Out-of-hours GP service to be reduced at hospital

Health bosses have said there are to be cuts to the times patients can get an out-of-hours GP appointment in Market Harborough.

The town's urgent care centre, at St Luke's Hospital, currently offers non-emergency treatment to patients when their own GP surgeries are shut.

However, the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Integrated Care Board (LLRICB) said it would be moving to a new model for providing evening and weekend same‑day GP appointments from 1 April.

Under the plan, same-day GP appointments, currently available at St Luke's from 18:30 GMT to 21:00 on weekdays, would end 30 minutes earlier at 20:30.

The service at St Luke's is currently available at the weekends from 09:00 to 19:00.

The new hours will be 09:00 to 17:00 on Saturdays and 10:00 to 14:00 on Sundays.

The LLRICB said the new model it was bringing in across Leicestershire from 1 April was intended to make more appointments available overall.

However, it confirmed there would be fewer available at St Luke's.

An LLRICB spokesperson said the new system will "make sure patients can access a same‑day GP appointment during evenings, weekends and bank holidays from more locations and at consistent times".

"This new approach will replace the current Urgent Care GP Service delivered from St Luke's Hospital.

"While there will be less appointments at St Luke's Treatment Centre, there will be more appointments available to patients overall, taking into account all appointment options.

"An engagement programme will begin in the coming weeks so patients can share their views," the spokesperson said.

MP for Harborough, Oadby and Wigston Neil O'Brien said he had concerns about the changes and wanted to meet health bosses to discuss them.

"They say it means more appointments but how?

"How do we avoid this just overloading GPs and GP receptionists if they have to go down that route to get an appointment?

"This has been dropped on people from 30,000 feet and it appears to be a different service to what exists at the moment."

O'Brien said he had been told the out-of-hours GP service could be removed entirely from St Luke's.

The LLRICB said that had been suggested by one of the GP federations chosen to run the service from April but that it had not accepted the proposal.

The LLRICB spokesperson added: "The new service will be appointment only, based on clinical triage, to improve patient access to the right service.

"By going through their GP practice, or NHS 111 first, it will ensure patients have access to all available appointment options and avoid travelling to walk-in services that might not be suitable.

"When contacting their GP practice and NHS 111, if patients need to be seen they could be offered an appointment at their own GP practice, at a pharmacy under the Pharmacy First scheme, an urgent treatment centre or one of the new same-day appointments."

From April, the new same-day appointments will be 15 minutes long and with a GP, rather than with a range of healthcare professionals, the LLRICB said.

St Luke's Hospital also hosts a minor injury unit but the LLRICB said there were to be no changes to the way it runs.

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