Micro-teams for better continuity in Tower Hamlets: we have a problem but we’re working on a promising solution!

We want fresh doctors', a Patient Participation Group member requested during an engagement event in Tower Hamlets in 2014.He went on to explain that he no longer wanted to consult doctors who looked tired and distracted.Tower Hamlets is characterised by high social disadvantage.People live with more illness, consult more frequently, and die younger, compared with more affluent areas.The number of patient contacts per GP is very high, resulting in both patients and doctors feeling more stressed after consultations.Despite this, Tower Hamlets is a place characterised by clinical leadership that is collaborative, innovative, brave, and informed by evidence.Restoring relational continuity of care has been high on the agenda because it improves safety and is cost-effective, through reducing prescriptions, tests, emergency department attendance, and hospital admissions. 1 In 2007, all 36 practices responsible for the 270 000 residents were organised into eight geographical networks, delivering services to approximately 35 000 patients per network.Continuity of information has been enabled through the universal use of EMIS Web across all practices and continuity of management is delivered through a set of commissioned network-improved services.