Health centre to provide late GP appointments

Paxton Medical Group will form one third of the new primary care network in Wirral

Plans for a new health centre in Wirral will see NHS GP late appointments made available until 20:00.

Three practices across Birkenhead, Prenton, and the Beechwood and Woodchurch estates are forming a primary care network (PCN) which aims to help the sites work together more cohesively.

Paxton Medical Group, Heatherlands Medical Centre, and Prenton & Woodchurch Medical Centre will work with Wirral Council's public health team, to tackle "growing" health issues.

The area is described as containing both affluent neighbourhoods and some of the poorest estates in the country.

According to data from the 2021 census, the percentage of people saying their health was “very bad” is between two to three times higher on the Beechwood estate and north end of Birkenhead compared to people on Noctorum Ridge, the council said.

The doctors leading the network said people would no longer need to travel to hospitals on the other side of town to get help.

'Social deprivation'

Dr Mark Fraser, who is joint clinical director, said: “There will be more appointments with doctors. Simple when that is what most people want with their GP.

“We will have more resources. Some people do not need to see a GP.

"If you have anxiety because of your social deprivation, a GP won’t be the best person to fix that but a social worker can help you access your full list of benefits.

"That would be the right person to see.”

This is designed to free up appointments until 20:00 as well as on Saturdays, services that are currently offered further away in places like St Catherine’s Hospital, but will now be offered closer to home.

Dr Fraser said: “You might not think the distance from Beechwood to St Catherine’s is too far but for some of our patients it is.

"We know some patients would rather just not engage than travel but if you can bring services closer to their doorstep as much as possible, there will be better outcomes.

"We have growing issues facing our population now, and you can be despairing about that or you can help to make some improvements.”

The network is also in pre-planning discussions with Wirral Council over plans for a new community health hub in the heart of the Beechwood Estate, though this is a few years off.