Evening and weekend GP practices

Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Primary Care Trust (HMRPCT) is investing £126,000 to commission three new pilot services that will provide patients with access to GP appointments during evenings and at the weekend.  The pilots will run for six months initially and will be evaluated by the University of Cumbria throughout.  

The first pilot will start on 3rd March.  Instead of operating from a traditional surgery, it will be located at the Sainsbury’s store at Heaton Park.  Named ‘Doctors In Store’, the service will enable patients to choose to attend appointments from 6:30pm until 9:30pm Monday and Thursday evenings, as well as between 11am and 3pm on a Saturday. 

The GPs working at the store will be from local surgeries in Heywood and Middleton and will provide this service in addition to their existing practices.  They will have full secure access to patient medical details and be able to make referrals or update records, just like a regular GP.  The surgery will be located in a fully equipped consultation room at Sainsbury’s in-store Pharmacy.  Patients can book with Doctors In Store through their registered GP practice by requesting an out of hours appointment at The Pharmacy in Sainsbury’s. 

This service will be provided by PriMed Services, which is led by Middleton GP, Dr Mohammed Jiva.  He said: “Patients needs are changing and so it’s important that we find ways to provide a more flexible and convenient service.  A number of practices in the local area have already come on board and once demand increases, we will explore the potential to roll this out to even further across the whole of Rochdale.”

HMRPCT is also working with BARDOC (Bury and Rochdale Doctors On Call), on a second pilot to provide an extended hours service to people in the Rochdale area.  In addition, local GP practices have been invited to take part in  the  third pilot  Locally Enhanced Service (LES).  This will allow the PCT to trial and learn from three very different models and the outcomes will inform the commissioning of new primary care services for the future.  

John Pierce, chairman of HMRPCT, said: “The fact that the extended hours initiative is being piloted right here in Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale is a huge boost for patients across the Borough.  We are constantly working to improve access to healthcare for our patients and the public and by offering this service we will be able to reach the number of people who find it difficult to attend normal surgery times due to work or family commitments.

“The Doctors In Store pilot is very innovative and it is fantastic that we have the backing of such a reputable organisation as Sainsbury’s.  The BARDOC and Locally Enhanced Service pilots will also be up and running at the same time to ensure that all residents across the Borough have access to extended GP hours.” 

Dr Ruth Hussey, Regional Director for Public Health at NHS North West added: “I think that these are really important developments.  We know how important it is to make health services more convenient for people, especially for prevention of poor health as well as for treatment and care. I am looking forward to seeing the impact three projects have on the health and wellbeing of the local community.”