Rebecca Harris MP has welcomed the news that Castle Point will benefit from the new plan to recover primary care services. The NHS and the Government have published a new blueprint today set out by the Health Secretary in the House of Commons to help recover primary care services, meaning millions of patients will access faster care for their health needs from their local pharmacy. The plan will also end the 8 am ‘rush’ for GP appointments, and pharmacists will be able to prescribe medicines for common health conditions, subject to consultation.
For the first time ever, patients who need prescription medication will be able to get it directly from a pharmacy, without a GP appointment, for seven common conditions including earache, sore throat, or urinary tract infections, thanks to Government investment of £645 million over two years to expand community pharmacy services.
In a significant new step, up to half a million people a year will be able to self-refer for key services, including physiotherapy, hearing tests, and podiatry, without seeing their GP first. Almost half a million women will no longer need to speak to a practice nurse or GP to access oral contraception and will instead be able to pop into their local pharmacy for it.
Tens of thousands more people will be at lower risk of a heart attack or stroke, with the NHS more than doubling the number of people able to access blood pressure checks in their local pharmacy – 2.5 million, up from 900,000 carried out last year.
The actions set out in the plan are expected to free up around 15 million GP appointments over the next two years for patients who need them most. Ending the 8 am ‘rush’ for appointments is a key part of the plan, to end patients having to wait on hold only to be told to call back another day for help. GP teams are already treating record numbers, with half a million more appointments delivered every week compared to pre-pandemic.
Rebecca Harris MP Commented:
“The pandemic has had a huge impact on the NHS and our ability to access healthcare, which is why the Prime Minister has rightly made cutting waiting lists one of his five priorities.
“I welcome the Government’s new primary care plan which will transform primary care, freeing up 10 million GP appointments and ending the ‘8 am rush’ for patients, making sure the people of Castle Point receive quicker and more convenient care.”
To view the Prime Minister’s statement on the Primary Care Recovery Plan, please visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/what-the-prime-ministers-primary-care-recovery-plan-means-for-you.
