Over the past year, we have been working hard with our partners to deliver the General Practice Forward View (GPFV) in Gloucestershire and tackle some of the pressures being felt by GPs and their teams.
The GPFV was published last year by NHS England to support GP practices and transform the way care is provided.
In Gloucestershire, practices are now working in closer partnership as ‘clusters’. Within these, practices have new shared health professionals such as physiotherapists, clinical pharmacists and paramedics working as part of their practice teams to support local people, often in their own homes.
We are also exploring opportunities for practices to provide more appointments at evenings and weekends and to signpost patients better to the most appropriate services to meet their needs.
Thanks to a high level of commitment from practices, Gloucestershire is at the forefront of implementing this programme nationally.