Improving your access to GP Services 

 

We are working with local gp practices to make it easier for you to access the care you need, when you need it - and from the right professional.

This may not always be a gp, but the right person for your needs.

 

What We've Done So Far 

We have introduced a number of changes over the past few years to help with access including:

  • Employed different clinicians as part of the practice team including Clinical Pharmacists, Social Prescribers and First Contact Physiotherapist for example
  • Provided more appointments
  • Cloud-based telephone system for better call handling 
  • Online consultations, giving you another way to contact us 
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What We're Doing in 2025/26 

  • Easier Contact by Phone 
    • Call-back option available, no need to wait on hold 
    • We aim to answer calls within 10 minutes
  • We are working together across practices and primary care organisations to provide additional appointments.
  • We will also be focusing on the areas highlighted in the boxes below:

Online Consultation

  • Available Monday to Friday, 8am-6.30pm (excluding bank holidays) 
  • Clinical queries: response by end of next working day 
  • Non-clinical queries: response within 3 working days 

Care Navigation

  • Our team will guide you to the right support - whether by phone, in person, or online 
  • This may include booking an appointment with a GP, a member of our practice team, or signposting to services such as Community Pharmacy 
 
nhs-app

Improving Your Access to GP Services 

Sign Up for the NHS App 

  • The NHS App helps you to: 
  • Help you manage your appointments 
  • Order repeat prescriptions 
  • View parts of your GP health record 
  • Access trusted health information 

If you're aged 13 or over, speak to our reception team, join one of our digital support workshops or  click on the link to get started : Sign up to the NHS APP

 

Continuity of Care for Complex Needs

  • We listened to your feedback: continuity matters 
  • Some of our patients with complex health needs will get a named care team - These patients will be informed of their team 
  • Reviewing our appointments to ensure patients are seeing the right clinician at the right time
 

We Want to Hear From You!

In 2024, we:

  • Ran a patient survey to gain your thoughts on access to GP services 
  • Held local face-to-face engagement events and a borough wide webinar 

For 2025/26, we will: 

  • Develop a new patient survey with your help through the Patient Participation Group (PPG)
  • Share the survey widely
  • Host another open engagement session – all welcome!
 

What we're committed to

We're committed to improving with your help. We'll continue to involve you through: 

  • Patient Participation Group (PPG)  meetings 
  • Feedback via our practice website 
  • Local health engagement events

Thank you for helping us shape better GP services for our community. 

patient-information

Published: Jul 11, 2025