‘Bear with us’ to see the GP

Maidenhead: More appointments to come at St Mark’s

The commissioning group for GP surgeries in the

Royal Borough has said it is working to provide 800 additional face-to-face appointments every week – following residents’ concerns over waiting times.

Frimley Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) – a merger of East Berkshire CCG and two others – is a GP-led organisation responsible for planning and paying for regional NHS health services.

Lately, waiting times for GP appointments have been the subject of national news.

When Health Secretary Sajid Javid unveiled a £250m package for GPs in England to improve access to services, he said GPs should only deny in-person consultations if there is a good clinical reason.

But the British Medical Association (BMA) encouraged GP practices to defy his proposals, saying they should not participate in naming and shaming GP surgeries which fail to see enough patients in person.

In Maidenhead, residents have faced problems such as long waiting times for both phone and in-person appointments, as well as failures of online bookings and other administrative issues.

Residents reported waiting as much as eight weeks for phone appointments at Maidenhead GP surgeries.

Frimley CCG has said it has been receiving ‘unprecedented demand’ for appointments recently.

Many waiting rooms and receptions are not large enough to keep people safe during COVID, reducing capacity for face-to-face appointments, it said.

The CCG added that GP practices in its area had ‘provided more appointments than ever before’ this summer, and that more than half of these were face-toface.

In July, there were more than 161,000 face-to-face GP appointments given in the Frimley CCG area. A spokesman said:

“Our GP community is working harder than ever to help local people and their families in the face of huge pressure and we ask that local people bear with us.

“Clinicians and practice staff are working long hours and experiencing increasing levels of abuse, and with rising COVID infections and other winter bugs affecting staffing levels.”

To reduce wait times, GP practices are developing a new model whereby patients can access other health professionals directly – such as practice nurses, physiotherapists, paramedic practitioners or mental health professionals – rather than requiring a GP referral.

Additional services are also starting this week at St Mark’s Hospital. These appointments will be booked through Maidenhead GP practices.

This will include a new same-day primary care offer, with additional appointments with a GP-led multidisciplinary team. Children’s respiratory clinics will also be provided every weekday evening.

When the new services are fully up and running, these should provide more than 800 additional face-to-face appointments every week, the CCG said.