Improving Access to General Practice
It is not always easy to arrange an appointment at your local GP practice. This is because a growing and aging population over the last five years has coincided with a decline in the number of GPs. What’s more, the opening times might not fit around work commitments or you may need to make an appointment over the weekend. From Monday 1st October 2018 the Eastern Cheshire GP practices will be working together to provide additional routine appointments with General Practice clinicians weekdays outside of 8am to 6:30pm and on Saturdays and Sundays.
You can book these new appointments by ringing your local GP practice as usual and requesting an evening or weekend slot. The receptionist will then confirm the available times and location. The consultation may not be with your named GP or in your usual GP practice but they’ll still be able to access your GP record with your permission.
Improved Access to General Practice Service Provision in Eastern Cheshire:
- If you are a patient of a GP practice in Chelford, Handforth, Alderley Edge or Wilmslow, residents will have additional appointments available from Monday to Thursday. These appointments will be based out of Handforth Health Centre and will be provided by Vernova.
- All residents of Eastern Cheshire will also be able to access additional Friday night, Saturday and Sunday appointments at Waters Green Medical Centre . These appointments will be provided by Vernova for your GP practice.
Improved Access to General Practice appointments can be booked and cancelled by ringing your local GP practice in the usual way. If required, patients can also call the Receptionists at Vernova on 01625 264095 during Vernova’s opening hours.
The first six months of this service will allow us to better understand local need and to fine tune the service accordingly.
The service will allow patients to access pre-bookable and same-day routine appointments outside of standard hours during the week and at weekends. The appointments are not intended for people with emergency healthcare needs. Improved Access to General Practice will complement other services such as community pharmacy and NHS 111.
