Appointment numbers increase, but patients still struggle to get timely care

As many as one in five people say they’ve been told to call back another day when they’ve phoned their practice. In the Office for National Statistics survey, 10% of patients reported being told to wait at least two weeks for an appointment. Nearly 90,000 people took part in the survey.

Previously, the Liberal Democrats reported a big increase in the number of patients facing month-long waits to see a GP.

NHS England said that practices delivered more than 30 million appointments in February, representing 23% more than February 2020, just before the pandemic. It says practices are now delivering 57 million more appointments annually than five years ago.

The Royal College of GPs Vice Chair, Dr Victoria Tzortziou-Brown, said: “We’re working really hard to ensure patients are receiving safe and timely care, and in February (the latest data available) 44% of appointments were delivered on the day they were booked – it’s also worth noting that many appointments that are made several weeks ahead are completely appropriate, for example for routine or review appointments.”

Backing for rejection of this year’s contract

Practice managers have backed the decision of GPs to reject this year’s contract changes.

More than 99% of GPs and GP registrars voted against the contract imposed by NHS England, opening the way for protest action by practices. More than 19,000 doctors voted in the BMA referendum. A formal vote on industrial action may take place later this year.

The IGPM responded with a message of support for the BMA. It said: “Our members are worried about the future of general practice. We know the impact on patients of these real-term cuts.”

Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer, Chair of the BMA’s GP Committee in England, said: “The overwhelming result signals the start of our fight back, and we will bring our patients with us.”

Alarm as support for trainee visas withdrawn

Practices supporting newly qualified GPs who need visas are to lose their support service at NHS England.

Practices have to hold a licence to sponsor international graduates who have trained as GPs in the UK as they’re not immediately eligible for permission to gain “leave to remain”. The newly qualified GPs now have four months to apply for short-term visas and gain sponsorship after they qualify.

Doctors or practices with queries about visas will now have to deal directly with the Home Office rather than NHS England’s visa support service.

The Royal College of GPs Vice Chair, Dr Victoria Tzortziou-Brown, said: “We are extremely disappointed and concerned at the closure of this service, which has provided important support over the last few years. Our International Medical Graduates make an incredible contribution to the care of patients in general practice and the wider NHS. We will be raising our concerns with MPs and asking for reassurance from the Home Office that cases will be dealt with speedily and efficiently.”

Almost all practices have digital phone systems

Almost all practices in England now have cloud-based digital phone systems for handling patient calls.

NHS England said that the 5,000 practices with the systems represent 92% of practices. The remaining practices are due to receive systems within weeks.

NHS England National Director for Primary Care, Dr Amanda Doyle, said: “The NHS has delivered on its promise to upgrade GP telephone systems to make it easier for patients to contact their surgery. This is welcome news for patients and just one of a range of measures to make it quicker for people to get the help they need from their local GP team.”

App-ordered repeat prescriptions increase

More than three million repeat prescriptions are now ordered monthly through the NHS App. This represents a 44% increase in usage in the last month. A feature, introduced in January, allows patients to see when prescriptions have been issued and more than 2.7 million people have now used this, according to NHS England data. More than 34 million people are now registered users of the NHS App.

NHS England says that every electronic ordering of a repeat prescription saves practices three minutes of time, while patients save, on average, 18 minutes.

Project improved access for most vulnerable patients

By providing “accessible” care to patients who may have combined problems of homelessness, substance misuse, poor mental health and perhaps abuse and violence, practices can reduce demand on emergency and unplanned care, according to the researchers in the British Journal of General Practice.

Dr Lucy Potter and colleagues reported on their project undertaken at three practices in an inner-city area of Bristol. Staff had service improvement meetings and took measures such as creating “inclusion patient” lists and providing a care coordinator to ensure continuity.

Dr Potter, a GP based at Bristol Medical School, said: “We know that any one of these factors can have a real impact on somebody’s health and a combination of these has an even bigger impact. Services quite like to deal with one thing at a time and the reality ends up being incompatible with the way services are run.”

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