Health bosses have scrapped plans that might have meant patients had to travel further for urgent appointments - and not see their own GP - after a backlash.
NHS North West London Integrated Care Board (ICB) previously said it would mandate the use of “same-day access” hubs from April 1.
This would have meant patients across Westminster, Brent and Harrow being assessed at one of these hubs if they wanted a same-day appointment for less complex health problems, rather than at their own family doctor.
But following a growing backlash from patients and doctors affected, health bosses have now withdrawn their plans.
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A spokesperson for the ICB claimed that the proposals were to help “increase access” to primary care services, but that they had been “misinterpreted”.
Patients had complained that they were not consulted on the plans when they were revealed last month.
Dr Nam Hunger-Nguyen, from Church End Medical Centre in Mayo Road, Brent, previously told this paper that his patients were concerned that their needs were “not being taken into account” by the ICB.
Some of the proposed hubs were to be “physically co-located”, while others would have only provided virtual services.
It was expected that groups of GP practices could come together to form a single hub, potentially meaning some patients would have to travel further for their care.
Complex long-term care issues would have continued to have been dealt with by a patient’s family doctor.
Dr Hunger-Nguyen said: “Patients often feel let down by fragmented care, so to fragment their GP experience even further feels to them to not be the right direction of travel.”
Health bosses have now said that having listened to this feedback, they have scrapped the rollout of same-day access hubs, allowing more time to “clarify” the plans with GPs and patients.
This paper understands the ICB has told doctors it now plans to “embed new ways of working” next year, once they are decided.
A spokesperson from the ICB said: “NHS North West London remains committed to improving access to primary care.
“This is the number one issue residents consistently raise with us, as do practices concerned about the growing pressures they are under.”
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