Government cash creates 200,000 GP appointments

ALL NOTTS FUNDING APPLICATIONS APPROVED

- By LOUIS CORBETT

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE GPs are expected to create an extra 200,000 appointments as a result of new Government money for 22 practices.

Currently, GPs often turn down patients or make them wait due to a lack of space or staff.

But now a total of 22 bids were submitted to the GP practice building refurbishment fund from GPs in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire have all been successful, allowing expansion work to start soon.

The projects are expected to be completed by spring next year.

Amanda Sullivan, chief executive of NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire, said: "Our GP practice workforce continues to do an excellent job and provided more than 7.8 million appointments last year, but we know that demand continues to increase and some patients still find it difficult to get GP services.

"GP practice teams have been expanded in recent years to include additional roles such as physiotherapists, pharmacists, social prescribers and mental health practitioners, bringing additional expertise and capacity to local GP practices.

"However, sometimes practices are constrained by the physical space available to make best use of the brilliant new resource, which these building schemes are intended to address."

The surgeries set for extra funding are:

1. Bakersfield Medical Centre, Bakersfield, Nottingham, is planning on converting its medical records store to clinical consulting space following the digitisation of notes.

This change will create an estimated 22,500 additional appointments every year at a total cost of £60,000.

2. Family Medical Centre, Kirkby-in-Ashfield, is to convert its practice manager's office to a consulting room. This change will create an estimated 7,500 additional appointments per annum at a total cost of £30,000.