How the UK is improving access to medical treatment

If you’ve tried to get yourself a GP appointment or taken a trip down to A&E or Urgent Care at your local hospital lately, you’ll probably have noticed that the NHS is under a lot of pressure. In a post-pandemic, post-Brexit UK, waiting times have spiralled, with 7.2 million people on the waiting list for hospital treatment as of January 2023 – nearly three million more than three years ago.

The good news is the NHS is doing something about it via a radical plan to improve access to primary care. This plan will encourage a number of key improvement areas through an investment of over £645 million over the next two years. Here are some of the big things to look out for from that plan and other ventures.

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Integrated care systems for efficient self-referral pathways

The introduction of 42 integrated care systems (ICSs) on a statutory basis in July 2022 has played a big role in delivering a more joined-up health and care service for patients in the areas where an ICS has been established.

ICSs are partnerships of organisations that include integrated care partnerships (ICPs), integrated care boards (ICBs), local authorities, place-based partnerships and provider collaboratives, put together to streamline local services.

ICS integration carries a number of purposes, from improving outcomes in population health and healthcare and improving productivity to tackling inequalities in service output. The end goal for ICS collaboration is greater support for every type of patient and getting the most from what resources are available.

Expanded pharmaceutical services

The new NHS delivery plan will look to break the mould of traditional pharmacy access by allowing patients who need prescription medicine for common conditions such as earache, a sore throat or a urinary tract infection to get it directly from a pharmacy without the need for a GP appointment. This move to expand community pharmacy services will also allow almost half a million women access to oral contraception without the need to speak to a practice nurse or GP.

This NHS initiative, coupled with increased access and convenience found through online pharmacists, will take a huge amount of strain off GP surgeries struggling to handle the weight of everyday enquiries and concerns.

Increased patient access to records

Through NHS Digital and other online accounts such as the NHS App, patients will be permitted greater access to their medical records and be able to access their health records as well as any new entries made to them.

The idea behind this move is that patients can become ‘partners’ in managing their health. Research has found that greater patient access increases patients’ feelings of autonomy and understanding around their health, while the additional support and transparency should reduce the need for patient contact with general practice.

Implementation of ‘Modern General Practice Access’

Introduced to build on the NHS’s ‘Accelerate’ programme which was rolled out in 2021, a new Modern General Practice Access initiative has arrived as of May 2023 with the intention to improve patient access at 800-1,500 GP practices within the next two years.

This three-tiered support plan is aimed at helping practices tackle the ‘8m rush’, provide rapid assessment and response and avoid asking patients to come back to them another day. Via the plan, NHS England will be providing £13,500 of funding to support practices in their transformation of the plan to handle extra capacity.

As you may have been able to gather from the moves above, the focus surrounds taking the strain of general practice without damaging the quality of patient care – indeed looking to improve it by placing more trust in the patient. It’s undoubtedly a huge challenge to revert the NHS to where it was pre-pandemic, but the steps included in these plans could go a long way in helping the cause.

David Prior

David Prior is the editor of Today News, responsible for the overall editorial strategy. He is an NCTJ-qualified journalist with over 20 years’ experience, and is also editor of the award-winning hyperlocal news title Altrincham Today. His LinkedIn profile is here.