General Practices Cardiff City and South Cluster
The City and South Cardiff Cluster consists of 6 GP practices serving a population of circa 41,000 which is one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse in Wales. This is reflected in the diversity of the languages spoken by the cluster population, and the many churches, mosques and community groups that are active in the area. The Cluster is ranked as the 3rd most deprived registered population by cluster area in Wales, out of a total of 63 clusters.
GP Practices in the Cluster
Butetown Medical Practice
Cardiff Bay Surgery
Clare Road Medical Centre
Corporation Road Surgery
Grange Medical Practice
Grangetown Health Centre
Individual Cluster Plans and Reports
The City and South Cardiff Cluster is currently in the process of developing its individual plans for 2024-25 which will be based on population needs assessment and local priorities identified by the cluster.
What are we working on?
Our aim as a Cluster is to improve the health of our population through exploring and implementing initiatives that will improve the quality of care and support our patients receive. We are working collaboratively involving all primary care professional’s such as GPs, Pharmacists, Optometrists, and Dentists to improve patient access to these primary care and community services by:
Ensuring there is capacity to meet the needs of the area’s growing population. We are working to ensure that our services can meet the growing demands on primary care, as the Cluster population is expected to grow given the many new housing developments predicted to be completed in Butetown and Grangetown within the next 5 years.
Increasing the uptake of childhood immunisation and screening, by working in conjunction with colleagues in the Local Public Health Team and Cardiff Council who are trying to promote the uptake of childhood immunisation and health screening as this is essential to keeping of population as healthy as possible.
Participating in The Royal College of GPs Deep End project: Deep End Wales Project (rcgp.org.uk) in developing a network of GPs serving the most socioeconomically deprived communities in Wales, with the shared purpose of making the provision of healthcare more equitable. To achieve this, they are working collaboratively to share ideas, conduct research, provide mutual support, champion patients living in areas of high-levels of deprivation, and implement change - through transforming the way primary care is funded, commissioned, and delivered for patients living in the most socioeconomically deprived communities in Wales.
What we have already done
Type 2 diabetes is a serious medical issue which can be managed with lifestyle and medical interventions. The Cluster has employed two Specialist Diabetes Nurses, who run clinics in GP practices. These Specialist Diabetes Nurses support patients in self-managing their medications and offer advice on lifestyle changes that patients can make to improve their health. The Cluster has also engaged in the All Wales Diabetes Prevention Programme which aims to identify those people at risk of developing diabetes and help them to avoid developing the disease.
Piloted the HIV texting4testing intervention with Fast Track Cardiff & Vale, bringing the Fast Track Cities initiative to Cardiff & Vale: Texting 4 Testing – T4T – Fast Track Cardiff & Vale. The cluster GP Practices sent a text message to patients with a link for them to request a home HIV testing kit and following success of the pilot, the texting4testing project was rolled out across Wales.
Promoted healthy living and healthy lifestyle behaviours by holding a Cluster Health Fair in the Butetown Resource Centre. The fair promoted healthy living and presented healthy lifestyle behaviours in a fun, family, accessible and achievable manner and covered topics related to a variety of health needs which included smoking cessation, dementia awareness, dental health and practical cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) awareness.
Identifying additional ways in which to help people maintain their own health and wellbeing by engaging with third sector services which can connect them to local support groups and community activities.
Future Priorities for the Cluster
A Community Garden Social Prescribing Project. This project is aimed at offering people who are experiencing low-mood or loneliness, the opportunity to meet with others, spend time in nature and enjoy harvesting fruits and vegetables grown in the garden. This pilot will include use of a community garden facility located at one of our GP Practice sites.
Improving the uptake of Bowel Cancer Screening by working with our Public Health teams to promote the importance of screening and to raise awareness of the simplicity of the process.
Improving the uptake of immunisation and vaccinations in conjunction with colleagues in the Local Public Health Team we are aiming to increase the uptake of immunisation and screening by proactively following up people who have not responded to invitations for vaccinations from their GP Practice.
To improve our connection with patients whose first language is not English by working with link workers and faith leaders in working within the community to educate and remove the barriers impacting on the uptake of immunisation and screening for this cluster population. We are also keen to better engage our population in helping us to design services.
To increase basic understanding of the 5 key areas of lifestyle behaviours that have major implications on health and wellbeing regarding smoking, alcohol, physical activity, diet and immunisations for the population of Cardiff City & South.
Last updated: November 2023