Isle of Wight residents are being asked for their views on plans to offer enhanced access to local GP practice services from the Autumn.
The move could see practices open early in the morning and in the evening during weekdays, and during the day on Saturdays, to provide additional appointment opportunities outside of normal working hours.
The changes are part of a requirement from NHS England which aims to reduce variability across the country and increase patients’ understanding of and access to available services.
The enhanced access is likely to involve a wide range of different healthcare professionals and could include non-urgent appointments as well as routine services such as screening and health checks and seasonal requirements including flu vaccinations.
Dr Michele Legg, Clinical Director for the Isle of Wight on the Hampshire, Southampton and Isle of Wight Clinical Commissioning Group said:
“GP practices have been changing the way they work to accommodate increasing demand for patient services, by expanding their healthcare teams to include a wider range of healthcare professionals and services available to the local community from dietitians and health and wellbeing coaches, to first contact physios, mental health practitioners, physician associates, social prescribers and clinical pharmacists.
“This next step is another means of increasing access to care but will need to strike an important balance between meeting local needs and being able to address capacity within an already stretched workforce.
“It will also require the commitment of residents to attend appointments provided. Around 1000 people across the Island each week (6.8%) are not turning up for appointments or failing to cancel them – appointments that could have been offered to other patients. We all need to work together to ensure access to services is there for all those who need them.”
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Practices, working together as local primary care networks, have created bespoke surveys to help them understand local needs and inform their plans for enhanced access from the autumn.
The survey must be completed by 17th July and can be completed online via the links below or, if preferred, via paper copies which can be requested from your local GP practice.
Central & West Wight Health Alliance Primary Care Network (for the following GP practices: Newport Health Centre, Brookside Health Centre and Cowes Medical Practice) – https://mysay.is/EAIOWCandW
North East Locality Primary Care Network (for the following GP practices: East Cowes Medical Centre, Medina Healthcare (Wootton), Esplanade Surgery, Tower House Surgery, Argyll House surgery and St Helen’s surgery) – https://mysay.is/EAIOWNE
South Locality (IW) Primary Care Network (for the following GP practices: The Bay Medical Practice, Ventnor Medical Practice and South Wight Medical Practice in Brighstone, Godshill and Niton) – https://mysay.is/EASIOWSW
This is 100% needed for them to catch up with all the work they haven’t been doing yet still getting paid for
G.P.’s surgeries can be open 24/7…
But that is of absolutely no use to Patients if G.P.’s are still not seeing Patients in person.
All of this ‘telephone appointments’ or ‘on-line video appointments’ are just their way of not seeing people in person.
THAT is what needs sorting out!
My partner ended up in hospital due to one of the telephone appointments! Do doctors in Ryde even know their patients? I think not, because they never get to see them face to face. What kind of work moral is that?
No work ,no pay ,that’s what everyone else faces , why are they getting away with it ???
What’s a GP ? Haven’t been able to see one for years. Perhaps they could send a photo over… like we have to send to them
Making the same number of GPs do more work isn’t scalable, it will lead to burnout and less GPs.
We need more GPs, get more in training, pay them to live while they are in training, pay them more once they’ve been trained.
Problem is, it takes 10 years from starting medical school to fully trained GP.
10 years ago was just when the Government were really ramping up “austerity”, which didn’t end until a couple of years ago. That means there is going to be a supply problem of UK trained GPs for to the next 8 years. There is also the problem that Brexit has made employing EU doctors more difficult.
Meanwhile current GPs are retiring, often taking early retirement, in the face of the unsustainable workload and abuse, which loads more pressure on those that remain.
Austerity ended a couple of years ago?
Tell that to the homeless and those at the food banks….
Please just answer the bloody phone, I’m sick of waiting being caller six, getting to be caller one in the que only to be bumped back to caller twelve ffs.
Yes west wight medical practice this IS YOU!
When you do get to speak to the many headed fire breathing beast, sorry receptionist, they are far to busy for a Dr’s call back that day, you need to phone again tomorow and go through it all again?
It wasnt for a urine sample, but I definitely feel they took one!!
Had the same problem with South wight medical practice, absolutely horrid receptionist at Niton and hanging on for dear life to get through only to be told basically no doctors appointments, exept for the day I’d been stung by a horse fly, what an inconvenience I was being, just have to be ill another day I guess was what I’d thought each time I’d rang up, this particular day when I’d called up, she said go to a pharmacy which I can understand, but within 10 mins of her saying that and me calling a pharmacy only to be advised if its swelling up that quickly you need to see a doctor, my knee was twice the size and so hot to the touch, the pharmacy further than the doctors, I opted for the doctors, she begrudgingly gave me an appt but only after telling me off for choosing not to go to the pharmacy, when I told her its my perogative whether I go to a pharmacy or a doctor ohhhhh she did not like that, when confronted by me in person with a swollen knee twice the size from a horse fly sting and I could barely walk on it, no excuse as to why she refused to give me an appointment at first, did she want to come out of her little box and look to see why I chose not to go to the pharmacy instead? Of course not! Did the practice manager have any care within her, nope! What a bunch of despicable human beings, these people are in the healthcare profession, oh dear me, thankfully they aren’t the doctors! Strong antibiotics given within minutes of seeing the only decent doctor there! The other doctors not much better than the receptionist! One of them should have retired years ago, it was like having a lecture from my dad when I saw him, the other doctor well she sent me a letter saying how I’d upset the receptionist, wow never mind the patient and how her lack of care affected me, they act as if they’re really put out by us, the patients! Thankfully not at that doctors anymore, a better job for most of the receptionists would be something that consists of not actually speaking to the general public or having to deal with actual problems for other people, incompetent heartless individuals!
