Catch up on our Open meeting from 12 September 2023
In light of new research from Healthwatch England which indicates 'a third of people in England lack confidence they can access critical NHS services' we ran our open meeting with a focus on primary care yesterday.
We heard from Dr Nick Merrifield, Kingston Primary Care Development Lead, South West London Integrated Care System who told us about the Primary Care Networks which were launched 2019, with 5 in Kingston.
There is funding for new roles but these new staff have ‘new’ work to carry out. The following link was shared with examples of the types of healthcare professionals that work alongside GPs in Kingston and Richmond.
There are currently problems with GP retention with demand increasing is causing problems.
A new appointment booking system is being put in place to avoid having to call the surgery to book an appointment in the morning with the current first come first serve approach. This system has been causing issues for both the surgeries and patients, often with people most in need not getting the care in a timely manner. The new system will have more triage, is fairer and more consistent through the day, but less straightforward and help will need to be provided to the digitally excluded.
Alyssa Chase-Vilchez Executive Officer, SWL Healthwatch came to talk to us about ensuring people-centred delivery of the South West London primary care transformation plans.
The introduction of the SWL ICS means that 6 Healthwatch need to work together to scrutinise health and care decisions and to deliver joined-up community insights research (while ensuring that locally-focussed work remains the priority).
Issues with GP services are among the top two concerns that all 6 Healthwatch hear about from their local communities. Healthwatch can play a role in helping to shape and/or monitor the impact of the implementation of these new strategies.
A SWL joint Healthwatch project aims to design and deliver a community engagement research project about people’s experience of GP services.
