General Practice Access, have your say
Share your experiences
How easy is it to get an appointment with their GP or practice nurse? The NHS recommends that people with fevers, stomach upset, aches & pains or headaches contact the local pharmacist instead of their GP. If you can’t easily get an appointment with your GP and use other services such as their local pharmacy Healthwatch would like to hear about that experience as well.
The latest GP Patient Survey showed that there was a wide range of patient satisfaction rates for availability of appointments at GP practices. Across the county, it varies from 34% satisfied to 95% satisfied. Healthwatch would like to hear about the reality behind the statistics.
We carried out some research in 2015 that showed patients lacked an understanding of how GP appointment systems worked and we are still hearing that message. Now practices are offering ‘extended hours’ appointments, where patients can book to see a GP until 8pm on weekdays and over the weekend, and can book appointments online we would like to know how the patient experience has been affected. The NHS recommends that people with fevers, stomach upset, aches & pains or headaches contact the local pharmacist instead of their GP, if people are using pharmacies how did they find the experience?
