A health body has made a number of suggestions to improve GP services, after research found that 60 per cent of people were struggling to arrange appointments.

Healthwatch Harrow – an organisation commissioned by Harrow Council – found that, for those living in the borough, the average waiting time to book an appointment with their preferred GP was seven to ten days.

In a report published last month, this issue was linked to busy phone lines, poor communication and the attitude of some surgery staff.

Healthwatch Harrow says the study highlights the need to ensure that GP services are responsive to meet the needs of the different communities in Harrow.

Manager Mina Kakaiya said: “We would like to see GPs developing better working partnerships with other local organisations involved in primary care services in Harrow.

“This will help address some of the disparities highlighted in our report and raise consistencies across all GP practices in Harrow.

“We would like every patient, whatever their background and wherever they live in the borough, to have easier access to primary care services.”

The team behind the research reviewed 34 GP practices in Harrow – including conducting a mystery shopper challenge at each one – as well as 15 GP Care Quality Commission inspection reports from January 2016 to January 2017.

It discovered that almost half of Harrow residents did not know how to make a complaint about their practice and that 56 per cent of patients were unaware of all the out of hours services available to them, or how to access them.

There were also issues with inaccurate websites and out of date information on things such as NHS Helpline numbers, health advocacy services and walk-in centres.

James Slater, interim head of primary care at Harrow Clinical Commissioning Group, said the suggestions can only be a good thing going forward.

He said: “We welcome the Healthwatch Harrow GP Access Report. The report, which is consistent with other national work, identifies issues for considerations for us as a CCG and for our member practices.

“This is really timely as Harrow GP practices have recently agreed to work together on a national improvement programme called ‘Releasing Time for Care’ to focus on better primary care across Harrow.”

Healthwatch Harrow recommends that surgeries address patients’ frustrations when it comes to access services.

It also believes they should make reasonable adjustments for disabled patients, provide better access in terms of language and mental health issues and that good practices should be shared across the borough.

For a copy of the full report, click here.