As we enter December this week, it will be possible to look forward to Christmas without Covid-19 restrictions for the first time since 2019. After the success of the vaccination programme and the boosters for more vulnerable groups, we are now living with Covid-19, rather than having to isolate ourselves from it.
That said, we all still get ill and I am fully aware, from my constituency casework, it is not always easy to get an appointment with a local GP. Practices are offering telephone appointments first, which are considerably easier for some patients, and then inviting patients for a face to face appointment only when clinically necessary. On the whole, this system works well but there are exceptions which can be distressing for local people, especially when very young children or very old and vulnerable adults are unable to be seen quickly.
The Government is now publishing practice-level data on GP appointments, showing the length of wait for GP appointments and how many appointments each GP practice delivers. This is in conjunction with the Government’s plan to offer a million additional appointments this winter, and 31,000 extra phone lines. The changes aim to ensure everyone can get an appointment within two weeks with urgent appointments on the same day.
Elsewhere in the NHS, figures released this week show there are a record number of doctors and nurses working in the NHS in England – 1.24million full-time equivalent staff, which is 34.000 more than this time last year. These include more than 21,000 more primary care staff supporting patients – including nurses and pharmacists – since September 2019 and the government is on track to meet its target of 26,000 additional staff by March 2024.
There is still work to be done to ensure the needs of those needing care packages in places to enable them to leave hospital are met, to help the flow of patients from home to hospital to home again is smooth and efficient, but I am pleased to see the renewed effort and funding being put in place to support the NHS after all that the pandemic threw at it.
