Gareth has welcomed the Plan for Patients announced today by the Health Secretary, Thérèse Coffey. The plan is built around the Government’s core health priorities - ambulances, backlogs, care and doctors and dentists.
Through taking practical steps to unlock better access to primary care services, the plan builds upon the Government’s wider work to ensure the NHS delivers for patients and is resilient in face of the coming winter. For the first time, publishing appointment data at a practice level will provide greater transparency on patient treatment and allow patients to make informed decisions that better suit them.
By recruiting additional GP support staff - like GP assistants and advanced nurse practitioners - up to one million more appointments will become available each year as GPs are free to focus on treating their patients. Patients will find it easier to access these appointments and receive advice about their care through a new advanced telephone system.
The plan also equips pharmacies to relieve the pressures upon GP practices and emergency care departments. Where safe and sensible, giving pharmacists the power to supply more medicines without a GP prescription will mean patients are able to access two million more appointments per year.
Likewise, by helping pharmacies to take referrals for minor illnesses directly from emergency care, such as coughs and sore throats, the plan will allow for greater capacity in emergency care departments and help to reduce waiting times.
As part of wider action to ease the burden on the NHS, Gareth has recently seen first-hand the benefit of the new Community Diagnostic Centre in Grantham and supports the Government’s commitment to rolling these out further across the country.
