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Extra GPs to end doctors shortage
THE health service has agreed more than £24m of investment for GP practices in Hull in a bid to reverse the city's status as one of the most "under-doctored" areas in the country.
More than 24,000 extra places will be available across four new practices, which will offer extended opening hours and give each patient the option of seeing a female doctor.
Each practice will cater for 6,000 patients and will open from 8am to 8pm Monday to Friday, and from 9am to 1pm on Saturdays.
Contracts worth 12.2m have been signed between NHS Hull and two providers, Assura East Riding LLP and Haxby Business Group.
A further 12m is being spent on supporting the practices.
Assura will operate a new practice based at Bransholme Health Centre, which is due to open in August.
Haxby will provide GP services at Kingswood, Willerby Road (Springhead) and Orchard Park.
The Kingswood surgery will be based in Kingswood Village Centre and is expected to open in October, the same time as the Springhead centre, which will begin life in temporary accommodation until a new surgery is built.
The Orchard Park surgery will open in January next year at the new Neighbourhood Integrated Service Centre in Hall Road.
NHS Hull said 95 per cent of respondents to a survey supported proposals to establish practices in these locations.
The organisation also announced further plans to open a GP-led health centre in the city centre, which will offer a walk-in service for both registered and unregistered patients, from 8am to 8pm seven days a week.
Contracts for this facility are expected to be signed this year.
Health Secretary Alan Johnson said: "I congratulate NHS Hull for its hard work and determination in improving access to local GP services and healthcare in Hull.
"Patients tell me that they want to see a GP at times convenient to them and that's why we are spending an additional 250m nationally on improving access to GP and community care services, and 150m of existing funding for GPs to offer extended opening hours.
"Across Hull, 57 per cent of existing practices are now offering patients extra appointments in the evenings, early mornings or weekends.
"This is a great achievement and these new practices and the GP health centre will complement existing services, offering even greater choice and flexibility for patients, as well as making it easier to see a doctor."
NHS Hull is getting an extra 3.5m a year from the Department of Health to fund three of the surgeries, following the Darzi Review of the NHS.
This found access to doctors were poor in Hull compared to national averages. Hull has an average of 48 GPs per 100,000 of population, compared to the national average of 57 per 100,000.
Keith Parsons, assistant director of primary care and procurement at NHS Hull, said: "Hull is one of the poorest areas in the country for access to GP provision, ranking in the lowest 25 per cent of primary care trust areas for GP to patient ratio, and this can lead to difficulties in accessing GPs quickly and at convenient times.
"At the moment, our GP to patient ratio is well below the national average, which means it is important that we address access issues in the city.
"We also have a high proportion of single-handed GPs in Hull, many of whom are nearing retirement, so it is vital that we act now to both maintain and then improve services in the future."
Assura and Haxby were chosen from a shortlist of eight providers who were invited to submit tenders for the contracts.
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Weather for Yorkshire
Wednesday 08 February 2012
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