IMPROVED ACCESS

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Glastonbury / Street / Wells Alliance

(Glastonbury Health Centre, Glastonbury Surgery, Vine Surgery Partnership (Street), Wells City Practice and Wells Health Centre.

 

National Improved Access Scheme for GP Surgeries

In future GP surgeries in England will increasingly be working together to provide services for their patients, and there will be more professionals like pharmacists, specialist nurses and physiotherapists working closely with family doctors. This is partly because there is a shortage of GPs in many parts of the country, but it also means you are more likely to be able to book an appointment to see the right person to help with your problem when you first contact the surgery.

Somerset has been chosen by NHS England to introduce a new scheme that will allow you to make an appointment to see a health professional in a GP practice outside the usual working hours of GP surgeries. The scheme works by getting a group of GP practices together so that they can open up in turn at the new times. Our group includes the Glastonbury, Street and Wells practices. Patients from all of these surgeries will be allowed to book an appointment in “Improved Access” time at any other participating practice though because these appointments are for routine matters, once they are all taken you will need to book for a different time.

Outside normal surgery opening times urgent health problems will still be dealt with by the 111 call line and Somerset Doctors Urgent Care.

Each group of surgeries will be offering some appointments on every weekday evening between 6.30pm and 8.00pm, and also on some Saturday mornings between 9.00am to 1.00pm . If you need an appointment at one of those times, you can either ask for a particular day, meaning you would then have your appointment at whichever surgery is open on that day, or you could ask for your own surgery and then book an appointment for whenever it is their turn to be open.

There will be small number of appointments bookable on the day for things that are important, but not medically urgent.

To access on the day appointments on a Saturday morning please use the Patient Access online appointment booking system.