Following the report released by Plymouth Herald last week regarding the best to worst GP surgeries for appointment availability, I wanted to clarify our position and relay how the results and wording of the article were particularly misleading. Interestingly the report focused on face-to face appointment availability, yet further on names Tavyside as the lowest wait time to secure an appointment and the highest percentage of patients to secure an appointment with a GP.
Tavyside Health Centre offer same day access telephone triage appointments for our patients who require urgent care, if a patient is then assessed as requiring a face-to-face appointment, they will also be seen on the same day, by a GP. This model allows us to provide same day access for those who have a clinical need whilst ensuring the resource for face-to-face appointments is maintained.
Without on the day triage and based on the same model as other named surgeries, all patients would be looking at a minimum of 2-3 weeks to be seen and this would be relevant to all patients regardless of their clinical need.
We have based our model on our patient requirements, to meet the needs of our patient population, we continue to receive daily positive reviews regarding the high level of care we offer, the opportunity to leave courteous constructive feedback is available via our website.
Sarah Evans
Practice Manager
Tavyside Health Centre