Region aims to reduce practice appointment load

Targets have been set to reduce appointments with GPs in one region by using nurses and pharmacists, it has been revealed.

The plan has been drawn up in the west of England and would involve Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.

The region says it wants to reduce GP appointments by 27% and has set the target for 2020 in its Sustainability and Transformation Plan.

It says it will be achieved “through diversion of work to more appropriate multidisciplinary team members and non-clinical services.”

It was welcomed by senior GPs as a way to reduce the pressure on the profession.

The plan also proposes cutting visits to practices by 15% by making better use of on-line consultations and monitoring services.

Planners said they wanted to reduce demand for GP appointments.

Royal College of GPs chair Professor Helen Stokes-Lampard told the Health Service Journal: “These highly trained healthcare professionals can provide much-needed support to GPs and our existing teams at a time when the profession is under intense resource and workforce pressures.

“They will be instrumental in freeing up GPs’ time to deal with complex patients who really need the expert skills of a family doctor who considers the physical, psychological and social context during the consultation.”