is something I’m very passionate about because I’ve lived it. I grew up here, missing three years of school because of surgeries I needed. I’m unapologetic about my ambition for improving access to healthcare in Penistone and Stocksbridge and want it to be the best it can be.

“It was really great to meet with Dr Matthew Teesdale, GP Partner, and Donna Parker, Business Manager, to discuss the success, challenges, and opportunities that the Group’s practices face.

“We discussed improved access to appointments with the introduction of total triage, the Government’s preventative healthcare approach, and opportunities to improve healthcare – including mental health care – locally.

“The new GP contract, that this government has introduced, is backed by an additional £485 million of funding, which is helping to alleviate some of the strain facing NHS GPs. I’m so proud that, nationally, some 2,000 extra GPs have been recruited since Labour was elected in 2024.”