No more 8am appointment scramble: Now GPs have to give patients a slot or refer them elsewhere the first time they call
7 March 2023, 10:16 | Updated: 7 March 2023, 12:24
The end of the dreaded 8am rush for the doctor could be in sight after NHS bosses ordered GPs to give patients an appointment or a referral the first time they call.
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Some practices currently tell patients to call back the next day if all the appointments for that day are taken.
A new NHS contract, which comes into force in April, means that GP staff will have to let patients book consultations in advance, or refer them to other services, like a pharmacist or physiotherapist.
But some GP belonging to the doctors' union have threatened to go on strike over the terms of the new contract, which they branded "insulting".
A letter sent by NHS England Tuesday told all GP practices: "To ensure consistency in the access that patients can expect, the GP contract will be updated to make clear that patients should be offered an assessment of need, or signposted to an appropriate service, at first contact with the practice.
"Practices will therefore no longer be able to request that patients contact the practice at a later time."
That "assessment of need" could be over the phone telephone or face-to-face.
People with minor illnesses could be sent to speak to a pharmacist and those with muscle problems may be referred to a physiotherapist. People with more pressing problems will be directed to A&E, 999 or 111.
Speaking in February, Dr Kieran Sharrock, acting chairman of the BMA’s GP committee in England, called the contract offer "a slap in the face of hardworking GPs and patients across the country."
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He added: "To offer nothing to meet the spiralling costs of running practices as inflation runs rife, and teams continue to do more with less, is insulting to staff and unsafe for patients."
But others were more welcoming of the new contract. Professor Aruna Garcea, chair of the Primary Care Network’s advisory group at the NHS Confederation, said there was "a lot to welcome".
She added: "Primary care leaders support the ambitions of the contract and the increased focus on improving access for patients."
Dennis Reed, director of Silver Voices, which campaigns for elderly people, urged the NHS and government to go further.
He said: "The end of the frustration of being asked to call back, after queuing to get through to make an appointment, certainly represents progress but it is no guarantee of a timely face-to-face appointment with a GP."
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Ursula Montgomery, director of primary care at NHS England, said: "GP teams have worked hard to deliver record numbers of appointments with half a million more delivered each week last year compared to pre-pandemic, and this new contract aims to build on this further with more access for patients.
"As well as providing same day care to more than two fifths of patients, GP teams will also step-up preventive action against heart attacks and strokes over the next year, with health professionals encouraged to prescribe statins alongside other preventative measures such as exercise to a much wider number of patients with heart disease, arterial disease and those who suffered a stroke or who have high levels of cholesterol.
"Millions more patients will also have access to their own health records on their smartphones so they can check their test results without needing to contact their practice.
"Frontline teams will be backed by greater funding to expand their teams, with more mental health practitioners, advanced practitioners, and apprentice physician associates joining the workforce, combined with changes to ensure staff spend less time doing paperwork and more time with patients instead.
"This contract supports GP teams to provide what matters to patients, and later this Spring the NHS will publish the GP Recovery Plan on how access to care will be expanded even further."
