New Portsmouth hub ends patients' lack of seven-day GP access

FIGURES show people living in Portsmouth had no access to GP care seven days a week outside of office hours '“ until a hub opened last month.
Mark Compton from Portsmouth CCGMark Compton from Portsmouth CCG
Mark Compton from Portsmouth CCG

An investigation by the BBC Local News Partnership looked at what provision was available in England and how different areas compared.

The data found Portsmouth had no GP practices offering full provision but all 17 offered partial provision.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Full provision means patients have access to pre-bookable appointments on weekends and on each weekday for at least one-and-a-half hours before 8am, after 6.30pm or both.

Meanwhile, partial provision means patients have access to pre-bookable appointments on at least one day a week but the extended access offered is not sufficient to meet the criteria of full provision.

As previously reported in The News, last month Portsmouth Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) launched a GP hub at the Lake Road Health Centre.

It offers out-of-hours care to all residents registered with any GP practice and it hoped this will extend to 24/7 service in the future.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Mark Compton, deputy director of transformation for Portsmouth CCG, said: '˜NHS England has been working with CCGs across the country to rollout and deliver GP extended access services in a phased approach.

'˜Portsmouth CCG has long recognised the importance of delivering additional primary medical care provision outside traditional GP practice hours to help alleviate the challenging demand placed on our GP services and to provide better access for patients.

'˜As such, we have been delivering some form of extended access since December 2016 when additional same-day provision was made available to all registered patients each Saturday.'

He said since then, the CCG has been working with GPs in the city to get additional coverage during weekday evenings and on Sundays. This now extends to the GP hub.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Elsewhere in area, the figures for practices covered by Fareham and Gosport CCG found 10 of its 17 practices offered full provision while six offered partial provision. One offered no provision which means patients have no access to pre-bookable appointments outside of core contractual hours.

Meanwhile, South Eastern Hampshire CCG has eight of its 20 practices offering full provision while the other 12 offer partial provision.

Nationally, the investigation found 41 per cent of GP practices in England offer full provision for extended access meaning 40 per cent of patients were registered at a practice offering full access.

London had the highest percentage (76) of practices offering full access while the midlands and east of England had the highest percentage (19) of practices offering no provision. 

New hub in Portsmouth a '˜quiet revolution'

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

A CITY-wide GP hub opened last month now offers out-of-hours care for people living in Portsmouth.

Portsmouth Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is working with the Portsmouth Primary Care Alliance, which represents GP practices, to deliver the service.

The scheme will see the GP hub at Lake Road Health Centre offer routine and urgent same-day appointments until 10pm, 365 days a year.

It is hoped the new service will deter people who do not need emergency treatment from going to A&E at Queen Alexandra Hospital, as the hub is central to more residents and has free parking.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Dr Linda Collie, the CCG's clinical lead, said: '˜Have no doubt that this is a quiet revolution in the way we plan and deliver primary care services.

'˜Patients will experience a safer and a more effective service, run by Portsmouth clinicians with full access to medical records.'

Â