Sir John has long campaigned for improving access to primary healthcare in Maldon and the other towns in our constituency, both when representing his constituents both in Parliament and when meeting with local NHS groups. John strongly welcomes the Government’s new Primary Care Recovery Plan, which will improve access to GP and pharmaceutical services and modernise the primary healthcare system.
John is aware that local GP surgeries have been under considerable pressure since the Covid pandemic, which resulted in long waiting lists and difficulties in obtaining appointments. He knows that this is a big concern for many of his constituents and has facilitated discussion with local stakeholders over the last 18 months to ensure these issues are seen to.
Several GPs in the constituency are in the process of improving their phone systems, and John strongly welcomes the Government’s commitment to an equivalent of £35,000 per practice to provide new telephone technology for all GPs. These improvements will end the ‘8am rush’ for appointments, and make it easier for patients to get through and get a response on the same day.
The Government has also committed an additional £645 million to enable pharmacists to provide treatment for common conditions and contraception without a doctor’s appointment, and have introduced self-referral for key services, including physiotherapy, hearing tests, and podiatry, enabling patients to access these services without seeing their GP first.
John is still in regular contact with the new Mid and South Essex Integrated Care System (ICC) and the Primary Care Networks, which cover the GP surgeries in our constituency. He has also held meetings with local doctors surgeries individually, including Longfield Medical Centre and Blackwater Medical Centre, and in January he organised a meeting alongside the Mayor of Maldon, Cllr Andrew Lay, with stakeholders and relevant organisations to discuss this issue further.
