From Dr Rob Pocock Labour's Prospective Parliamentary Candidate Sutton Coldfield Constituency Sutton Constituency Campaign Centre, 46 Rectory Park Ave, Sutton Coldfield, B75 7BN tel / messages 07767 32 6704 email RobPocock@SuttonMP.org _______________________________________________________________ Sutton GP appointments schemes slammed Sutton Coldfield Labour Party's Prospective Parliamentary Candidate Dr Rob Pocock has written to Health Secretary John Reid MP after being contacted by Sutton Coldfield residents concerned about the new scheme some local doctors have introduced for making appointments. A growing number of GPs are only booking appointments on the morning that they see their patients, and are not allowing patients to book further ahead. Dr Pocock said, "I've been getting more and more complaints about this situation and have written to the Secretary of State for Health pointing out the problems. The government have rightly set targets for all GPs to ensure that no patients have to wait more than 48 hours for an appointment but now it seems that some Sutton Coldfield GP practices are trying to get round this by simply not taking any appointments in advance. You can phone wanting an appointment a few days ahead and they tell you to phone back on the day. This is highly inconvenient for people who have a non-urgent concern and want to plan their visit to the doctors well in advance, for example to fit in around commitments at work or with the family. Then on the day itself people are having a nightmare getting through when they phone at 8.30am. It's playing real havoc with people who are wanting then to get on to work, they simply don't know whether they're coming or going. "The government are saying they want more patient choice and I fully support this aim. It's simply unacceptable for doctors to try and dodge the new standards in this way, it's actually giving patients less choice, and I'm urging the Secretary of State to act swiftly to close this loophole". ENDS Dr Pocock is the Labour Party's Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the Sutton Coldfield Constituency.