Evening and Saturday health appointments to be made available

Patients in Newark will be among the first in the country to benefit from a national scheme offering medical appointments on weekday evenings and Saturday mornings.

The scheme has already been introduced in the west of the Newark and Sherwood district and will be brought in elsewhere soon.

Patients would be able to book to see a doctor, nurse or other healthcare professional up to 8pm on weekdays and on Saturday mornings.

Patients could book the appointments in the usual way by calling their own surgery and then attend at a practice that would be designated as a local hub.

It has not yet been decided which practice would be the hub.

It is hoped the extra appointments will help patients unable to see a doctor or nurse during regular working hours.

The extra surgery sessions will also give people the opportunity to book in for a flu jab. At-risk groups, such as pregnant women, parents of children aged two, three and four, people with long-term conditions and the elderly, have been urged to speak to their GP surgeries to arrange a vaccination.

Dr Thilan Bartholmeuz, clinical chairman of Newark and Sherwood Clinical Commissioning Group, which commissions health services, said: “We are delighted to be offering more appointments to patients at times that are convenient for them, especially for those people with commitments during the day.

“Our GP surgeries are the bedrock of the NHS and it’s great that the public will have more opportunity to get an appointment at a time that works for them.”