| answer text |
<p>The average waiting time for a general practitioner (GP) appointment is not collected
or held centrally. In the 2018 GP patient survey 61.6% of respondents (who could remember
whether or not they were able to get an appointment, and when they wanted the appointment)
stated they saw or spoke to someone at a time they wanted to or sooner. NHS England
is working with NHS Digital to consider ways of improving the availability and quality
of GP data, including waiting times data.</p><p> </p><p>The Government has committed
to improving access to general practice services by 2019. This includes ensuring there
are sufficient routine appointments available at evenings and weekends to meet locally
determined demand, alongside effective access to out of hours and urgent care services.
The latest National Health Service planning guidance, issued by NHS England in February
2018, requires clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to provide extended access to
general practice to their whole population by 1 October 2018, to ensure additional
capacity is in place ahead of winter 2018.</p><p> </p><p>The General Practice Forward
View (GP Forward View), published in April 2016, commits to increasing investment
in General Practice by £2.4 billion a year by 2020/21 from £9.7 billion in 2015/16
to over £12 billion by 2020/21 – a 14% real-terms increase. This investment will improve
patient care and access, and facilitate new ways of providing primary care.</p><p>
</p><p>Commissioners of primary medical care services monitor practice catchment areas
to ensure that all areas of the country have primary medical care cover, and through
an annual review of every primary medical care contract are aware of local primary
medical care capacity and how this meets demand.</p><p> </p><p>Practices are funded
on a weighted population basis and therefore, where populations grow gradually, practices
receive additional investment to take on new patients which allows them to grow to
maintain services for patients. There has been a national trend in practices becoming
larger, employing more staff and operating with a more diverse workforce in order
to meet rising demand.</p><p> </p><p>NHS South Tyneside CCG advises it has a number
of schemes in place which maximise the availability of GP appointments. This includes
support to diversify the workforce, a well-developed “Think Pharmacy First” scheme
in South Tyneside community pharmacies and an extended access service which has offered
approximately 15,000 additional appointments over the last nine months. Electronic
consultations are also currently being piloted in the area.</p><p> </p><p>NHS England
Cumbria and the North East advises it also has a number of schemes in place to increase
capacity in general practice. This includes a pilot of a tool to analyse workforce,
capacity and demand and some CCGs are offering online consultations with more practices
due to offer this service later this year. 45 practices have also received funding
through the national resilience programme and the CCG has acquired funding for up
to 25 GPs to take part in the Local GP Retention Fund to support retention of the
workforce.</p>
|
|
