Latest news with #GPappointments
The Independent
21-07-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Brits have their say on whether 10-year health reforms will improve NHS
A new Ipsos survey indicates that nearly half of the British public is sceptical about the government 's 10-year health plan improving GP appointments or A&E waiting times. The poll found that 35 per cent of respondents believe the plan will have no impact on GP access, with 14 per cent anticipating it will make appointments more difficult. Despite this widespread scepticism, key proposals within the plan, including the establishment of neighbourhood health centres and the expansion of the NHS app, garnered significant public support. Over three-quarters of those surveyed backed the creation of neighbourhood health centres and a ban on the sale of high-caffeine energy drinks. The Department of Health and Social Care affirmed the plan's popularity, stating it resulted from extensive consultation and aims to deliver improved care for all patients.
BBC News
08-07-2025
- Health
- BBC News
GPs cut appointments after computer problems in Nottinghamshire
Some GPs say surgeries in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire have cut down appointments as they deal with computer problems impacting the delivery of blood test results. Practices have complained of being "bombarded" with duplicate blood test results after new IT systems were introduced at hospital pathology labs in the city and Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) said it had made some progress sorting out the difficulties and was continuing to liaise with doctors. Dr Carter Singh, a GP at the Willowbrook Medical Practice in Sutton-in-Ashfield, said the problems receiving test results had created "extra stress and workload for doctors who are already stretched". In the first week since the new information technology systems at pathology labs went live, there have been a series of problems reporting blood test results to GP computer software needed updating because the old software used at the pathology labs based at the Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham City Hospital and King's Mill Hospital in Ashfield was no longer supported. This is not the first time there have been issues around information technology used for blood tests. In September 2024, Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust declared a critical incident because of computer problems. Dr Singh said one of the biggest problems had been working out what results had been sent to GPs electronically from the labs. He said: "Rather than one test result coming through, we have been dealing with duplicated results and others sometimes sent four or five times, [that are] exactly the same results. "It takes a lot of effort and energy to file and navigate and it means less time for patients." The Nottinghamshire Local Medical Committee (LMC), which represents local GPs, stressed it is continuing to work to resolve problems. Michael Wright, the LMC chief executive, said: "It is frustrating that practices were reassured the new system would work … it is causing so many problems." He understood the testing of the system was made on "dummy patients" - and only when it went live for real patients did problems said one GP was starting work early at 4.30am to get on top of the difficulties ahead of seeing patients, a situation Mr Wright concluded is "clearly unsustainable".He added some practices had declared a "black alert" status, meaning they were struggling to maintain their normal levels of Wright said he was not aware that patient safety had so far been compromised but concluded "the time needed to deal with these issues has to come from somewhere".He understood some surgeries have been forced to reduce the number of appointments offered as they grapple with computer problems and, if issues persist, that may have to continue. 'Significant progress' In a statement, Caroline Goulding, director of Primary Care at NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, said: "We have experienced some issues following the launch of new IT systems in the pathology departments at Nottingham University Hospitals and Sherwood Forest Hospitals on 30 June."This has been impacting the way blood test results are reported to GP practices. Whilst this has not affected the accuracy and quality of the tests, it has, regrettably, led to practices requiring extra time to process and study those results due to the way they have been provided."The ICB and hospital leaders have been working with GP representatives to work through these problems at speed and significant progress has been made."The new IT systems were required to replace an old system which was no longer being supported by the supplier and, as with many projects of this size and complexity, this can sometimes lead to some short-term disruption."We are sorry for the significant impact this has had on our GP practices and are grateful for their continued hard work and support during this."
BBC News
02-07-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Jersey health appointment costs cut by £10
Costs for certain healthcare appointments have been cut by £10 in government said the subsidy would be for nurses, pharmacists, paramedics, health care assistants and telephone consultations in general follows previous reductions to the cost of GP appointments in Jersey after £20 was cut in 2023 and £30 in government said reducing GP service fees was a "priority" to ease financial pressures on households and help islanders access GP care early and without fear of high costs. The government said the subsidy would not apply to out-of-hours services provided by Jersey Doctors on Call, or for patients in the Health Access Scheme who paid fixed reduced fees for GP services. 'Important expansion' People living in Jersey are required to pay for most healthcare, including GP appointments, non-emergency hospital treatment, dentistry, pharmacists and ante-natal Security Minister Lyndsay Feltham said he was pleased to introduce the new said: "I'm grateful to general practice for working with us to deliver this important expansion."Together, we are working to strengthen a high-quality, accessible and flexible primary care system for all islanders."Dr Gordon Callander, from the island's Primary Care Body, said practices were doing all they could to minimise the impact of costs for patients."It is great that the important work of practice nurses, healthcare assistants, paramedics and pharmacists is recognised by Employment, Social Security and Housing to allow the evolution of services offered to patients," Dr Callander added. The move has received some criticism over concerns about increased expenditure on the Health Insurance Helier North Deputy Max Andrews said figures he received from the social security minister had shown the value of the fund was forecast to drop from just under £93,998,000 in 2025 to £67,375,000 in said: "The fund value is forecast to decrease, as the figures show, so the last thing the minister should be doing is bringing about additional expenditure measures."I understand there are cost-of-living pressures. However, without an intervention to maintain the fund value, we could see the Health Insurance Fund deplete sooner than we anticipated."
