Zoë Pursglove’s 30-year journey in Integrated Urgent Care
Discover Zoë Pursglove’s 30 year career in Integrated Urgent Care and what has motivated her at Practice Plus Group.
Zoë Pursglove, Quality and Patient Experience Manager within our Suffolk and North East Essex IUC service, marked an incredible milestone in 2025. She has completed 30 years of excellence with the organisation.
Here, Zoë reflects on her journey, the changes she’s seen, and what has kept her motivated throughout her career. Zoe shares:
“I joined the organisation on 12 June 1995 as an administrative assistant with Suffolk Doctors on Call (SDOC), which was a newly formed GP co-operative at the time.
Our logo was a bat, to represent night working. We operated from a small back room in a podiatry clinic, with windows that only opened six inches because local children would try to steal the telephones! It was chaotic, fun and challenging — but there was such a strong team spirit.
As SDOC expanded across Suffolk, Great Yarmouth and Waveney, I progressed into operations management. By 1998, we were among the first services to launch NHS Direct, which later evolved into NHS 111. It was an exciting time to be part of urgent care, as services were developing and changing so quickly.
In 2005, the organisation became Take Care Now (TCN) and I moved into customer services and relationship management, working closely with commissioners and patient groups. We then expanded into Worcestershire and Cambridgeshire.
Suddenly our small Suffolk-based co-op felt much bigger, but it’s brilliant that I still work with colleagues from those early services today — just in different roles.
Building, leading and adapting services
One of the most unusual and memorable parts of my career came in 2008, when I was asked to manage a new face-to-face dental service using a mobile dental unit — affectionately known as the ‘torture truck’.
It was meant to be a two-year contract, but I ended up managing it for 10 years and holding the CQC registration. Patients loved it and the feedback was always superb, which made it incredibly rewarding.
Since then, the organisation has continued to evolve — through Harmoni, Care UK and now Practice Plus Group — and so has my career. I’ve held a variety of roles, including Regional Relationship Manager, Cluster Manager, and now Quality and Patient Experience Manager.
Over the years, I’ve seen handwritten notes and carbon-copy forms replaced by digital systems and the NHS App. What hasn’t changed is the commitment to patients and the strength of the teams.
The team keep me motivated — my work family. We’re always learning, always putting patients first, and never afraid to say sorry when we get something wrong. That ethos has never left.
My role today
In my current role, I focus on quality and patient experience, working collaboratively to use feedback and learning to drive improvement across the service. That openness and willingness to learn is something I’ve seen throughout my time here.
If I had any advice for new colleagues, it would be this: never be afraid to ask a question — there’s no such thing as a silly one. Be kind, support each other, and keep learning. We all learn every day.
Looking back over 30 years, I’m proud of how much the organisation has grown and changed — but also of the values that have stayed the same. That’s what’s kept me here”.
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