Patient Newsletter - Issue 2 May 2025

The team at New Queen Street and Stanground is delighted to introduce three new GP Partners, all of whom joined over the past few months.

Dr Lekshmi Panicker and Dr Javed Khokhar started at the practice in December while Dr Olajumoke Falayajo joined in February this year. They have been welcomed by colleagues and look forward to bringing their expertise and specialisms to patients.

Dr Panicker who qualified as a GP in 2011 spent her final training year at New Queen Street and Stanground and then returned as a salaried GP between 2016 and 2018. She worked at various GP practices before deciding to come back as a Partner.

She said: ‘I already know many of the long serving doctors and admin team so it feels very familiar here. One of the things I like about Lakeside is that there is a lot of support with services and processes. I have a special interest in women’s health, including menopause and contraception, and can fit contraceptive coils. I like the mixed patient demographic that we have. It is good to be back!’

Dr Javed Khokhar trained at the University of Cambridge and worked in the city for many years. After completing his GP training in 2011 he has worked as a GP locum in Leicestershire and across the Midlands, punctuated by an eighteen-month innovative role as part of an emergency response service for the charity SSAFA.

He was involved in digital healthcare from 2017 before it became more mainstream following the pandemic and is looking forward to helping the team drive improvements at the practice. He is multi-lingual, speaking Urdu, Punjabi and Hindi and is at the stage in his career where he wanted to settle at one practice.

He said: ‘Having worked at over 90 different GP practices before coming here I have felt able to bring my professional experience to the Partnership team, helping shape the direction of the practice. It has been really interesting and varied. At New Queen Street & Stanground we have been trying to focus on improving access. Things have definitely improved, even since I joined in December 2024 and I think patients and staff are feeling happier about how the timetables and rotas have been running. We have appointments to spare now and we have implemented different ways of working.  

‘I have colleagues who already work in Lakeside practices and they gave me really positive feedback about their experience here. I feel like it is an inclusive place with a friendly team who genuinely want to put patients at the centre of their care. They want to drive forward healthcare for their own population focusing on their needs.’

Dr Ola Falayajo has been a GP for 11 years and she likes the inbuilt systems and processes that being part of Lakeside provides: ‘I decided to join as it was a bigger team, bigger organisation and with a lot more people to work with.

‘It can be busy but, as with everything, when you have the right team supporting you it makes a difference. The team are really good, so helpful. I have never felt alone, there is always someone on the end of a phone and everyone is so supportive. One of the things that attracted me to Lakeside was the fact that everything was quite standardized across the board so that is helpful when compared to working in smaller practices.

‘In General Practice you do a bit of everything. I fit contraceptive implants and have an interest in women’s health, palliative care and anything that comes my way. Everyone is helpful and the patients are nice. It is about understanding where the patients are coming from, what their needs are and trying to meet those.’

Fill in a short form to let us know how we're doing, open until Sunday 25 May 2025.

We are inviting all patients to take part in our 2025 Patient Survey, which is open until 11.45pm on Sunday 25 May 2025. This is your chance to tell us about your experience with the practice and help shape the way we deliver care in the future.

Jessica Bawden, Chief Executive of Lakeside Healthcare, said: “Your feedback, whether it’s positive or highlights areas for improvement – is incredibly valuable. It helps us understand what matters most to you, so we can continue to provide the best care possible. Even if you haven’t visited the practice recently, or have filled in a survey before, we would still really like to hear from you. Your comments show us what’s working well and where we can do better.”

The survey is being run across all Lakeside Healthcare practices and will help us identify common themes and areas for improvement. Last year, thanks to the feedback we received, we made several changes to how we work.

These included improvements to our appointment systems, staffing structures, triage process, call handling, and the availability of different types of appointments.

This year’s survey asks about your experience when contacting us, as well as whether you accessed any other advice or services beforehand, such as NHS 111 or online resources.

There are also free text boxes where you can share more detailed comments. We kindly ask that you do not include any confidential or medical information in your answers.

Dr Spellar

Dr Spellar reflects on her 29 years at New Queen Street and Stanground

Doctor Paula Spellar is the longest serving GP Partner at New Queen Street and Stanground Surgeries, having spent nearly 30 years at the practice.

She qualified in Glasgow in 1994 before doing her GP training in both Peterborough and Scotland. Over the years she has seen patient numbers virtually double and new roles and technology introduced, but it is the stability and community that makes working at the practice so special.

She said: ‘I joined Whittlesey because I liked the people. I had spent some time doing locums in the Peterborough area and realised that it's difficult to get a sense of a practice in an interview - being part of the team, even for a few days really lets you see what a practice is like. It was nice, stable practice with nice partners, staff and patients. I still get people coming in asking how my twin babies are, and they are now 18! It is things like that that make the difference. People I remember as babies are now having families themselves and one, whose mother I looked after, now works in our admin team, so it really makes you aware of the passage of time.