In 2024, based on feedback from local people, Healthwatch Wandsworth, as the independent champion for users of health and social care, chose to create a project focused on understanding patient experience of access to primary care, focusing on GP practices.
They have put forward four key recommendations for improving Wandsworth patients’ experience of using GP practices:
- Place continued importance on equity of access
- Make online forms of access as straightforward as possible
- Ensure there is a consistent standard of Patient Participation Groups across all practices in the Borough
- Better, clearer and more concise messaging at a local and national level to empower patients
The full justification for these recommendations and their potential impact can be found in the full Healthwatch Wandsworth report.