Bolton GPs providing face-to-face appointments according to NHS

NHS data reveals that the majorityof appointments given were in person, 29 per cent were over the phone and two per cent were home visits.

A further breakdown of the figures shows that a quarter of surgeries in Bolton provided at least 75 per cent of in person appointments.

NHS Greater Manchester have said they 'recognise that rising demand means that some people struggle to book an appointment in a timely way'.

NHS figures for December 2022 show that, while some surgeries in the borough had rates of 99 per cent and 92 per cent of appointments being face-to-face, others had rates as low as 34 per cent and 43 per cent.

Face-to-face appointments at Bolton GPs in December 2022 are as follows:

Al Fal Medical Group – 99%

Pikes Lane 1 – 92%

Burnside Surgery – 90%

Stonehill Medical Centre - 88%

Lever Chambers 2 - 87%

Al Fal Medical Group delivered 99% of their appointments face-to-face in December (Image: Google Maps)

Little Lever Health Centre - 84%

Dalefield Surgery - 82%

Harwood Medical Centre - 77%

Halliwell Surgery 1 - 77%

Unsworth Group Practice - 75%

The Alastair Ross Medical Practice - 75%

Kildonan House - 73%

Little Lever Health Centre 1 - 72%

Crompton View Surgery - 72%

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Swan Lane Medical Centre - 69%

Mandalay Medical Centre - 68%

Shanti Medical Centre - 68%

Spring View Medical Centre - 67%

Edgworth Medical Centre - 66%

Halliwell Surgery 2 - 65%

Dr Malhotra & Partners - 64%

Bromley Meadows Surgery - 64%

Charlotte Street Surgery - 63%

Farnworth Family Practice - 61%

Deane Medical Centre - 60%

Heaton Medical Centre - 60%

Kearsley Medical Centre - 58%

St Helens Road Practice - 58%

The Oaks Family Practice - 58%

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Wyresdale Road Surgery - 58%

Tonge Fold Health Centre - 56%

Cornerstone Surgery - 56%

Stable Fold Surgery - 55%

Halliwell Surgery 3 - 55%

Spring House Surgery - 53%

Beehive Surgery - 53%

Bradford Street Surgery had the lowest proportion of face-to-face appointments, at 34 per cent (Image: Google Maps)

Great Lever One - 53%

Dr Earnshaw and Partners - 51%

Fig Tree Medical Practice - 51%

The Dunstan Partnership - 43%

Bradford Street Surgery - 34%

Orient House Medical Centre, Dr M Dakshina-Murthi and Deane Clinic 1 only had stats available for the ‘unknown’ category.

Al Fal Medical Group on Deane Road had the highest proportion of face-to-face appointments in Bolton, with over 99 per cent of their appointments in December being face to face.

Salma Patel, practice manager at Al Fal, said: “We’ve got two GPs who have always promoted face to face. Through Covid, we had a majority of practices with only telephone appointments.

“Our patients had not been seen so our two doctors, who had only just started in December 2021, and myself, we thought it was time for a change. Covid was still there but not as bad.

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“If we do have patients with symptoms of Covid, they can send us a picture of their lateral flow tests. When they were positive we’d have appointments over the phone, but when they were negative they could come back in.

“We still do offer telephone appointments but give preference to face to face.”

She spoke on the importance of face-to-face appointments, saying: “It depends on what the situation is, but the majority of diagnoses can’t be done over the phone.

NHS have released stats on face-to-face appointments in Bolton (Image: Newsquest)

“Pictures do help, and then we’d think can we get the patient to come in the next day. We would never leave it just with a telephone appointment.

“We have patients with lumps and bumps who need to be checked, things like cancer check-ups, people with language barriers who need a translator present, who we would never do over the phone.”

Some GPs had a larger number of appointments than others. F

or example, while 99 per cent of Al Fal Medical Group’s appointments were face-to-face and Pikes Lane 1 had 92 per cent in December, Al Fal had 1747 appointments overall, Pikes Lane had more than double, with 3602.

Similarly, while Bradford Street Surgery had 34 per cent of appointments face-to-face and The Dunstan Partnership had 43 per cent, Bradford Street had 1063 appointments and Dunstan had 6233 appointments.

Unsworth Group Practice and The Dunstan Partnership had the highest number of home-visits, with 451 and 316, respectively.

On the other end of the spectrum, nine surgeries in Bolton had no home visit appointments.

Yasmin Qureshi

Yasmin Qureshi, MP for Bolton South East, said: “If patients want to have face-to-face appointments with their GPs then they should have the option to have it, especially the elderly and those from harder to reach communities.

“However, living in a modern, digital age, if patients want to have Zoom or telephone appointments then this option should be provided.

“For me, it is about a balance which provides patients with the care that suits them.”

Dr Manisha Kumar, chief medical officer, NHS Greater Manchester said: “GP practices across Greater Manchester are carrying out more appointments than before the pandemic.

"The rise in appointments is testament to hardworking and dedicated staff, who are experiencing both significant and growing demand and declining GP numbers.

"Appointments are up overall and include face-to-face, virtual, online consultation and telephone appointments.

“The pandemic sped up changes already underway to offer more virtual access to general practice and these appointments, usually chosen for convenience, are often welcomed by residents."

She continued: "If a patient needs a face-to-face appointment, they are normally seen on the same day or a day of their choice.

“We are not complacent though and absolutely recognise that rising demand means that some people struggle to book an appointment in a timely way.

"We strive to be open about where things are working well, and where they are not. We are absolutely committed to improving people’s access to general practice and supporting those who cannot use online services.

“There are unfortunately limitations to the data published as practices manage their appointment bookings in different ways and therefore the published data is not a true reflection of all activity across Greater Manchester."

She added: "We are working with our GP practices in all ten areas of Greater Manchester to ensure every appointment is accurately captured so that over the coming months, the national data provides a true representation of the number of appointments, including face-to-face, delivered by our GP practices.

“We would encourage people who need support or advice, to get in touch with their GP or NHS 111 who can direct them to the most appropriate place.”