Chichele Road Surgery

Chichele Road Surgery in Cricklewood provides the highest quality healthcare to our patients in the Cricklewood NW2 catchment area.Our ethos has always been simple: to help and support our patients in whatever way we can. An example can be seen with the way we are supporting Mental Health.

Supporting Mental Health and Investing in the Future at Chichele Road Surgery

At Chichele Road Surgery , we believe that good healthcare goes beyond treating physical illness. 

Supporting our patients' mental wellbeing has always been an important part of what we do, which is why we are proud to have been providing dedicated mental health counselling clinics for the past five years.

The service was established in response to a growing need within our community for accessible, local mental health support. It was developed and driven forward by Practice Manager and Partner Mr Ian Richards, working closely with Mrs Nikita Richards, with the aim of creating a sustainable in-house counselling service for our patients. From the outset, the ethos has been to build something practical, patient-focused, and long-lasting, and we have not looked back since.

While many NHS-funded services have become increasingly stretched over the years , we wanted to ensure that our patients could access help in a familiar environment, close to home and from people who understand the community they serve.

Our mental health clinics are currently led by a highly experienced, fully qualified counsellor who is employed directly by the practice. Working alongside them is a team of up to four experienced student counsellors, all of whom receive regular supervision and support from external counselling professionals.

Together they provide a safe and supportive space for patients experiencing a wide range of emotional and mental health challenges.

Despite approaching the NHS on a number of occasions to seek funding for this servise, we have never recieved financial support. 

Nevertheless, we continue to invest many thousands of pounds of practice income each year to maintain the counselling programme because we see first-hand the difference it makes to our patients. 

This investment covers the employment of our qualified counsellor as well as the professional supervision provided to our student counsellors.

We consider this money well spent. The service provides patients with timely access to meaningful support and positive, workable outcomes that do not neccessarily involve prescription medication alone.

It also helps to reduce pressure on GP appointments by ensuring that patients experiencing emotional and mental health difficulties can access dedicated counselling support from appropriately trained professionals. The overwhelming positive feedback we recieve from patients continues to reinforce the value of this investment and our commitment to maintaining the service.  

In many respects , our counselling clinics represent a return to the type of holistic care that was once more commonly available through general practice. 

We recognise that mental and physical health are closely linked, and we remain committed to supporting both. By offering counselling within the surgery , we are able to provide support locally to our registered patients, removing some of the barriers that can often prevent people from accessing help when they need it most.  

Our ethos is simple: to help and support our patients whenever and wherever we can.  

Alongside our commitment to patient care, Chichele Road Surgeryis also passionate about developing the next generation of healthcare professionals. 

As an NHS GP Training practice , we have been delighted to support medical students from University College London Medical School and Sheffield University as they begin their medical careers. By offering placements, mentoring and hands-on experience in primary care, we are helping to shape the future doctors and GPs who will serve communities across the country.   

We are equally proud of the opportunities we provide to student counsellors, allowing them to gain valuable practical experience while delivering an important service to local patients. 

Through these placements, aspiring counsellors are able to develop their skills under the guidance of experienced professionals while contributing to the wellbeing of our community. 

Several of our former student counsellors have gone on to establish succesful careers within the profession, something we are extremely proud to have supported. 

 As healthcare continues to evolve , we remain committed to the values that have guided Chichele Road Surgery for many years: compassion,accessibility,community involvement and investment in the future. 

We are immensely proud of what has been achieved over the last five years. The success of our counselling clinics demonstrates what can be accomplished when a practice places the needs of its patients and community at the heart of everything it does. 

By choosing to continue funding this service ourselves, we have been able to provide local, accessible mental health support while helping patients recieve the right care , at the right time from the the right professionals. 

At the same time, through our work with student counsellors and medical students, we are helping to develop the healthcare workforce of tomorrow.

Commenting on the success of the programme, Lead GP Partner Dr. Nadia Taha said: 

"We believe that supporting mental health is every bit as important as supporting physical health. While funding pressures across the NHS are well known, we have chosen to continue investing in this service because we see the positive impact it has on our patients every day. We are proud to offer support close to home, within the community we serve, and to play our part in developing the healthcare professionals of the future."

Safe Surgery

We are proud to be a safe surgery for everyone in our community.

In recognition of the barriers to healthcare access faced by people in vulnerable circumstances, including migrants, we commit to protecting the human right to health.

We will take steps to ensure that everyone in our community may fulfill their entitlement to quality healthcare.

In partnership with Doctors of the World UK, we will ensure that our practice offers a welcoming space for everyone who seeks to use our services.

Mindful of our duties to uphold equality and human rights law, we will implement patient registration policies which do not discriminate based on race, gender, sexual orientation, immigration status or any other characteristic.

Supported by the Safe Surgeries initiative, we will ensure that our staff understands the specific barriers faced by migrants in vulnerable circumstances and that they are empowered to mitigate these barriers, where possible. We will ensure that a lack of identification or proof of address, immigration status or language do not prevent patient registration.

As a member of the Safe Surgeries community, we will endeavor to support other Safe Surgeries and, where appropriate, provide feedback to Doctors of the World UK to support the development of the network.

If you wish to register please speak to a member of staff who can help and support you with the process of registration.