Coffey announces primary care focus for winter

The document, Our plan for patients, will have a major focus on primary care, building on previously announced NHS winter plans. The Department of Health and Social Care insisted the measures would ensure all patients can get an appointment within two weeks. Steps to boost staff numbers would free up more than 1 million appointments a year, and patients in need of urgent appointments should be seen on the same day, she is due to say.

There is no detail as yet, though Dr Coffey (pictured) is due to make an oral statement to the House of Commons on 22 September. The Department said funding rules would change to allow general practices to recruit more support staff. They will also be able to install modern phone systems to ensure patients can reach their practice more easily. A new cloud-based system will be rolled out from November.

Practices will be able to use the funding to employ staff in more roles, including GP assistants and advanced nurse practitioners, in addition to the staff they can recruit under primary care networks, such as pharmacists, mental health practitioners and nursing associates.

Pharmacies will also take on some patients who would traditionally have been seen by GPs – for example, to issue a repeat prescription of contraception, or to care for patients referred by emergency care with minor symptoms or illnesses, such as a cough, headache or sore throat.

Dr Coffey is expected to say that she will focus on the needs of patients and will adopt their priorities – ambulances, backlogs, care, doctors and dentists. ‘Our plan for patients will make it easier to get a general practice appointment and we will work tirelessly to deliver that, alongside supporting our hardworking GP teams.

‘We know this winter will be tough and this is just the first step in our work to bolster our valued NHS and social care services so people can get the care they need,’ she is expected to add.

She is also due to call on the public to volunteer to support the health and social care system, including asking the 1 million volunteers who came forward during Covid to step forward once again.

NHS Confederation primary care director Ruth Rankine (pictured) said general practices had been working tirelessly to improve access. It appeared that the new measures would not go far enough.

'Like the rest of the NHS, primary care leaders believe we are now at a critical juncture as demand continues to rise, the Covid booster programme ramps up along with the challenges that winter will bring. On their behalf, we have been calling for a series of funded measures that will support primary care in both the short and longer term,' she said.  

'While the devil will be in the detail, we welcome any support that will help to address general practice workload and ease the workforce crisis. However, these measures will not come close to ensuring patients who need to be seen can be within the timescales set out. Also, they will have minimal impact on fixing the current problems that general practice is facing over the winter and could compromise continuity of care for those who need it.'