A Sefton resident is reminding others to still get in touch with their GP practice when concerned about their health after her dad received first-class care and support.

Joanne Hall recently got in touch with her GP practice in Blundellsands after receiving an update to say her dad’s medication would be changing. Jo, who coordinates her dad’s care then received a phone call from her GP to discuss her concerns.

During the call, Jo was also able to have a general discussion about her dad’s health, including a worrying infection in his foot.

Jo said: “My dad is housebound and struggles with his mobility. He had developed an infection in his foot, and I was getting increasingly worried about it. When I raised it with the GP, she liaised with dad’s podiatrist and arranged for the district nursing team and the domiciliary blood service to visit him. 

“The GP kept me updated every few days with blood test results and based on one conversation, came out to visit us herself. She was brilliant and really listened to dad. We were involved at every step and it just felt like we were all doing everything we could to look after him.”

A video of Joanne talking about her experience is available to view. 

Joanne added: “If anyone is concerned about their health or that of a loved one, I would encourage them to contact their GP practice. My experience shows the GP is still here for us when we need them and the care my dad has been given has been first class.”

GP practices continue to see more patients each month whether that be face-to-face, over the phone, or via a video link. In the six months between July 2021 and December 2021, 743,991 appointments were organised for residents in Sefton, an increase of 11.5% from the previous six months. 

Dr Pete Chamberlain, local GP and chair at NHS South Sefton Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), said: “The data from the last six months shows we are busier than ever but we are still here for our patients when they need us. Joanne and her dad’s experience shows our full team approach to patient care which often means being spoken to, triaged or cared for by different members of our team. We are using the skills of all of the health professionals who make up our GP practice teams as well as digital technology to ensure we are there to care for all of our patients.”

GP Practices in Sefton now use digital champions to help patients when booking appointments online using e-consult and sending emails or photographs.   

Dr Rob Caudwell, local GP and chair of NHS Southport and Formby CCG, said: “Using digital technology to help patients access care and support from the GP quickly and easily makes sense and our digital champions do a great job in ensuring no-one is left behind. We know older patients in particular might find using technology daunting but our digital champions are there to talk them through the process so they can access the help they need when they need it.” 

A video of one of our digital champions Elizabeth is available to view explaining the help they give to patients.

The threat of infection from COVID-19 still exists within our communities and we would like to encourage patients to still wear a face-covering if able to and practice good hygiene when visiting their GP practice.

For more information on how to access your GP practice and to see a day in the life of a GP video and some GP practice staff explaining about their roles, please visit: southseftonccg.nhs.uk/gpaccess