News

NHS chiefs have urged family doctors to enlist in a scheme improving care for thousands of armed forces veterans and their families. GPs and their teams have been sent a comprehensive package of resources covering how to identify veterans and make sure their service is recognised by hospitals and other services, as well as how […]

Successful NHS England programme extended for three more years. An NHS programme has seen GP practices free up more than half a million hours of time for patients in the last year. The Time for Care programme sees surgeries across the country adopt new ways of working like letting patients book appointments sooner, cutting paperwork […]

A new campaign aimed at getting hundreds of family doctors to return to general practice will be launched this week. It will raise the profile of a scheme that has already attracted almost 800 GPs into coming out of retirement, returning to the profession after taking a break or working in another occupation, or moving […]

Tens of thousands of people have been helped to overcome back pain, arthritis and other muscle, bone and joint conditions without going to hospital, thanks to additional specialist care at local GP surgeries – with millions more set to benefit over the coming years as the NHS delivers on its Long Term Plan. Trials in […]

GP practices in Gloucestershire are working together to provide 100,000 more appointments for patients. The extra appointments, across the county’s 75 practices, will be mainly provided by GPs and nurses over the next year; and clinical pharmacists, paramedics, mental health workers and physiotherapists are also now working in local surgeries, offering a greater range of […]

Pharmacists will take on an expanded role at the heart of local primary care networks across the country, NHS England has confirmed. Following the new GP contract published today, patients across England will be able to get faster expert advice about their prescriptions and other treatment, with clinical pharmacists part of core practice teams. Following […]

A new five-year contract for general practice across England will see billions of extra investment for improved access to family doctors, expanded services at local practices and longer appointments for patients who need them. The deal – the biggest reform to GP services in fifteen years – is due to be approved by NHS England […]

An army of advisers will be recruited to help patients live fitter, healthier lives and combat anxiety, loneliness and depression under plans to ramp up social prescribing set to be launched by NHS England this week. Around half of GP appointments are not directly related to medical conditions, according to experts. Growing evidence shows that […]

GP practices in Luton have worked together to provide more than 3,000 extra appointments a year including halving the number of appointments lost due to patient non-attendance. As well as freeing up appointments, the Primary Care Network (PCNs) model has led to friends and family satisfaction with services being positive nine times out of ten, […]

All patients across England can now access general practice appointments in the evening and weekends, NHS England has announced today. The extended access means that patients will be able to see a doctor, nurse or other member of the practice team at a time convenient to them – providing an estimated nine million extra appointments […]