Local NHS bosses continue to work on their “delivery plan for recovering primary care access”, reports Grace Howarth, Local Democracy Reporter

GP surgeries across North London have increased the number of available appointments and reduced waiting times – but inadequate funding, poor staff retention and declining patient satisfaction remain big issues.

Members of a joint health overview and scrutiny committee yesterday (Thursday 25th) heard that patients had raised concerns around services GPs. A report from the NHS North Central London Integrated Care Board (NCL ICB) showed patient satisfaction had “declined” in recent years.

In May 2023, NCL ICB created a “delivery plan for recovering primary care access”. The plan was to recover patient experience of and satisfaction with access, make operational and technical changes to the way practices worked, and tackle the ‘8am rush’ for appointments.

Dr Katie Coleman, an Islington-based general practitioner and clinical director for primary care at NCL ICB, shared the latest local results following the plan’s implementation.

Dr Coleman said: “I think it’s important to recognise general practices deliver more than 90% of all the activity across the NHS, and in North Central London it’s almost 95% of activity, so we’re doing a significant amount of the work in the NHS.”

Every month across Barnet, Enfield, Haringey, Camden and Islington boroughs, GPs deliver more than 800,000 appointments, of which 780,000 are delivered in GP surgeries and 30,000 out of hours.

More than 50% of appointments are delivered “on the day” and GPs in North Central London are consistently meeting the two-week requirement of offering an appointment in over 90% of cases.

But despite recording improved retention levels in GPs, Dr Coleman said retention and recruitment needed continued focus and the “disparity around funding” for GPs across the country needed addressing.

If this wasn’t done, she said services would not be able to “keep up with the demand that comes through on a daily basis in GPs”. She added that only 8% of the NHS’s budget was used to invest in NHS practices.

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