The investment was announced by the government as part of an overall funding allocation of £102 million for GP surgeries across the country. The funding is designed to help practices repurpose, reconfigure and refurbish rooms in surgeries to maximise the amount of space which can be used for patient care. The improvements to GP premises in Hertfordshire and west Essex could enable an additional 250,000 appointments a year to take place.
Avni Shah, Director of Primary Care Transformation at Hertfordshire and West Essex Integrated Care Board (ICB) said: “By increasing the number of consultation, treatment, and examination rooms, our GP practices will be better equipped to meet patients’ increasing needs and reduce waiting times. This will also allow a broader range of services to be delivered in people’s local surgeries in future.
“These improvements will be a huge boost to our existing plans to make it easier for people to get appointments at their local GP practices. For example, we’re developing and growing the general practice workforce, including bringing in a wider range of healthcare professionals – like physios and pharmacists – and investing in advanced telephony and digital tools to make it easier for patients to contact their practice.
“Since 2022 we have created an additional 700,000 appointments in GP practices across Hertfordshire and west Essex, and we now provide 8.5million appointments a year for local patients. Two thirds of these appointments are face-to-face. This investment will help us to go further and faster to help our patients. I look forward to seeing the positive impact these improvements will have across our communities.”
The funding bids for Hertfordshire and west Essex range from larger schemes of around £390,000 to smaller schemes of around £20,000.
The next step is for successful practices to submit further information to the government about their proposed works, so that further checks can be carried out before funding is formally agreed. Specialist estates staff at Hertfordshire and West Essex ICB are supporting local practices in this work.
The ICB has committed to sharing more information about the improvements proposed by local practices as they firm up their plans and get final confirmation of funding.