Brighton and Hove Health Chiefs Outline Two-Week Plan For Appointments

Friday, 24 January 2025 12:00

By Sarah Booker-Lewis LDR

Anyone who needs an appointment with their doctor should get one within two weeks, according to an NHS Sussex report.

Brighton and Hove City Council’s Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee (HOSC) is due to hear from NHS Sussex – the Sussex Integrated Care Board – about its plans to improve general practitioner (GP) services.

The plan for improving services in Brighton and Hove also aims to ensure that those in urgent need will be seen the same day or next day, according to their need.

The issues affecting Brighton and Hove’s GP surgeries include recruitment and retention of staff and the increasing demands related to the ageing population.

Long waits for appointments add to pressure on hospital accident and emergency (A&E) departments because people increasingly seek treatment at hospital when they need a doctor rather than urgent care.

Brighton and Hove has 31 GP practices, organised into six primary care networks, as well as 51 community pharmacies and a walk-in centre, with 333,619 registered patients as of last October.

The NHS Sussex primary care team has worked with GP clinical directors on four areas of improvement
• Improving patient access to general practice
• Disease management
• Patient experience
• Referral pathways and interface

Between April and October last year, there were 1,002,837 appointments made, compared with 955,122 in the same period in 2023.

Up to 40 per cent of appointments were same-day appointments and up to 80 per cent of patients were seen within two weeks.

Seven surgeries are involved in a “general practice improvement programme” in Brighton and Hove, run by NHS Sussex.

They are Links Road Surgery, The Avenue Surgery, Brighton Station Health Centre, Wish Park Surgery, Carden Surgery, Park Crescent Health Centre and Preston Park Surgery.

NHS Sussex said that the programme’s successes included clearing administrative backlogs, using online triage systems, freeing up 100 minutes of clinical appointment time and improving appointment setting.

The primary care networks have also increased the number of staff including more adult mental health practitioners, physiotherapists and trainee nursing associates working in GP surgeries.

All six networks are now expected to provide appointments between 6.30pm and 8pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 5pm on Saturdays through a mix of face-to-face and remote telephone, video and online appointments.

The report said:

“Across Brighton and Hove, practices have been focusing upon improving their access models for patients to reflect better technology and trying to make it easier for patients to navigate how general practice works to get the support they need.

“This model sits within a wider context of efforts to improve access for patients through innovations such as the NHS App, online consultations and improving practice websites.”

The council’s Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee is due to meet at 4pm next Wednesday (29 January). The meeting is scheduled to be webcast on the council’s website.