Face-to-face GP appointment struggles continue in Greenwich

Patients in Greenwich, and across south east London, have been reporting struggles with accessing in-person appointments for several months, and the local CCG has said they have been experiencing "very high demand," putting strain on their resources.

Cllr Danny Thorpe, leader of Greenwich Council, met with representatives from Our Healthier South East London to address some of the issues the borough has been experiencing with GP access.

New guidance was issued by NHS England in May telling surgeries that they must try and offer patients face-to-face consultations if requested.

The health body said they want to move away from mostly telephone or online consultations depending on patient's preferences and as long as they are not a Covid-19 infection risk.

But South East London Clinical Commissioning Group previously said that practices will need to assess patients to see if they need a face to face appointments before booking them in.

Greenwich Cllr Danny Thorpe said there are "lots of issues to resolve"

The organisation said: “GP practices are open and have been providing general practice services for their registered patients throughout the pandemic.

“There were changes to the way patients access GP appointments to help stop the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), and appointments available as phone, video consultations and on line.

“Practices have been reporting very high demand from patients over the last couple of months.”

Following discussions, Cllr Thorpe reported back that "It’s fair to say there are a lot of issues to be resolved, particularly how digital services vs face to face appointments really work and also what peoples expectations are."

He did add that more national rule changes this week should help the situation, and that the local health bodies were working to improve things.

He added that if you're in Greenwich and are having issues accessing your GP, get in touch with the council and let them know.