What does the Weymouth and Portland Frailty Service offer for care home residents?
A weekly visit
Usually from a named clinician, with cross-cover during periods of leave. The weekly visit covers:
- Routine medical care
- Chronic disease monitoring
- Non-urgent problems, and some urgent problems arising on visit day
- Advance Care Planning
- End of life planning and support when necessary
- Post-discharge reviews following a hospital stay
- Referrals to secondary care when needed
Urgent care home triage
9–11am, Monday to Friday (except bank holidays). During this time, one of the WECS team — most frequently Dr Laura Godfrey or Dr Elizabeth Jones, or one of the Frailty Advanced Clinical Practitioners — is available for urgent problems. Care homes have direct contact during these hours. Visits, if needed, are usually carried out by the Mobile Urgent Care Service (MUCS).
Quarterly Care Home Forum
Updates and education sessions, with all care homes invited.
GP cover
Dr Godfrey is the usual GP for all care home residents in Weymouth and Portland, covering:
- Routine and some urgent queries from community staff (e.g. district nurses, podiatrists)
- Repeat prescription management
- Review and action of correspondence from specialist teams
What about urgent care?
Named clinicians for each care home
Each care home has a named clinician from the WECS team:
| Clinician | Care homes |
|---|---|
| Dr Laura Godfrey | Weymouth Care Home, Anning House, Queen Charlotte Nursing Home |
| Dr Elizabeth Jones | Fairfield House |
| Lesley Oakes | Crecy, Elsadene, Weymouth Manor Care Home, Buxton House |
| Andrew Smith | Chestnuts, Danmor Lodge, Bosworth, The Lawns |
| Nancy Stafford | Ingleside, Legh House, Kingsley Court |
| Hannah Murphy | Trafalgar, Primrose Lodge |
| Rebecca Gale | Rodlands |
| Ultan Dempsey | Friary House, Agincourt |
Cross-cover support also comes from Sarah Basford and Sue Bridge. You may also have telephone contact from Alison Cameron. Meet the full team →
Which GP surgery is linked to each care home?
| GP Surgery | Care homes |
|---|---|
| Cross Road Surgery | Anning House |
| The Bridges Medical Practice | Queen Charlotte Nursing Home, Chestnuts, Danmor Lodge, Rodlands |
| Weymouth Bay Medical Practice | Friary House, Agincourt, Weymouth Care Home, Crecy, Elsadene, Kingsley Court, Trafalgar, Primrose Lodge, Bosworth, The Lawns, Ingleside |
| Wyke Regis & Lanehouse Medical Practice | Fairfield House, Weymouth Manor Care Home, Legh House, Buxton House |
How to contact the WECS team
The care home is usually your first point of contact — they will know how best to seek the required advice, for example whether to add a query to the weekly visit list or seek an urgent same-day review. They may also be able to answer your query directly.
WECS can also be contacted directly, but please note this must not be used for urgent queries — the care home will support you in getting the right response from the correct part of the healthcare system.
We endeavour to respond to queries within a week, though this may be longer if the usual clinician for the care home is on leave. Although Dr Godfrey is the usual GP, queries will be responded to by the most appropriate member of the WECS team.
By email: wp-wecs@dorsetgp.nhs.uk
Please include the patient's name, date of birth and care home, and briefly outline the problem you are seeking advice on.
Via GP surgery: Ask for a task to be sent to the WECS team, briefly outlining the problem.