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<p>The Government has committed to ensuring that everyone can see their general practitioner
at a convenient time by increasing the availability of routine appointments in general
practice in the evening and at the weekend.</p><p> </p><p>By March 2019, all clinical
commissioning groups (CCGs) should provide extended access to general practice for
the whole of their registered population, subject to local demand. This includes ensuring
that access is available during peak times of demand, including bank holidays and
across the Easter, Christmas and New Year periods. This deadline was brought forward
to 1 October 2018 in the latest National Health Service planning guidance, which was
published by NHS England in February 2018, to ensure additional capacity is in place
ahead of winter 2018.</p><p> </p><p>The delivery of the commitment is assessed in
two ways, which use different measures of extended access.</p><p> </p><p>The first
measure relies on NHS England’s bi-annual survey of extended access, which collects
data direct from general practices. This showed that, in September 2018, full extended
access was available to 30.8 million registered patients, comprising 55.3% of all
registered patients in England. This represents widening of coverage since March 2018,
when the previous bi-annual survey found that full extended access was available to
22.6 million, or (39.7%) registered patients. The next bi-annual survey, to be published
in April 2019, will show the extent of coverage in March 2019.</p><p> </p><p>The second
measure uses the General Practice Forward View Monitoring Survey, which is a monthly
return from CCGs that covers all extended access provision, including that delivered
via extended access hubs. The results are published via the CCG Improvement and Assessment
Framework. The latest data show that, in August 2018, full extended access was available
to 40 million registered patients comprising 68% of the registered patient population.
This also represents a widening of access relative to March 2018, when full extended
access was available to 35.4 million registered patients, comprising 61% of the registered
patient population. Data for September and October 2018 are not yet available.</p>
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