A change to doctor’s appointments and GPs surgery services is set to come into effect following the new government voted in this week.
As part of a sweeping set of changes aiming to improve NHS services, the new government is looking to overhaul how GP surgeries’ appointments and doctors appointments in general work.
The Labour Manifesto outlines a raft of changes for the NHS which includes a set of reforms on GPs.
The new government has promised to ‘reform the system’ to ‘end the 8am scramble’ and help more people see a GP earlier.
It says: “GPs are the front door to the health service for most people. Excellent primary care is the key to earlier diagnosis, but too often it is not possible to get an appointment, so Labour will reform the system.
We will train thousands more GPs, guarantee a face-to-face appointment for all those who want one and deliver a modern appointment booking system to end the 8am scramble.
“We will bring back the family doctor by incentivising GPs to see the same patient, so ongoing or complex conditions are dealt with effectively.”
As part of the changes, Labour also wants to ‘take the pressure off’ GP surgeries by allowing more pharmacies to prescribe more.
It will also set up ‘Neighbourhood Health Centres’ which would see family doctors, nurses, care workers, physiotherapists, palliative care and mental health practitioners ‘under one roof’.
It adds: “The National Health Service needs to move to a Neighbourhood Health Service, with more care delivered in local communities to spot problems earlier. To achieve this, we must over time shift resources to primary care and community services.”
As part of the NHS changes, the manifesto also promises 700,000 moe dentist appointments and a focus on retaining NHS dentists.