Healthcare professionals drafted in to help Black Country GP practices cope with high demands for appointments

Health bosses say 609,044 appointments took place in the region during June – 43,000 more appointments than in May and 73,000 more appointments compared to June last year.

To help manage the demand on services, GP practice teams now include a range of healthcare professionals who can diagnose and treat a variety of health conditions.

They include general practice nurses and nurse practitioners, healthcare assistants, physician associates, GP registrars, practice based pharmacists, paramedics and a range of other professionals.

When patients contact their practice, a care navigator will ask for a brief outline of the problem so they can be directed to the right professional.

Dr Mohit Mandiratta said: “GP practices are working hard to ensure patients can be seen by the right person, at the right time, as quickly as possible.

“If your health concern needs to be assessed by a doctor, you will be offered an appointment with your GP. However, your GP isn’t always the right person for you to see.

“The new roles now available at practices means people may be offered an appointment with a healthcare professional from the extended healthcare team, who will be able to help based on their individual needs.

"These are highly skilled and qualified professionals that work alongside GPs, who have specialist skills, knowledge, and experience for certain health conditions.

“Not all surgeries will have all of these roles, but your practice reception team will help guide you to the most appropriate care as soon as possible when booking an appointment.”

Sarb Basi, director of primary care for the Black Country Integrated Care Board, said: “With demand on primary care increasing, it’s important that we do things in a new way to help improve patients’ experience and access to GP services.

“Our extended health care teams include a range of highly skilled and qualified professionals, who are experts in their fields, working closely together with GPs to deliver high quality care for all patients.

“By ensuring that patients see the most appropriate professional within the primary care setting, GPs can focus on those patients who most urgently require their care.

“GP practices might be working differently, but they are very much open and here to see people if necessary, so please continue to come forward if you need help.”