Online booking system

Denys Rayner, from BNSSG clinical commissioning group, said that nearly 40,000 people have already used the new system and the important thing to note was that many people were being seen by a doctor or had a response (either by email or over the phone) on the same day. Nearly 14,000 people have used it more than six times.

He said that there had been many positive comments made since it was introduced in six Weston surgeries in January this year and while doctors had taken a little while to get used to it, the system seemed to have benefited most people. The point was raised at the meeting that some older people, who were feeling very unwell, might struggle to get online and use it. However, Mr Rayner explained that patients could still call the surgery in these types of cases.

The new system featured on BBC Points West recently (June 3), with the point made that Weston was unique with so many surgeries using it in one town – six have adopted it already with more to follow shortly.

Weston Mayor, Mark Canniford  also urged people to share their health experiences with Healthwatch as he said it was important to speak up on the good and bad aspects of services – and comments could be made about askmyGP or other NHS services.