Last week, the NHS and the Department of Health and Social Care set out an important blueprint for improving patients’ access to GP appointments.
The shortage of local GP appointments has long been an issue of concern to Elmbridge residents, and this was exacerbated during the pandemic. This plan contains a number of welcome steps to address this, while supporting GP surgeries and their teams.
First, a £250m winter access fund will enable GP practices to improve availability for patients. This investment will fund locums (doctors working temporarily to fill a role) and support from other health professionals, with a focus on increasing capacity to boost urgent same-day care. GP appointment data will be published at a practice level by spring, providing an important mechanism of accountability.
Importantly, the plan is clear that GP practices must seek patients’ input and respect preferences for face-to-face care, unless there are good clinical reasons not to do so. Practices which do not provide appropriate levels of face-to-face care will not be able to access the additional funding and will be offered support to improve.
Next, there are measures to improve patients’ experience in dealing with their local practice. Telephone systems will be upgraded, and patients will have the option to rate their practice’s performance via text.
Finally, there are measures to support hard-working GPs. Administrative burdens will be reduced, and there will be a zero-tolerance campaign on abuse of NHS staff, including GP teams, as well as more funding for security measures.
This package is good news for Elmbridge. I’ll be working with local practices to ensure that residents see the benefits.