Shropshire NHS bosses welcome council bid to examine GP access concerns
Health bosses have welcomed the chance to work with Telford & Wrekin Council over concerns about access to GP appointments.
Next week, the council's health scrutiny committee is to meet to consider setting up a "deep dive" review of primary care services in the borough.
A report prepared for the committee said it wants to look at people's worries over booking appointments.
Responding ahead of the meeting Emma Pyrah, associate director of primary care at NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, said they wanted to see how they could work with the council to tackle the issues.
She added that a meeting between health bosses and councillors had already been scheduled to take place after the committee discussions.
"We are currently in discussion with the health scrutiny committee for Telford and Wrekin to understand how we can work together on this issue," she said.
“A meeting between councillors and health leaders has been scheduled, following the committee meeting, and will be an opportunity for us to provide helpful context behind the pressures faced in primary care and to try to tackle these collaboratively.”
The council committee's report, from Stacey Worthington, senior democracy officer for scrutiny at Telford & Wrekin Council, said there were specific worries about patients getting through to GPs to arrange appointments.
It states: "Concerns have also raised in respect of call waiting times when trying to make an appointment, a 2020 Healthwatch Telford & Wrekin report found an average call waiting time of between six and 10 minutes (depending on time of day), with the longest waiting time of 45 minutes.
"The same report found that 21 per cent of callers had to make multiple attempts to get through to a call handler."
It adds: "There is concern within the community that primary care services are becoming less accessible for residents. The 2021 General Practice Patient Survey for NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin found that 31 per cent of respondents (on average across the CCG area) found it was not easy to get through to their GP on the telephone."
Ms Worthington's report outlines how the group would examine the issue, stating: "A deep-dive into access into primary care services would enable the committee to understand the current service provision offered across the borough, as well as the challenges and advantages this poses to service users."
