GP patients in South Holland are being offered access to extended hours.
The additional appointments are being offered at host practices under the scheme which has been officially launched.
The non-urgent appointments are pre-bookable GP consultations.
“Patients will be able to access their appointment at one of the hubs, but should contact their own practice to book one of these appointments,” said Dr Kevin Hill, chairman of South Lincolnshire Care Commissioning Group.
The service will offer appointments between 6.30pm and 8pm on weekdays along with some on Saturdays and Sundays, from 9am to noon, including Bank Holidays, Easter, Christmas and the New Year.
“These appointments are for pre-bookable, non-urgent consultations with GPs for things like chronic illness, asthma checks, medicine reviews and routine appointments,” said Dr Hill.
Allied Health South Lincolnshire, the federation of GP practices in the area, along with Lakeside Healthcare, Stamford, will offer the service.
“It will be of particular use to those unable to get an appointment during the daytime due to other commitments, such as work and school,” Dr Hill added.
The Munro Medical Centre in Spalding is one of the host centres for the scheme.
But patients wishing to make an extended hours appointment should contact their own surgery, not the host surgery directly.
The service is not a walk-in facility and is only for routine, non-urgent appointments.
“We hope the new service will reduce pressure on other local health services that people tend to use if they cannot see their family GP, such as accident and emergency, urgent care and the out of hours,” said Dr Hill.
The NHS had originally announced that the service had to be in place by the end of March 2019.
But the deadline was brought forward to October 1 and said that CCGs should actively encourage participation.
Within the South Lincolnshire CCG area, the host hubs are at Spalding, Bourne, Stamford and Market Deeping.
“It is important to remember these are pre-bookable and not for urgent issues,” added Dr Hill.