BBC News
21-06-2025
- Health
- BBC News
'We're not Rottweilers': Behind the scenes at a GP 8am scramble
Anyone who has ever tried to get a GP appointment in England will be familiar with the "8am scramble", as you phone your local surgery desperately hoping to get surgeries - like the Tudor House Medical Practice - open their telephone lines at 08:00, meaning that if you want an on-the-day appointment, you have to phone on the dot at 08: can prove a source of frustration, with Jayne Bond - part of a four-strong team at the increasingly busy practice - often at the sharp end of patients' upset."Some people think we are Rottweilers, and we are trying to stop them getting appointments," she practice invited the BBC to watch them at work first thing in the morning during the busiest part of their day, when those phone lines open. "When the phone lines open, it just goes manic," fellow receptionist Sandra Brewster knows the scene at the practice, in Sherwood, is repeated at surgeries across the land when they release their same-day bookable appointments first thing."It is mad - we try and grab a cup of tea before the phones open up," Sandra added. Often potential patients can get frustrated when receptionists ask for more 66, said: "We are on the ball - we have to be."Some people think we are nosy, but we are just trying to get them to the right person."Eighty per cent of face-to-face GP appointments at the surgery are bookable on the day and released first thing, and typically within half an hour, they are gone. We observed the pressure on a typical Wednesday morning. Jayne said: "We normally call it 'wacky Wednesday' - it can be a very busy day." Only five minutes after the lines open, more than 30 people are queuing to get telephone system has recently been upgraded, with an option for people to request to be phoned back without the caller losing their place in the despite this "improvement", high demand will mean some inevitably miss also 66, admits receptionists can't always give people they want."People have said to me, 'well if I die it will be your fault'. "There can be verbal abuse - you just have to go home and forget about it and remember it is the situation, not personal, but they are the calls you remember," she observed that 50 people were booked in at the surgery within 25 minutes. This relentless demand for appointments is a picture repeated across the country, and has seen the government step in earlier this Labour government had pledged in its manifesto to end the early morning phone "scramble" for appointments, and in February, confirmed a deal to give an extra £889m a year to general new contract says patients should be able to arrange appointments online throughout working hours, freeing up the phones for those who need them most, and making it easier for practices to triage patients based on medical manager Tricia Gibbons said patients were "getting more used to not always seeing a GP".The 56-year-old said: "When I first started 11 years ago, we only had access to GPs and trainee doctors."The surgery now has an expanded team of health professionals to complement the work of family doctors, including an advanced nurse practitioner and a clinical pharmacist, which can see stressed, though, that "the doctors are always there to offer back-up"."This model is about giving doctors more time to focus on more complex cases," she said."Other members of the team are well placed to deal with the more minor illnesses and ailments." Dr Jonathan Lloyd, a GP partner at the surgery, said demand for primary care had gone up hugely since he began working as a doctor almost 30 years ago."The number of appointments the average patient has each year has increased, and people have got older, and there are more people with dementia and chronic disease," he said. "The number of GPs has not increased at the same rate, so there is more pressure on doctors."He said accessing primary care across the country was a "big problem", but felt most patients were "comfortable" knowing they might not always see a said six out of 10 GP appointments were in person, with the rest on the phone, which "many people are quite happy about"."Our patients have control over that - if they want to see me face-to-face, they can," he added. 'Nowhere near a solution' Latest annual figures from NHS England show that record numbers of appointments - more than 370 million - were offered by GP surgeries in 2024-25, with almost two-thirds face to face, and the rest out of 10 appointments at surgeries are with doctors, and the rest with other health than half of appointments were booked at least a day ahead, with the rest on the same day. Katie Bramall-Stainer, who chairs the British Medical Association GPs' committee, previously told BBC Breakfast that the new government deal could see patients begin to notice a difference in six to 12 months, but said the overall situation was "nowhere near a solution".So for now, the likes of Jayne and Sandra will continue to keep an eye on the clock as 8am approaches.
Daily Mail
15-06-2025
- Health
- Daily Mail
The secrets to beating the 8am scramble for GP appointments by the people who really know - the receptionists! And at least one of them is VERY surprising...
The secrets to beating the 8am scramble for GP appointments by the people who really know - the receptionists! And at least one of them is VERY surprising... They're often painted as the grim-faced gatekeepers of the overstretched NHS. Manning the phone lines to surgeries, GP receptionists have long borne the brunt of patients' growing frustration with the primary care system.
