GP practices across Swindon have come up with a plan to offer more appointments outside of working hours, senior councillors will be told next week.

The region's health bosses have produced a report after a request by full council in July.

The meeting heard that patients were struggling to get through to their practice on the phone and were having great difficulties in making appointments in time.

The report reveals that the seven primary care networks in the borough have ”worked together to produce plans to provide a Swindon and Shrivenham-wide solution, comprising of; extended hours, including early mornings, evenings and weekends".

“Routine in-person patient appointments on Saturdays, between 9am and 1pm, provided by Brunel Health Group on behalf of the other Swindon PCNs will be held at Taw Hill Surgery to begin with, before also being provided at Carfax Medical Centre.

"There will be remote GP appointments across weekdays and weekends during core hours and the new extended and enhanced hours.”

The enhanced access plans are part of a national initiative to improve access to care and have been signed off by the Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire Integrated Care Board with the support of Healthwatch Swindon and patients’ groups.

The report went on to explain that funding and increasing demands have increased pressure on GPs practices: “General practice receives less than nine per cent of the NHS budget, however 90 per cent of patient contact with the NHS takes place within GP practices.

“The changing nature of the population is also impacting on primary care. Increasing numbers of older people, as well as people living with one or more long term conditions, is changing the care required from general practice.

“More recently, there has been an additional and ongoing need for primary care to support refugees, asylum seekers and people arriving from Ukraine.”

It shows that Swindon’s population has increased by about 8,000 people since April 2020, and also a corresponding increase in GPs appointments offered over that time.

The report adds that some practices are answering up to 600 calls a day and that cloud-based call handling - which more and more clinics are moving to as their current phone contracts expire - helps in monitoring call volume and answering them.

The cabinet will meet at 6pm on Wednesday November 6 at the Civic Offices in Euclid Street.