At our Healthwatch Assembly on 14th March 2024, we discussed non-urgent care in Wandsworth. Healthwatch Wandsworth shared information, welcomed guest speakers, and facilitated question and answer sessions on the following topics:
- Dentistry, pharmacy, self-referral, and community support
- GP services
- Collaboration and integration across the health care sector
What we discussed
The following points were raised across our discussions of non-urgent care during the assembly:
- Triaging patients to ensure continuity of care, and making sure that this system of triage is well known amongst the community.
- Having more information about how people can access care (particularly direct access when a GP appointment is not needed and dental care).
- Allowing for different methods of booking an appointment, whether this be over the phone, online, or in person. This helps ensure that members of the community are not left behind through digital exclusion as efforts shift towards digital health care systems.
- Fostering seamless collaboration across clinicians, services, service users, carers, and relevant organisations in order to support patients across the health care system.
- Ensuring the work of community-based initiatives are known to GPs and service users alike to make the most of prevention services and to support people in leading a healthy life.