Pressure on appointments

Posted on December 12th, 2022

We are experiencing exceptionally high demand for appointments at the moment and are working hard to meet this demand.

Please be aware that there are no prebookable appointments available currently, as we need to set aside more urgent slots to deal with the high levels of respiratory conditions and concerns over Strep A that are presenting.

We are always looking at ways of improving our appointment system and will be carrying out a pilot from early January to increase the number of prebookable appointments. This will however mean that there are less appointments available on the day. We will be monitoring the impact that this has on the treatment of more chronic conditions (that require regular follow up) and urgent cases that need to be seen on the day.

We will also be introducing a system of online triage / consultations, which should help to improve access to advice and support. This will be in addition to current processes for accessing advice, such as phoning to make an appointment.