Over the next month, we will be sharing Bridgewater Surgeries plans with our patients on the changes we will be making to our appointment booking system.

Changes have been made both at Bridgewater Surgeries and nationally to offer more appointments and better access for our patients.

The changes we have made so far

• We have introduced eConsultations, so that patients can submit requests via an online form

• We have introduced new Healthcare Professionals to the team, including Clinical Pharmacists, Physician Associates, Care Coordinators and Social Prescribers.

• We are offering appointments later in the evening and on weekends.

• Several minor health issues can now be seen and managed by the Community Pharmacists.

Why we need to change

All of these changes have increased the number of ways that problems can be dealt with and the number appointments. In fact, here at Bridgewater Surgeries, we offer more appointments per patient than any Practice in the wider area.

We still have problems, especially with waiting times for routine appointments and feel that our service could improve further:-

• Patients are still confused about who the best clinician is to meet their needs.

• Requests are dealt with differently depending on how they arrive at the Practice.

• The demand for same day care has increased, using up the extra appointments we had created, this means that people with long-term and complicated conditions have to wait longer for an appointment.

Further information about the changes to our appointment booking system will follow shortly.