Why we need to change

 

Currently, the whole of the NHS is extremely busy and GP practices are no exception. Before the pandemic, Sefton’s GP practices were already very busy. Now they are giving advice, support and treatment to more patients than ever before and the number of people contacting their practice for help continues to rise.

From January to June 2021 practices in Sefton organised a total of 656,693 appointments for Sefton residents. These appointments were a mix of face to face, home visits, telephone or video and e-consult.

 

 

The real number will be much higher as this figure does not include appointments for COVID-19 vaccinations, or any of the other services provided on behalf of our practices. Services like extended hours, which offers pre-bookable slots in the evening and at weekends and COVID hubs that provided dedicated care for anyone with coronavirus are not included in the figures.

As well as booking and carrying out appointments, there is a wide range of other work that your practice’s team needs to do to look after its patients. This includes issuing prescriptions and managing medications, reviewing blood tests and investigations, responding to requests from hospitals and referring patients on behalf of other professionals.

A good example of the scale of the work that goes on behind the scenes is prescriptions. Each of the 1,668,020 prescriptions issued during January 2021 – June 2021, need to be reviewed and signed by a clinician before they are issued. This takes time and medical expertise.

 

Find out more

Click on the links below to find out more about how you can comment and how to request any support you may need to take part:

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You can also find all this information in a single downloadable booklet.