GP access in North West Surrey – update

Patients in North West Surrey will be able to access free LIVI video GP consultation services until 31 March 2023.

This follows information shared recently about a decision made by GP practices in North West Surrey to discontinue LIVI over time due to the rising costs of this service, meaning it offers less value for money for patients.

As background to this decision, practices in North West Surrey have been reviewing how patients access services and are introducing some changes in response to patient feedback.

The key changes are:

• Providing more face-to-face appointments in the evenings and at weekends through acute illness hubs, based at Ashford Hospital, St Peter’s Hospital and Woking Community Hospital. These appointments are available now and can be booked via the patient’s GP practice (there is no walk-in facility for this service).
• Introducing a new service called Rapid Health that allows patients to directly book and manage their own appointments for a range of different practice services. In early 2023 Rapid Health will enable patients to initiate their own care for services such as first contact physiotherapy, immunisations and cervical smears.

Extending the availability of LIVI until March 2023 means patients can benefit from this service while the wider changes to accessing primary care services are embedded.