Member Article

Private GP practice focuses on keeping employees well

Pinches Medical and Wellbeing is helping businesses across the North West to keep their employees in tip top health with the launch of its new practice in Macclesfield.

Founded by husband and wife team, Ian Pinches and Dr Stephanie Jones to provide primary care and wellbeing needs, the service is founded on the principle of wellbeing at the heart of health, in addition to rapid, convenient access and longer appointments.

The practice offers a five-star GP service via six in-house GPs, a nursing team and a range of wellbeing practitioners including physiotherapy, counselling and nutrition. Pinches focuses on working with businesses to create health and wellbeing plans to build resilience and prevent illness, in addition to supporting employees when they are unwell. With its group membership offering, Pinches is the ideal practice for Macclesfield and Cheshire-based businesses.

Group membership is centred on providing business members’ staff with an annual tax-efficient health assessment that benefits from a convenient monthly payment arrangement to smooth cash flow across the year. Annual health assessments are a fully tax-deductible expense for the business and, despite the huge advantages to staff and the business, have no benefit-in-kind implication for the employee.

In 2016 there were 137.3 million working days lost due to sickness or injury in the UK. One quarter of these were due to coughs and colds and more than a fifth were the result of musculoskeletal problems. Mental health accounted for more than 10% of missed working days. Rapid access to a GP who works seamlessly with the Practice physiotherapist and counsellor can reduce the time employees spend out of work and help to prevent further episodes of illness.

The health assessment consists of an initial consultation with a nurse followed by an appointment with a Pinches GP. The aim is to get to know the employee and to generate a tailored plan that will help them to stay well. The results are provided in a report with recommendations and a six-monthly check-up is arranged. Business members will have access to preferentially priced GP consultations at their convenience, enjoying up to a 50 percent reduction when they book in to see their GP.

In addition, Pinches has excellent opening offers to attract more local businesses and create local advocates.

Patients and members have priority access to longer GP appointments to address their long-term health goals and devise an ongoing support plan. Appointments are offered at times convenient to patients and their commitments from 8am to 8pm daily.

Co-founder and Commercial Director, Ian Pinches, began his career in the NHS and went on to management roles with KPMG, GE Capital, AXA and Microsoft before establishing his own management consultancy: “We’ve gone to great lengths to provide a 5-star service in terms of our facilities, the time we take to care for patients and the focus we put on their long-term health. Our ethos is that our patients should stay well not just get well. For this reason, all patients undergo a health assessment on joining, so that we can understand their individual needs and care for them in the most effective way possible.”

Dr Stephanie Jones, lead GP and Practice co-founder, has worked in a variety of clinical settings including A&E, psychiatry, paediatrics and is a Consultant Pharmaceutical Physician: “We consider the whole person. For me it’s about going back to old traditional values, providing care for the long-term and looking at people as individuals. We supplement this with the latest technologies and approaches.”

Pinches understands that personal wellbeing is an important part of an individual’s overall health and offers a wide range of services to patients, including yoga, Pilates, Tai chi, counselling, physiotherapy and aesthetic therapies. They have created an environment that offers the highest possible standards of care as well helping patients to feel relaxed and comfortable in their surroundings.

On site at Pinches Medical and Wellbeing there are also other facilities for which group members will enjoy preferential rates. These include the ground floor Art Café for relaxed meetings, confidential meetings in the Art Café private room and Board meetings or training events in the multi-function Copper Room. The Copper Room also offers conference call facilities, corporate functions and wellbeing events.
From a concierge on arrival to a coffee in The Art Café after your appointment, Pinches offers a truly unique patient experience.

For more information please visit www.pinches.life or call 01625 704777.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tamsin Dyson .