Dr Kay to leave Harcourt

Posted by: benkay - Posted on:

A MESSAGE FROM DR BEN KAY

Dear Patient,

I wish to inform you that I have resigned from NHS General Practice and my position as Senior Partner at Harcourt Medical Centre.

I will not be continuing as an NHS GP

Any patients registered to my list will be assigned a new GP to take over their medical care.

I will be leaving Harcourt Medical Centre at the end of November this year but will still be working as a GP. From January 2026, I will be taking over as business owner and lead GP at Southern Independent Medical Practice (SIMP), Wyndham Road, Salisbury:

https://independentdoctor.co.uk/

This is a decision I never thought I would make, having spent twenty years of my career as a partner at Harcourt since joining aged 28 in January 2006.

When I started at Harcourt in 2006, things were very different. A typical day would involve seeing up to 40 patients face-to-face, carrying out home visits for patients I knew well and completing very few telephone calls. Starting prior to Covid, and accelerated by the pandemic, things have drastically changed in primary care. The personal list is being eroded, I’m losing touch with my regular patients and new systems such as clinical triage (Accurx) have led to long working days which provide very little job satisfaction for me as a doctor, and I suspect, for my patients.

I can assure you that Harcourt remains strong and will ride the storm, the continuing GP partners are committed to offering you the best NHS care possible.

I have no crystal ball, but I suspect the NHS is going to need to undertake radical changes to offer the level of care that I feel acceptable. Currently, it seems the NHS’ priority is quantity not quality and I feel the care of the individual being put at risk by these objectives.

It is, for these reasons, that I have decided to resign.

The GP Partners at Harcourt are supportive of my move – we are one community trying our best to look after your medical needs.

May I encourage you to use the medical services at Harcourt responsibly. We all want the NHS to work for our community and the current demands on the service are reaching unmanageable levels.

Finally, thank you for being my patient; I have enjoyed working at the practice and wish you well for the future.

Dr Ben Kay FRCGP