Access to GP services has been highlighted as a key area for improvement in Sunderland following concerns from both residents and councillors. It comes after the findings were presented from a survey undertaken by Healthwatch Sunderland last summer to gather people’s general experiences of using their local out of hospital care services.
The work was carried out on behalf of All Together Better, which brings together providers and commissioning organisations in Sunderland. The city’s health and wellbeing board on Monday (July 11) heard how although overall feedback was positive, the top cause for complaint was around difficulty getting a GP appointment.
Philip Foster, managing director at All Together Better, said it is an issue they are aware of and doing work on to improve services and inform residents of other routes to care. He said: “Despite some high levels of satisfaction with GPs, the most common complaint that we heard throughout the survey was related to people’s difficulty getting a GP appointment.
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“That’s something that we did recognise and something that there is work going on at this moment in time about how we provide better access into GP surgeries. We do recognise that people were reporting they were having difficulty getting through on the phone and that’s linked to some work that’s underway.”
Councillor Kelly Chequer, chair of the health and wellbeing board, added the issue is something they are already aware of and keen to keep on the agenda. She said: “I know people around this room are particularly concerned about access to GPs, it comes up every single meeting, it comes up with our residents out in Sunderland.
“It is something that as a health and wellbeing board we need to be ensuring that this is a priority.” Councillor Dominic McDonough, St Chad’s ward representative, added although access was an issue, it was important to raise awareness visiting a GP is not always the most appropriate action.
He said: “We’ve discussed before that actually in many cases going to a GP is not the best thing for them, they can access other services. I do think that GPs are still seen as the gateway to other services when that’s not necessarily correct. I think we need to inform people better.”
Councillor Louise Farthing, cabinet member for children, learning and skills, echoed concerns over long waits in phone queues and called for alternative access methods to be looked at. She said: “You can get prescriptions online but you can’t get your appointments online, and I think that’s something I would encourage the NHS to look at in order to support GP practices with.
“I appreciate that not everybody has got online services, but the vast majority of us do now use smartphones and use those types of services.” Health chiefs added they are doing a great deal of work in looking how to utilise digital services, while also being aware of the issue of digital exclusion and ensuring this does not occur.
