The support on offer for patients at their GP practice is expanding across the West Midlands, thanks to thousands more healthcare staff working in local communities and the new GP access recovery plan.

More than 3,200 additional staff have been recruited into healthcare roles at general practices in the area since 2019 – meaning an expanded team of health professionals are now available to help patients get the right care when they need it, in addition to seeing their GP or practice nurse.

From today, the NHS is raising awareness of the support available with community health teams, including pharmacists, mental health practitioners, paramedics, physios, and social prescribers now available in every part of the country.

Record numbers of people are seeking support from their family doctors but with one in five GP appointments for non-medical reasons such as loneliness or seeking advice on housing or debts, the NHS wants to make sure that the right help is available.

A patient can always see their GP, but the NHS is training more than 7,500 staff to better assess patients’ needs when they first contact their practice so they can be seen by the right health professional. For example, if a patient has muscular pain, they will be booked straight into see a physiotherapist.

 NHS Regional Medical Director, Dr Jessica Sokolov said: “Record numbers of people are seeking support from their GP practice, with teams treating half a million more patients a week compared to before the pandemic, and this demand is only going to increase with an ageing population so the NHS must adapt its services to match this need.

“While people will always be able to see their family doctor when they need to, the NHS is giving people more options with more than 3,200 new staff working in General Practice in the West Midlands since 2019 meaning patients can get specialist support from mental health professionals, physios, and pharmacists without needing to see a GP first.”

Public awareness of the range of support remains low. Although 66% of people in the West Midlands said they were confident at identifying the roles available, they didn’t know that mental health practitioners 68%, physiotherapists 72%, or social prescribers 90% could be found at a general practice.

And more than 67% people surveyed said they were happy to receive care from another health worker, recognising they didn’t always need to see a GP.

To help explain the support available in the community, a new film has been released by NHS England today, which sees three curious children go behind the scenes at a general practice to meet some of these professionals and learn more about how they help patients get the care they need.

Dr J Devikanand (Dr Anand), GP Partner at Winshill Medical Centre in Burton-On-Trent, said: “GP practices have evolved, and we have now joined by a host of different health professionals to make sure patients get the care and support they need.

“Now when a patient contacts their practice, they may not always need to see a GP first. A patient could be seen by a physiotherapist, nurse practitioner or social prescriber, helping patients to be seen quicker. This also allows us GPs to be able to deal with patients with complex needs.

“All additional roles within GP practices are all under the supervision and guidance of GPs, so if someone is unsure about your case, it will be passed on to a doctor or other senior clinician to assess.”

Karen Evans, Social Prescriber, said: “The patients who come to see someone like me don’t usually need to see a GP. They usually need specific help and support that we, as Social Prescribers are able to provide, while GPs can focus on the patients that they really need to see.

“We can help patients in a number of different ways, such as providing finance and housing advice, helping to find social groups and befriending services, refer people to food banks and even filling in or helping with paperwork. This is all vital work that doesn’t require an appointment with a GP to help a patient.”

TV doctor and NHS GP, Dr Ellie Cannon is also supporting the NHS campaign and, said: “As a GP, it’s so helpful to have a range of health professionals on hand at my general practice, as it means my patients benefit from a team of specialists that can help them in many different ways.

“Whether it’s mental health support or help with vaccinations or advice about their bones and joints, having more health professionals means that patients get the best possible care.

“Remember, by giving us more information about what you need help with when you contact your practice, we can get you the right care you need.”

The primary care plan published by NHS England and Government earlier this year committed to offering people more convenient options to seek care including options to self-refer for conditions such as physiotherapy, podiatry, and hearing tests without seeing a GP.