Health secretary pledges end to ‘8am scramble for GP appointments’ with £240m funding
The government has announced £240m of funding for GP practices, aiming to help patients to get appointments more quickly.
The cash will be given to surgeries to “embrace the latest technology”, replacing old phone systems and creating online tools to “ensure patients get the care they need as soon as possible”.
As part of what ministers are calling “an overhaul of primary care”, they said patients would be told on the day how their request would be managed.
If urgent, they pledged people would be seen on the same day, and if not, appointments should be offered within two weeks, or patients will be referred to NHS 111 or a local pharmacy.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay said the moves would “bring an end to the 8am scramble for appointments”.
But his Labour shadow, Wes Streeting, called it a “shallow offer [that] shows Rishi Sunak is totally out of touch with the issues patients face”.
The Conservatives have long promised to introduce new technology into GP surgeries, with Mr Barclay touting the idea last summer.
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His successor in Liz Truss’s short-lived administration, Therese Coffey, also made the pledge, along with the two-week commitment – though she fell short of putting an official target on the measure.
Now back in the role, Mr Barclay promised to move ahead with rolling out digital telephony – meaning patients will be put in a queue, given a call-back option or directed to the right service, rather than hearing an engaged tone.
Some surgeries already offer this service, but health minister Neil O’Brien said there was evidence that it made it “much easier for people to get through to their general practice team”.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay has promised an overhaul of GP phone systems since last summer
The Department of Health also said receptionist roles would be expanded to become “care navigators”, training 6,500 to “gather information, to make sure patients are directed to the most suitable healthcare professional, and to simplify and streamline the process”.
Mr Barclay said: “I want to make sure people receive the right support when they contact their general practice and bring an end to the 8am scramble for appointments.
“To do this we are improving technology and reducing bureaucracy, increasing staffing and changing the way primary care services are provided, which are all helping to deliver on the government’s promise to cut waiting lists.”
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But Mr Streeting placed the blame of appointment difficulties at the door of the government, claiming the Conservatives had cut 2,000 GPs so “better hold music isn’t going to change that”.
Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting has said Rishi Sunak is ‘totally out of touch’ with patient issues
The shadow health secretary said: “Nothing in this announcement will train more doctors, allow patients to choose a face-to-face appointment, or bring back the family doctor so patients see the same GP each time.
“This shallow offer shows Rishi Sunak is totally out of touch with the issues patients face, and underlines why he can’t offer the change people are crying out for.”
He said Labour would train 7,500 more doctors a year, paid for by abolishing the non-dom tax status, and enable patients to “easily book appointments to see the doctor they want, in the manner they choose”.
World
Ukraine war: 14 killed as Russian missile and drone attacks strike Kyiv – including American citizen
Russian missile and drone attacks have killed 14 people in Kyiv overnight, according to Ukrainian officials.
A 62-year-old US citizen who suffered shrapnel wounds is among the dead.
At least 99 others were wounded in strikes that hollowed out a residential building and destroyed dozens of apartments.
Pic: AP
Emergency workers were at the scene to rescue people from under the rubble.
Images show a firefighter was among those hurt, with injured residents evacuated from their homes.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the attack as “one of the most terrifying attacks on Kyiv” – and said Russian forces had fired 440 drones and 32 missiles as civilians slept in their homes.
“[Putin] wants the war to go on,” he said. “It is troubling when the powerful of this world turn a blind eye to it.”
Pic: AP
Ukraine’s interior minister, Ihor Klymenko, said 27 locations across the capital have been hit – including educational institutions and critical infrastructure.
He claimed the attack, in the early hours of Tuesday morning, was one of the largest on the capital since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
Drones swarmed over the city, with an air raid alert remaining in force for seven hours.
One person was killed and 17 others injured as a result of separate Russian drone strikes in the port city of Odesa.
Pic: Reuters
It comes as the G7 summit in Canada continues, which Ukraine’s leader is expected to attend.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy was due to hold talks with Donald Trump – but the president has announced he is unexpectedly returning to Washington because of tensions in the Middle East.
Ukraine’s foreign minister says Moscow’s decision to attack Kyiv during the summit is a signal of disrespect to the US.
Moscow has launched a record number of drones and missiles in recent weeks, and says the attacks are in retaliation for a Ukrainian operation that targeted warplanes in airbases deep within Russian territory.
Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko says fires broke out in two of the city’s districts as a result of debris from drones shot down by the nation’s air defences.
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Pic: AP
On X, Ukraine’s foreign ministry wrote: “Russia’s campaign of terror against civilians continues. Its war against Ukraine escalates with increased brutality.
“The only way to stop Russia is tighter pressure – through sanctions, more defence support for Ukraine, and limiting Russia’s ability to keep sowing war.”
Olena Lapyshnak, who lived in one of the destroyed buildings, said: “It’s horrible, it’s scary, in one moment there is no life. I can only curse the Russians, that’s all I can say. They shouldn’t exist in this world.”
World
Israeli tank shelling kills 51 people waiting for aid in Khan Younis, Hamas-run health ministry says
Israeli tank shellfire has killed at least 51 Palestinians in Khan Younis, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.
Hundreds of others have been injured, with “dozens of critical cases” arriving at a medical complex.
It is feared that the number of fatalities will rise.
Pic: Reuters
The strikes took place as people waited for United Nations and commercial aid trucks in the southern Gaza city.
Witnesses said that Israeli forces carried out an airstrike on a nearby home before opening fire toward the crowd.
“Emergency, intensive care, and operating rooms are experiencing severe overcrowding,” a statement said.
Officials say medical staff “are operating with limited supplies of life-saving medicines” – with the ministry renewing an “urgent appeal” to increase aid.
Pic: Reuters
Hours earlier, Donald Trump had joined other G7 leaders to call for a “de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza”.
The Israeli military is yet to comment on this incident.
On Monday, Gaza’s health ministry said at least 34 people were shot dead near food distribution centres.
This was the highest reported daily total since Israel and US-backed aid centres opened last month, with thousands of Palestinians moving through Israeli military-controlled areas to reach them.
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