More than 60,000 NHS patients in Plymouth now have evening and weekend access to remote GP appointments, as second wave builds
NHS patients registered with any of the Waterside Primary Care Network (PCN) GP practices in the Plymouth area will now have free access to remote video consultations through Push Doctor during evenings and at weekends. This is a key move for the 63,000 patients in the area as a Covid-19 second wave builds, and will offer secure, convenient, and flexible access to NHS medical advice at the touch of a button.
Push Doctor, which enables the delivery of online consultations within the NHS, partnered with the eight practices in the area earlier this year to offer video consultations to patients. The service has now been expanded to offer evening weekday appointments from 6.30pm – 8pm and weekend appointments from 8am to 8pm.
The service is vital for patients looking for convenient and Covid-safe appointments, particularly as increasing Covid-19 cases mean local lockdown rules are quickly changing. It will also lift the burden off local surgeries at an increasingly pressurised time by cutting waiting times, meeting patient demand for flexible appointments, and allowing GP surgeries to continue seeing patients if doctors are forced to self-isolate as a precaution, as we saw during the first wave.
Dr Dan Bunstone, Chief Medical Officer at Push Doctor, said: “At the heart of what Push Doctor does is providing outstanding care to NHS patients. As the country prepares for a second wave of Covid-19, we are committed to making sure patients have access to free, safe and convenient healthcare, which is why we’ve extended appointment times to evenings and weekends.
“One of the unfortunate consequences of the pandemic is that patients are less likely to seek out medical care when they need it due to concerns about overloading the NHS or catching the virus in a medical environment. Through our partnership with Waterside and our extended appointment hours we want to change this so that patients can see a doctor when they need to, and so the pressure on GP surgeries is eased when normality starts to resume.”
Patients from the following practices can access online NHS GP appointments:
- Devonport Health Centre
- Peverell Park Surgery
- West Hoe Surgery
- St Neots Surgery
- Stoke Surgery
- St Levan Surgery
- Adelaide Street Surgery
- Plymouth University Medical Centre
A Waterside PCN representative said: “As new restrictions are being put in place across the country, the patients in Waterside PCN need not worry about accessing healthcare whenever they need it.
“Push Doctor’s service is an extension of our telephone and video consultation service which we have all been running for some time. This has enabled us to continue to provide patients with a good service during the pandemic, and it allows our patients to receive medical advice and services in a safe and efficient manner over extended hours – evenings and weekends.”
Get started with free NHS video consultations in 4 easy steps:
- Go to www.pushdoctor.co.uk/nhs or download the free Push Doctor app on your mobile device, tablet or laptop
- Create an account and select your surgery from the list
- Book an appointment at a time, date and location that suits you; whether you’re at home, at work or on the go
- At your appointment time, press the ‘start your appointment’ button and enter the virtual waiting room. Your doctor will connect with you over video call
Push Doctor’s services are now available to 5.4 million NHS patients across England in areas including the North West, Yorkshire, the Midlands, London, the South East and the South West.
GP practices across the UK have been partnering with Push Doctor since a roll-out in September 2018. The roll-out found that:
- 70.5 per cent of patients made same day appointments.
- Nearly 80 per cent of the video consultations did not require a follow up appointment with the surgery.
