A second round of funding has been made available by the NHS to give patients better access to GP surgeries in the borough.

NHS England has announced GPs in London can now apply for a share of a £100m pot from the Prime Minister’s Challenge Fund.

GPs in north west London, including Harrow, successfully bid for £5 million of funding last year helping provide extended opening hours of surgeries on weekdays and weekends.

Since then more than one million patients from over 200 practices across eight boroughs in the area gain access to medical care at GP surgeries at the weekend.

Earlier this year Harrow CCG joined with seven other groups across North West London to put money into a central budget.

Speaking about the programme in North West London Dr Ethie Kong said: “In North West London, we want to do more for our patients.

“We want to provide local healthcare that is convenient and accessible, as well as taking advantage of modern technology where appropriate.

“We had already come together to begin improving access, but the funding from the Prime Minister’s Challenge Fund has allowed us to increase access for more patients, across more of North West London, in a much quicker time.”