A SCHEME aimed at offering people increased access to primary care services is now being provided by GP surgeries across Worcestershire.

GP surgeries have received one-off funding from NHS England, to provide extended access to services and will be offering more than 600 additional appointments per week that can be booked on the day they are needed.

The NHS traditionally sees a rise in demand for primary care services over the winter months and the scheme aims to reduce some of these pressures - enabling patients to book an appointment to see their GP as soon as they become ill, ensuring they do not visit other services such as A&E.

The aims of the scheme include continuing to offer high quality primary care, clinically led services; increasing the number of appointments available to patients; improving access at key pressure times over the winter; encouraging patients to try to see their GP first; and supporting the health economy to manage patient flow.

Lynda Dando, director of primary care at the three Worcestershire Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG), said: "This scheme enables people to gain better access to primary care services by offering an increased number of appointments for people to book on the day they are needed.

"Your GP surgery should be your first port of call for non-urgent, on-going illnesses or injuries.

"Using a GP saves time as they know your medical history and also frees up other services, including A&E for those who really need to be there.

"The winter months can be very busy for a number of NHS services and any extra capacity that we have will help to reduce some of these pressures."