Knowsley has some of the lowest number of GPs per population in the region according to a new report which described GP services as “in trouble”.
The report, produced ahead of a meeting of Knowsley’s Better Together Board due to meet at Court Hey Park on Wednesday, states that the borough has the least number of GPs, once the size of population is taken into account, than other local authorities across both Merseyside and Cheshire.
The situation “reflects some of the demographic and socioeconomic challenges in Knowsley” according to the report, which may make it more difficult to recruit and retain medical professionals within the borough.
There are currently 25 GP practices across Knowsley operating across 32 different locations, with the vast majority open for new patient registrations.
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With more than 840,000 GP consultations last year in the borough, the number of appointments has increased above pre-pandemic levels by just under 2%. This is in contract to elsewhere in the region where appointment levels have increased by more like 9%.
The report describes some of the challenges faced by general practice in recent years, stating that chronic staff shortages and the pressure from changes to working practices brought about due to covid has left the sector “in trouble” with ever deteriorating levels of patient satisfaction.
Among the issues raised was the unpopularity of remote methods of contacting GPs and the increasing use of telephone appointments.
According to the report some patients have been left waiting around 40mins to speak to a receptionist, while the average waiting time is just over three minutes.
However it was noted that the sample size was small and no data is available about how many people hung up while waiting in the queue to speak to a receptionist.
The problems faced by general practice is impacting not only on patient satisfaction but also GPs, who are facing increasing levels of “burn out” according to the report.
Steps being taken by NHS partners include work to improve telephone access and “empower” patients with improved digital tools, as well as working to increase capacity across the workforce.
Improvement plans were submitted last month by primary care networks with the aim of improving patient access to GP services, with a regional level primary care recovery plan also in development although the report adds that these measures will “take time” for the impact to be seen.
The report will be discussed at a meeting of the Knowsley Better Together board being held at Court Hey Park on Wednesday, July 12 at 10am
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