The government wants to end the end the ‘8am scramble’ of patients phoning surgeries in the hunt for a slot.
Patients will be able to contact their GPs for an appointment more easily under Government proposals to improve access to primary care.
The announcement comes as Rishi Sunak hopes to bounce back from a difficult set of local election results, which saw the Tories shed some 960 seats. “I want to make sure people receive the right support when they contact their general practice and bring an end to the 8am scramble for appointments. The DHSC said on Monday that under the plans patients contacting their practice will find out on the same day how their query will be managed.
The Government will also fund 6,500 training places for “care navigators”, the new label for staff handling calls, who can direct patients to the right doctor or send them to another service such as pharmacies.Labour’s shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said: “The reason people can’t get a GP appointment is the Conservatives have cut 2,000 GPs. Better hold music isn’t going to change that.
“The Government should adopt Labour’s plan to train 7,500 more doctors a year, paid for by abolishing the non-dom tax status, and enable patients to easily book appointments to see the doctor they want, in the manner they choose.”
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