Plans to free up millions of GP appointments and recruit volunteers to help the NHS through this winter and the next have been set out by the Health and Social Care Secretary. Called 'Our Plan for Patients,' the package of measures will help people get GP appointments faster, as well as get through to their GP more easily, the government says.
Everyone who needs a doctor's appointment should get one at a GP practice within two weeks under Ms Coffey's new plans, while the most urgent cases should be seen within the same day. The plans will also include changing funding rules to recruit extra support staff so GPs can focus on treating patients.
This will free up over one million appointments per year, the government says. The plans will see more state-of-the art telephone systems to make it easier for patients to get through to their GP surgeries. Pharmacies will also help to ease pressures on GPs, by managing and supplying more medicines - such as contraception - without a GP prescription.
