New figures show an extra 253 GPs have been recruited by London practices since October 1.
The recruitment boost, part of the government’s Plan for Change, aims to make it easier for people to get an appointment with their GP, ease pressure on GPs, cut waiting lists and “bring back the family GP”.
Other changes to GP services include a requirement for surgeries to allow patients to request appointments online throughout working hours, freeing phone lines for those who want to book over the phone, and making it easier for practices to triage patients based on medical need.
More patients will also be able to book appointments with their regular doctor if they choose to.
Cutting waiting lists and improving access to health services for patients across the country is one of the government’s top priorities in its Plan for Change.
Dr Agatha Nortley-Meshe, a south London GP and NHS London’s medical director for primary care, said: “These extra GPs provide a welcome boost to services across London, improving general practice capacity for care delivery.”
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I wonder if some of these GPs might be ‘physician associates’. Can we be reassured about this?
They are GPs, Chris.
I have recently been trying to find a new GP, not in Croydon but in France (my time is split between France and Croydon). I have rung over 20 surgeries within a one-hour drive of home, and found out that not only is my GP about to retire, but so are five others in my catchment area. Younger doctors don’t want to run a practice in the countryside, preferring a group practice. Most practices are full, and can’t take new patients into their lists.
I asked on a Facebook group if the same “medical deserts” existed in other EU countries, and received many replies stating that they certainly do.
Europe and the UK have taken for granted a supply of doctors, often from abroad, for far too long. One nearby town in France is funding the training of a local man on the understanding that he will work in his home town once qualified.
The NHS has lots of problems, but was first class when spouse discoved cancer symptoms and when he had a heart attack, both in Croydon. When we have needed the NHS or GP we have never been disappointed. I have had very successful phone and video consultations with doctors and specialists in England and in France, our local Pharmacy in France has a consultation room in which patients who lack mobile phones or computers can talk to a doctor if they can’t get to a surgery. We in the UK need to stop taking the NHS for granted! Whatever we hear or say about the NHS, it looks to me as if it is coping quite well even when compared to the rest of Europe, where waiting lists and appointment delays are common topics of conversation, but the British may not want to hear this.