GPs in North West London ICB will be required to focus on ‘complex’ care from April, Pulse reports.
The ICB will introduce a new same-day access hub model through a local enhanced service, previously trialled at 10 local PCNs.
According to Pulse, hubs may be located at GP practices but can be hosted elsewhere. They will be led by one or more GPs with overall clinical accountability, and staffed by a multidisciplinary practice team.
Patients will be seen by hub staff if they request a same-day appointment, and the care co-ordinator assesses them to need same-day care.
Management consultancy firm KPMG has been contracted to support the remaining 35 local PCNs transition to the new triage model in the weeks to April.
Last year, GPs at the LMC conference rejected a motion to ‘separate acute on-the-day care from planned general practice care’, a proposal from NHS England’s Fuller Stocktake published in 2022.
Dr Richard Fieldhouse, GP and NASGP chair, said: “The ICB has trialled and launched this scheme against the advice of GP representatives at the LMC, and risks spending a lot of money replicating systems already commonly found throughout general practice, such as same-day care and phone triage.
“And creating often arbitrary distinctions within a system, between acute and chronic clinical presentations, is not always as easy as it sounds; complex conditions – especially previously undiagnosed ones – often present acutely.
“At a time of high GP workforce attrition we hope the ICB can maintain the workforce it needs for this new system to succeed.”