NHS Time to Care scheme will see 4 million more GP appointments made available by 2022

A pilot scheme by the NHS that has given GP practices more time for doctors to see their patients is due to be extended with the hope of saving almost four million appointments.

NHS England has announced that their Time to Care scheme will be rolled out in 75 percent of practices by 2022 following programs tested out in 2016.

In 2018, 205,157 clinical hours, equivalent to GPs having 1.2 million more appointment slots, were made available and NHS officials believe that if this saving is repeated over the next three years, around 3.7 million appointments could be freed up.

The pilot scheme urges GP practices to try different ways to cut bureaucracy.

Dr Nikita Kanani, NHS England’s medical director for primary care and a south-east London GP, said the programme has had “significant benefits for patients and GPs alike, freeing up doctors’ time and NHS resources to ensure people get the care they need as quickly as possible”.

She added: “GP services will continue to be at the heart of our health service, and it makes sense to invest for another three years in a programme that is delivering so much for patients while helping us to be more efficient.”

General Practitioners Committee chair Dr Richard Vautrey backed the extension of the scheme, but has demanded further support to ease pressure on GP practices.

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Dr Vautrey said: ‘Unsustainable workload pressures have been the number one concern for many GPs and their practice teams in recent years and have been a main cause of the recruitment and retention crisis in general practice.’

The NHS has just thanked its staff for a ‘record winter performance’ amid an increase in pressure on its services.