NHS Somerset has approved the merger of Burnham & Berrow Medical Centre and Highbridge Medical Centre.
Symphony Healthcare Services recently undertook a consultation process with registered patients and local stakeholders about the proposals to combine the Burnham & Berrow Medical Centre and Highbridge Medical Centre practice contracts into one.
Following a busy engagement period, the NHS Somerset Integrated Care Board has confirmed its approval of the proposal to merge the surgeries and agreed a merger date of Tuesday 11th November 2025.
It says the change will enable practice teams to access and update one shared patient medical record system to more efficiently care for the population and will bring together all three sites at Love Lane, Pepperall Road and Berrow Health Campus into one primary care contract.
Patients don’t need to do anything in relation to their registration, as those registered currently at Burnham & Berrow Medical Centre and Highbridge Medical Centre will automatically become patients of the newly merged practice.
Kerry White, managing director at Symphony Healthcare Services, says: “Between 11 July 2025 and 21 August 2025, we undertook an engagement process to encourage patients and other local stakeholders to ask questions and share their views on the proposal.
“During this time, we were pleased to receive over 200 responses from patients and members of the public via our online Google form, letters to the surgeries, and via email.”
“The four main themes covered included availability and wait times of appointments, patient preference on location of appointments, housing developments, costing cutting (such as concerns over staff reduction or loss of practice locations), and Symphony governance.”
“We’d like to thank everyone who contacted us during the engagement period. We have listened to all the questions and queries that were raised, and a summary of patient and stakeholder feedback themes were used to support the final application process to merge the practice contracts. The feedback will also be used to support our continuing development work to provide quality and timely care to patients.”
New name
Kerry adds that in coming together as one, the surgery will be adopting a new name at the point of merger.
“Staff at the practices submitted recommendations for the newly merged practice name, and we are proud to announce that the practice will be called Symphony North Healthcare,” she says.
“The team look forward to continuing to see patients at Love Lane, Pepperall Road & Berrow Health Campus.”
What happens next?
Between now and 11th November 2025, patients should continue to contact their current registered practice as they normally would. The practice will continue to share updates with their registered patient population, to provide more details on the merger process and useful information.
All of the documents relating to the merger are available on the practice website, including an updated Frequently Asked Questions document that captures the questions raised during the engagement period.
NHS Somerset Integrated Care Board proposal review and decision: timeline
- On 8 September 2025, we presented the proposal to merge Highbridge Medical Centre and Burnham & Berrow Medical Centre to the NHS Somerset Integrated Care Board, as the commissioners of general practice within Somerset.
- On 9 September 2025, the NHS Somerset Integrated Care Board confirmed its approval of the proposal to merge the surgeries.
Engagement themes
The feedback during this period highlighted four key themes. These themes are listed below, accompanied by a short summary of our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) position:
- Availability and wait times of appointments
There will be no change to clinical staffing, so appointment availability will remain the same. To help manage this safely, we use a triage system to prioritise care based on clinical need, with urgent same-day appointments available for those who need it. We encourage our patients to share as much detail as possible when contacting us and also let us know if your condition changes.
Importantly, the proposal aims to improve services long-term, including possible new developments such as an Acute Hub, which would help to distinguish and manage urgent cases, supporting continuity of care for those that need it.
- Patient preference on location
Patients will still be able to book appointments at their usual practice site, but if they are happy to travel, earlier appointments may be available depending on the type of care needed and staff availability. Where appropriate, patients can also request to see a specific clinician, based on your clinical needs and to support continuity of care. These requests will be reviewed by the team as they currently are.
- Housing developments
Practices are funded based on the number of registered patients they have, and new registrations are essential to support and grow services. Decisions about the requirements and funding of new or expanded premises are made by NHS Commissioners and Integrated Care Systems (which are made up of, but not limited to, NHS organisations, councils, and community partners).
- Cost cutting (such as concerns over staff reduction or loss of practice locations) and Symphony governance
There will be no reduction in clinical or administrative staff due to the merger, and all three practice sites will remain open. The merger will improve how we work in the background, including moving to a single patient record system to better support clinical care. Combining contracts will open up opportunities to improve services and patient experience.
Symphony is wholly owned by Somerset NHS Foundation Trust and is a provider of NHS Services commissioned by the NHS Somerset Integrated Care Board. Symphony is regulated by the Care Quality Commission.
The FAQ documents remain available on the practice websites:
