On Thursday this week the Health and Social Care Secretary Thérèse Coffey announced that all patients who need an appointment can get one within two weeks, however a GP practice, which has a surgery in Lake Road Verwood, has already improved on this.

Earlier this year, the Cranborne Practice introduced a new system whereby anyone who requests a GP consultation will receive one the same day as the request. However, this does mean that for some, the flexibility and choice of appointment time (a key attraction of private healthcare) will depend on a person contacting the surgery on their preferred day and not having the forward booking opportunity.

Jo Morris, managing partner said: “To support this, we have strengthened telephone and online access points to healthcare from the Cranborne Practice. While there may be instances where a future appointment is desired, we need to provide a service for most of our patients to enable access to a GP as soon as possible. In our case, we offer an appointment on the same day, either by phone or telephone, as the patient prefers.” The ‘Required not Desired’ approach is constantly reviewed by the Practice and patients through the Practice Patient Participation Group.

“The Government has issued these plans to address primary care backlogs,” said Jo. “The Cranborne Practice has a strong track record of driving innovation on service delivery, and our new system firmly meets the requirement in Thursday’s announcement.”

Plans are also underway at The Cranborne Practice to provide appointments to see a GP, nurse or other healthcare professionals beyond the currently available surgery opening times on weekday evenings. Further details of the extended hours will be published shortly.