Hundreds of thousands more people a month will have the option to
refer themselves for key services such as help with incontinence,
podiatry, or hearing tests without needing to see a GP, as part
of the NHS primary care access recovery plan.
Around 180,000 more people a month will be able to self-refer for
additional services such as incontinence support or community
nursing without seeing their GP, so family doctors' time can be
freed up to focus on delivering care to people who need it most.
Across NHS services, around 200,000 people a month already
self-refer themselves for treatment for podiatry, audiology, and
physiotherapy but local services will now be able to expand the
option of self-referral to other key services based on the needs
of their population.
Building on the success of the primary care access recovery plan
published in May last year, the NHS will write to local services
today to set out the next steps for the year ahead to continue to
modernise general practice, expand pharmacy services, and offer
patients more choice in how they access care.
Under the renewed plan, every GP practice will also be required
to allow new patients to register online this year instead of
having to attend in-person and fill in a form.
Patients will have access to healthcare at the touch of a button,
with 1.5 million more people a month able to order repeat
prescriptions on the NHS App taking the total to 50 million a
year.
Hundreds of thousands of people a year will be able to receive
treatment at their high street pharmacist for seven common
conditions without needing to see a GP first, as part of the
rollout that began earlier this year.
GP teams are already delivering record numbers of appointments
with the latest figures from February 2024 showing that more than
30 million appointments were delivered, up almost a quarter on
the same period pre-pandemic.
More than nine in ten (92%) of GP practices in England now have
cloud based systems thanks to the plan – this means phone lines
can be expanded and won't ever be engaged. The remaining
practices are agreeing dates within the next month for upgrades
to happen with tech suppliers and are expected to happen from
next month.
Dr Amanda Doyle, national director for primary care, NHS
England said: “General Practice and pharmacies in the
heart of our communities are often the first point of call for
people who are unwell, so it is only right the NHS does
everything possible to make these services as convenient and
modern as possible for patients.
“The NHS has made important progress over the last year from
allowing patients the option to self-refer for key services,
order repeat prescriptions, and book blood pressure checks at the
touch of a button without the need to call their GP.
“And we want to make sure that this offer is available to even
more people which is why we are expanding the offers in our
primary access recovery plan including increasing the number of
people who can self-refer for common services without a GP
referral – not only is this good news for patients but it
will also free up family doctors who are already delivering
millions more appointments a month than before the pandemic.”
The NHS has expanded the primary care workforce with 36,000 staff
employed to practices since 2019, way exceeding the original
target.
In line with the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, the number of GPs
in training will increase by 500 by 2025/26.
