Update on same day GP access planning - response to feedback
Following feedback from patients, GP practices and primary care networks on our same day access programme, we issued a letter (below) to GP practices on 5 March, setting out the feedback we have received and how we will take it forward in our planning.
In response to this letter we have received questions asking if we have changed our approach.
We would like to be clear that we remain committed to increasing access to primary care and we have issued the following statement:
“NHS North West London remains committed to improving access to primary care. This is the number one issue residents consistently raise with us, as do practices concerned about the growing pressures they are under. Having listened to feedback from our patient groups, GPs and PCNs, we recognise that our proposals to increase access have been misinterpreted. It is for this reason that we have decided to allow more time to work with PCNs, GPs and patients to clarify our plans.”
Letter sent to GP practices on 5 March 2024:
We are writing to advise you on the latest developments in response to your feedback on the Same Day Access programme in NW London. As you will know we have had lots of points raised by General Practice teams, patients, and our wider stakeholders. Access to General Practice is one of the most important and consistent issues that our residents raise across all boroughs in North West London while many practices raise the pressure on them from the volume of appointments residents request. It is important that we collectively continue to explore ways to ensure residents get the access to general practice they require.
We have listened to your concerns and areas where you have sought clarification. We have heard this through some of our preliminary workshops, in discussions with the LMC and in many conversations we have heard from GP practices and residents across NW London. We have always been clear that we want this programme to develop with you and in collaboration with patients.
We are pleased to be able to inform you, after considering the issues raised, we have adjusted the programme in the following ways:
- The single offer of enhanced services for General Practice for 2024/25 will include the current enhanced services (as released in 2023/24), and the pipeline schemes planned for 2024/25. Please see the appendix for further details;
- The Same Day Access programme will not form part of the single offer for enhanced services for 2024/25. We will develop a robust plan to utilise the £6.6m that NW London ICB has allocated in 2024/25 for improving access to primary care. As with all public funds, the ICB is required to ensure there is clear accountability for this resource;
- The ICB will continue to work with PCNs to consider how access can be improved for patients. This will consider different ways of working, to collaborate with patient groups, be flexible to the different needs and populations in NW London and look in particular at access that addresses inequalities in access for vulnerable patients and those who are digitally excluded;
- The ICB is not approaching this with the presumption that there is a particular model PCNs across North West London should adopt, nor that all PCNs should adopt the same model;
- In particular, the ICB will support practices and PCNs to prioritise continuity of care for those residents that most value it and where this is essential for high quality clinical care;
- The ICB is keen to work in collaboration with practices and PCNs to maximise access by considering ways of working that take advantage of scale and are looking forward to taking forward this work in collaboration with the LMC;
- The aim will be to ensure that we embed new ways of working – once worked through - within the single offer contract in 2025/26.
We appreciate that some of our previous communications on the programme have spurred significant concerns. We trust that we will now be able to move forward collectively to address the pressure felt by many practices and the concerns about access our residents raise, by ensuring general practice remains at the heart of our residents’ experience of care.
ENDS