COVID is an excuse still, do they still go to the pub ,get shopping and go on holiday ? Well how come they can expect everyone else to be there when they want them ???
I cannot believe anyone would demand to see a GP over a horse-fly bite. No wonder it is so difficult to see a GP.
I totally understand your predicament, I’ve had a very similar situation, but the receptionist are only doing what the Practice Manager and the GP;s have told them to do.
Yes that is you East Cowes as well.
Shocked that so many people are not turning up and not cancelling!! Terrible waste of appointments
I like to know how all these people got the appointment in the first place
So would I, I can never get one, lucky if I can get a ring back
Better not reveal which naughty doctors are bucking the trend and actually seeing patients because the remainder will be donning balaclavas, arming themselves with a bit of 4 by 2 and waiting in the shadows for these scabs. How dare they actually do what they are paid for!!!!!
Taking into account the number of people with mental issues across all age groups is increasing due to Covid, the war in Ukraine, and age, not to mention cost of living and what the future holds I should say anyone that doesn’t turn up for an appointment now must be affected by memory or mental health issues. The Island has a large number of elderly people who may not be mobile enough to actually get to surgery, or on the day in question fit enough. There are so many reasons why a person would not keep an appointment but I bet the surgery Administration staff never check to see why they didn’t turn up. They used to years ago.
How can you not turn up for telephone appointment ?
You can’t get a face to face appointment.
Getting back to something like normal would be a start. But if the authorities continue to build houses for mainland over-spill without ensuring adequate medical centres, and doctors, are part of the developments then Island residents have no chance of getting proper healthcare.
Surgeries are not ‘open’ now, increasing alleged hours will make no difference.
I think we must all look at the NO show of patients for appointments I have seen lists of no show listing up to 15 a day why make an appointment then don’t turn up
Probably because by the time they have had to wait 2 weeks or more for the appointment their ailment has cleared up. I had an ear infection that left me deaf in one ear, couldn’t even get an appointment because June was fully booked and they didn’t have July’s schedule. Had to go to specsavers in the end they sorted me out within a week but cost me £55.
Can they actually get through to cancel them ????
Just did the survey, no mention of GP appointments, or doctors of any description. We now have ” patient advisers”, ” social prescribers”, sounds like something from Monty Python.
The simple fact is that doctors just need to be seeing people again and NOT still hiding away. Everyone else has to work as normal, so why not them, I know some of them think they are gods, but come on doc’s stop taking the mickey. You are a disgrace to the profession, and at the moment I use that term loosely.
Never mind playing with opening hours, what we need is the ability to actually see a doctor as all we get at our surgery is a call at some random time from a nurse or if you are really lucky a visit by a paramedic, chances ofactually seeing your GP are next to zero.
I couldn’t agree more, and if you are working no one wants to discuss their problems in front of all their colleagues.
Obviously it’s a good thing that you can see a dietician, health and wellbeing coach etc, but the elephant in the room is getting a timely appointment with a doctor when you’re ill.
Now getting to the point that people are worried about falling ill cos it’s difficult getting seen. I would rather the NHS focus on improving core GP services rather than widening other services at practices.
How about getting the Doctors to actually see patients again ?? Also why can we not just walk in, and wait to be seen, like it used to be. ??
Portsmouth people are moaning because in an area of 140, 000 people they only have 40 GP practices….. This Island has 140,000 plus people…. how many GP practises are there here ?
As the latest technology is now surfing through the NHS practices, there will be hardly any face to face contact so many more of us will have to self diagnose, go to A&E, or die. The whole dependence on electronic consultations is disgusting and should never be used when a human being needs a diagnosis, how often in the “good old days” did your GP actually look at you, check your eyes, and finger nails. The true doctors use to do this as a matter of course, along with leg reflexes should there be a need. You cannot do this over a video link or telephone. The government is trying to kill us of by stealth.
Reading all the reviews already stated on this link, I think the need for a survey is a waste of time, we all feel exactly the same about the current GP services offered to residents, below par, below standard, absolute C***. And they want a pay rise – what a hoot.
It is high time that people failing to attend an appointment in the NHS were fined £50.
What about if someone actually does get an appointment, and then is too ill to attend, yeah great idea slap a fine on them, idiot. I guess your A) a hideaway doctor or B) married to a hideaway doctor or c) can’t wait for the russians to arrive.
They’re all on benefits, so wouldn’t make any difference to them, if your working you can’t afford to hang on the phone in a queue to speak to someone, you’d loose your job.
Why not turn up at the walk in centre or A&E, if everyone did this then the Gp surgeries would be forced to do face to face as it costs your registered GP practice £130 a time for you to present elsewhere! Islanders need to revolt!
What walk in centres? Thought the one at St Mary’s had closed down!
More pointless questionnaire pretending to care.. We need more GPs and dentists. If people regularly fail to turn up, remove them from list. Plenty more would appreciate an appointment.