Chi Onwurah – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chi Onwurah on 2016-10-11.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that GP surgeries have the (a) resources and (b) training to provide a patient-friendly service, including appointments with a preferred GP in advance and at a time convenient to patients; and what rights patients have if GP surgeries do not meet such standards.

David Mowat

The Government is committed to improving access to general practitioner (GP) services as part of our plan for a seven day National Health Service, and has invested £175 million in the GP Access Fund to test improved and innovative access to GP services. Across the two waves of the Access Fund there are 57 schemes covering over 2,500 practices and 18 million patients, testing a wide variety of approaches that will ensure a patient-friendly services. These include opening 8am-8pm on weekdays and weekends; better use of telecare and health apps; more innovative ways to access services by video call, email or telephone; and developing more integrated services with a single point of contact to co-ordinate patient services.

GPs are contractually required to provide essential services to meet the reasonable needs of their patients within core hours. Under the NHS constitution, patients have the right to express a preference for using a particular doctor within their GP practice, and for the practice to try to comply. The 2015-16 (July 2016) GP Patient Survey found that 91% of patients who had a GP they preferred to see them at least some of the time, and 92.1% of patients who got an appointment found it was convenient. If a patient believes they are not receiving this standard of care they have the right to complain; any complaint made must be acknowledged within three working days and be properly investigated.