An 'Advice and Guidance' scheme - backed by £80 million - that enables GPs to liaise with specialists, saw 113,000 more patients receive quicker care in April.
- Thousands more people are being treated quicker by community-based services rather than waiting for hospital care thanks to increased use of GP guidance
- GPs are getting early expert advice to help direct patients to the care they need quicker including services like dietitians, physiotherapists and sexual health experts
- Part of the Plan for Change to rebuild the NHS, the common sense approach means patients get seen quicker and unnecessary pressure is reduced on hospital services
Over 113,000 more people got appropriate care quicker in April thanks to the common sense 'Advice and Guidance' scheme that enables GP to lean on specialists straight after seeing patients rather than sending them to wait for a hospital appointment.
GPs can quickly consult clinicians who advise if patients need to be treated in hospital or not - referring them to wider services instead, like dietitians, physiotherapists and sexual health experts.
This means patients can start more appropriate treatment sooner, stopping thousands waiting weeks unnecessarily for a hospital appointment, only to be referred back.
With 99% of general practices now signed up since incentives were announced in April, this has allowed thousands more patients to receive care for conditions months sooner, avoiding an average 13-week wait to begin treatment.
Health Minister Stephen Kinnock said:
Through our Plan for Change, we're taking a common sense approach that's tapping into existing expertise in the system, making use of wider services, and getting patients the right care faster.
Over 100,000 people have avoided unnecessary hospital queues because GPs are bypassing waiting lists and going direct to specialists
