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.
Pharmacies will also take referrals from emergency care for minor illnesses or symptoms, such as a cough, headache or sore throat. It's thought that the move could free up to two million GP appointments a year.
As part of the plan, the public will be called upon to take part in a “national endeavour” to support the health and social care system. The one million volunteers who stepped up during the pandemic to support the NHS will be asked to come forward again, alongside a push for more volunteering across the NHS and social care.
Thérèse Coffey will lay out the new plans in a statement to the House of Commons on Thursday afternoon.
Deputy Prime Minister Ms Coffey said: "I will put a laser-like focus on the needs of patients, making their priorities my priorities and being a champion for them on the issues that affect them most. Our Plan for Patients will make it easier to get a general practice appointment and we will work tirelessly to deliver that, alongside supporting our hardworking GP teams.
“We know this winter will be tough and this is just the first step in our work to bolster our valued NHS and social care services so people can get the care they need.”
From November, the NHS will accelerate the roll-out of new cloud-based telephone systems to make it easier for patients to get through to their general practice, with more phone lines to take calls from patients and provide information about their place in the queue, or direct them to the right place for help.
As part of the extra staff to support GPs to focus on seeing patients, the government will free up funding for practices to employ more roles, including GP assistants and more advanced nurse practitioners, in addition to the roles they are already able to recruit such as pharmacists, mental health practitioners and nursing associates.
This supports the government’s commitment to deliver 26,000 more primary care staff to help improve access to appointments. "Our Plan for Patients" will build on the NHS winter plan, which includes plans and announcements about A&E winter pressure, the cold weather plan and flu immunisation.
The new measures will set out further detail on how the public will receive the care they need this winter and next, prioritising ambulances, backlogs, care and doctors and dentists.
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