Patients Must Be Given An Appointment Or Referral The First Time They Contact Their GP Practice Under The Terms Of A New

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Patients must be given an appointment or referral the first time they contact their GP practice under the terms of a new NHS contract. 
Heath bosses want to put an end to the daily 8am scramble by letting patients book more consultations in advance. 
Some practices tell people seeking same day care to phone back the following day once they are fully booked, rather than giving them the option to book ahead. 
Now they must be allowed to reserve a link slot gacor hari ini on the call or be directed to another appropriate service, such as a pharmacist or physiotherapist. 
However, GPs have threatened to strike over the ‘insulting' new contract, which they say has been forced on them by NHS England and does not offer enough funding. 
A growing population and shrinking workforce mean the staffing crisis has worsened in all but one of the 106 health districts in England. In Blackburn with Darwen, there are 2,915 patients per fully qualified GP, making it the worst-served area.

The number is up by a quarter since 2016. Portsmouth comes second bottom, with 2,821, and Hull third last with 2,805
There were just 27,558 full-time equivalent, fully qualified GPs working in England last month, down 1.6 per cent on the 18,000 recorded in June 2021.

It was down 5.3 per cent on the more than 29,000 working in June 2017
While the number of fully qualified GPs in England has overall fallen, the patient population has risen to 62million, meaning more Brits are competing for fewer doctors

It comes after surveys revealed public satisfaction with GPs has hit an all-time low, with patients particularly frustrated by the difficulties they face accessing a doctor or even getting through on the phone. 
A letter sent by NHS England to all GP practices today said: 'To ensure consistency in the access that patients can expect, the GP contract will be updated to make clear that patients should be offered an assessment of need, or signposted to an appropriate service, at first contact with the practice. 
'Practices will therefore no longer be able to request that patients contact the practice at a later time.' 
<div class="art-ins mol-factbox floatRHS health" data-version="2" id="mol-03053c70-bc4a-11ed-a8d0-edbfceb9a02c" website of the hated 8am scramble for a GP appointment